This Report aims to contribute to the policy discourse on the direction and impact of social protection in Asia and the Pacific. While many countries of the region have some form of social protection in place, only a fraction of those who need assistance actually benefit. Still, these programmes can act as the building blocks for more comprehensive social protection systems which can meet the needs of so many more. It then promotes universal coverage as a way to most effectively and proactively impact on people's lives, and especially the most vulnerable groups in society. This Report also presents the political and economic case for social protection and the need to bring social protection into the mainstream of development policy formulation.