This report is part of a series of national case studies aimed at disseminating knowledge on the current status of social protection systems in Latin American and Caribbean countries, and at discussing their main challenges in terms of realizing of the economic and social rights of the population and achieving key development goals, such as combating poverty and hunger.

This report describes the current situation and recent evolution of social protection and promotion in Ecuador. It provides a comprehensive overview of the public policies and programmes implemented in the period 2000-2012; reports on the level and composition of social investment; describes the basic structure of the protection system and more recent social measures; and discusses the coverage of these policies and programmes.