Economic and public health crises, climate change, and various forms of life-changing events have highlighted the importance of social protection, particularly in ensuring the availability of social safety nets in order to provide short-term buffers amidst economic shocks. ASEAN has long affirmed its commitment to making social protection part of its focus in addressing poverty eradication. Past crises such as the 1997/1998 Financial Crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as ongoing trends such as climate change and persisting disaster risks, has prompted ASEAN to develop robust and adaptive cooperation. Most notably, AMS allocated more spending on short-term social protection measures at the onset of the pandemic than the global average.