About the current state and future directions of the Asia-Latin America relations.

Over the past decade, nearly 58 million girls were married before the age of 18. Child marriage is a truly global problem: In Africa, 42 percent of girls are married before turning 18, but it is also prevalent in parts of Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean (in South Asia, for instance, 46 percent of girls are married). Child brides often start childbearing early, leading to complications and producing high rates of maternal morbidity and mortality among girls in developing countries. Married girls are often forced to leave school, negatively affecting their ability to work and provide for their families. The panelists will describe current policies and programs working to support young women and delay marriage whenever possible.

“The Arab Spring in Comparative Perspective: Dramatic Transitions in Recent Decades” conference took place on June 4th and 5th in Washington, D.C., co-organized by American University’s School of International Service, the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs, and the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars’ Brazil Institute, Global Europe Program, Mexico Institute, and Middle East Studies Program. The aim of this initial workshop was to consider dramatic transitional experiences in Brazil, Mexico, Turkey, and Eastern Europe and included a series of panels examining specific facets of transitional experiences: constitutional developments (including democratic reforms); economic and social affairs; justice and human rights issues; the evolving experiences of women; external pressures and interventions. In each case, a commentator with expertise on the Middle East and North Africa was asked to reflect on the possible relevance of other “transitional” experiences to understanding the dynamics and prospects of the “Arab Spring.” These reflections also served as the primary task of the workshop’s concluding Round Table discussion.

Researchers from the Latin American Housing Network (LAHN) will present finding from a comparative study of housing policies in consolidated low-income settlements in nine countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay).