Over the past two decades, the Single Beneficiary System (SIUBEN) has undergone a profound transformation. It was created in 2004 in response to a severe economic and social crisis, with the initial mandate of building a database that would allow for a fairer and more efficient targeting of social programs. Since then, it has evolved from being a tool exclusively focused on the allocation of cash transfers to becoming a key platform for identifying and characterizing households in situations of vulnerabilityprogressing toward a more dynamic, cross-cutting, and strategic social information system.
This profound transformation aligns with a new vision of social protection in the country, aimed at being universal, resilient, and adaptive, in order to establish systems capable of preventing, preparing for, and responding in a coordinated manner to economic, environmental, and health shocksprotecting household income, assets, and food security, particularly in a context of growing climate vulnerability.
This case study documents the institutional, operational, and technological evolution of SIUBEN. Based on a review of documentation and interviews with key stakeholders, it analyzes the factors that have facilitated its consolidation, the main challenges encountered during implementation, the institutional responses adopted to overcome them, and the lessons learned that can contribute to a more cohesive, adaptive, and inclusive social policy in the future.