Supporting Colombia’s COVID-19 Crisis Response Format Like countries worldwide, the Colombian government was suddenly faced with the COVID-19 pandemic, requiring immediate response on multiple fronts. Notably, Colombia’s social protection system expanded its coverage to three million new households by the end of 2020, and throughout that year it provided additional cash transfers to almost 4.5 million beneficiaries of existing programs. These and other mitigation measures are estimated to have kept approximately 632,000 people out of poverty, narrowing a crisis-induced increase in the headcount poverty rate. Challenge The first case of COVID-19 in Colombia was identified on March 6, 2020. Recognizing that the virus spreads rapidly, the government moved on March 16 to manage the expected health crisis by imposing a national quarantine and lockdown. Activities in many sectors, including construction, transport, tourism, nonfood retail, and hospitality, came to a halt. An estimated 67 percent of the country's workforce (more than 15 million people) felt the economic effects, and many micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) had to close due to negative demand and financial shocks. At the time, the COVID-19 crisis was projected to cause the deepest recession in Colombia in more than a century. As it unfolded throughout 2020, at least 1.45 million people are estimated to have fallen into poverty, increasing poverty at least 3 percentage points and largely reversing the poverty reduction gains made in recent years.