developmentpathways.co.uk (08.06.2016) In a recent ECLAC book titled “Towards universal social protection: Latin American pathways and policy tools”, edited together with Fernando Filgueira, Rodrigo Martínez and Cecilia Rossel, we show that, since the beginning of the 21st century, the region has been undergoing a vigorous transformation in its social protection policies, with a growing proportion of the population accessing plans which, themselves, are of higher quality and paying higher value transfers. It is imperative that these achievements are maintained while further progress must continue, even in the face of a complex economic and political scenario.