In February 2020, we invited to Duke Haishan Fu, the Director of the World Bank’s Development Data Group, for a discussion about the role and potential of big data for shaping international development programs of the future. In March 2020, an already organized panel led by Cynthia Arnson, Director of the Latin America program at the Wilson Center had to be canceled for COVID-19 restrictions. After switching our activities online, our 2020 programming resumed with the panel “COVID-19 and Migration in the Americas”, a discussion between Andrew Selee, president of the Migration Policy Institute, and DCID Sarah Bermeo. In August 2020, we hosted a discussion about COVID-19 and the recent trends in migration to Mexico with Maureen Meyer (Director for Mexico and Migrant Rights, Washington Office on Latin America, Alejandra Macías Delgadillo (Executive Director, Asylum Access Mexico), and Ramón Marquez (Independent Human Rights Defender, Former Director of la72.org) and DUCIGS' Piotr Plewa.
In May 2019, the Duke Center for International Development (DCID), the Duke University Center for International and Global Studies (DUCIGS), and the Duke Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS) convened a diverse group of policy advocates and researchers for a one-day workshop on Central America’s Northern Triangle. Experts explored the underlying causes of recent migration from the region, and policy responses to address the economic and social impacts both in the region and in the United States.