Even before the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, progress towards Goal 1 had slowed, and the world was not on track to ending extreme poverty by 2030. Now, as the world anticipates the worst economic fallout since the Great Depression, tens of millions of people will be pushed back into poverty, undoing years of steady improvement. As the economic impacts of the pandemic begin to be felt more strongly, the importance of robust social protection systems for safeguarding the poor and vulnerable is becoming clearer than ever. So, too, is the need for effective emergency preparedness, both for pandemics and other hazards that cause disasters.