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Social protection is back on the development agenda. Long-time dismissed as ineffective, expensive or even detrimental to development in third-world countries, there is now an increasing understanding that assisting individuals, households and communities in dealing with diverse risks is needed for accelerated poverty reduction and sustained economic and social development. The paper outlines the development aspect of social protection, presents briefly the social risk management concept and its operationalization in risk and vulnerability evaluations, explains the focus on vulnerable groups (such as children and disabled), and briefly reviews traditional programs such as labor market and pensions through the SRM lens.