Trade : JSI e-com draft text undermines digital industrialization in South (PRIV)
(D. Ravi Kanth, Geneva)
Australia, Japan, and Singapore, the co-convenors of the proposed plurilateral Joint Statement Initiative (JSI) on electronic commerce, issued a "toothless" draft chair's text on 27 March th at excludes any disciplines on cross-border data flows, localization of server s, and source code, in an attempt to cobble together an agreement before the "Euro pean summer break" in July-August, said people familiar with the negotiations.

UN : 2023 deadliest year on record for migrants, says IOM (PRIV)
(Kanaga Raja, Penang)
In 2023, 8,542 people are known to have died or disappeared during migration, the highest figure recorded in any year in th e past decade, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has said.

UN : $1.4 billion plan launched to support South Sudanese refugees (PRIV)
(Kanaga Raja, Penang)
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, together with its 123 partners, is seeking $1.4 billion this year to meet the needs of 2. 3 million South Sudanese refugees living in five African countries, as well as the ho st communities that are supporting them.