On 27, 28 and 29 April, the President of the European Council António Costa will travel to Bulgaria to meet with the Prime Minister of Bulgaria, Rossen Jeliazkov to discuss key EU priorities, regional stability, and the importance of coordinated action to tackle shared challenges. President Costa will also meet President of Bulgaria, Rumen Radev. The President will take the opportunity to visit, together with Prime Minister Jeliazkov, several important industrial and technological centres.
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President Costa to travel to Bulgaria to meet with PM Jeliazkov and visit key industrial and technological sites on 27-29 April 2025
On 27, 28 and 29 April, the President of the European Council António Costa will travel to Bulgaria to meet with the Prime Minister of Bulgaria, Rossen Jeliazkov to discuss key EU priorities, regional stability, and the importance of coordinated action to tackle shared challenges. President Costa will also meet President of Bulgaria, Rumen Radev. […]
DR Congo crisis forces refugees to swim for their lives to Burundi
“We’re pushed to our limits,” said Ayaki Ito, Director for Emergencies for the UN refugee agency, UNHCR.
One mother was so desperate to reach safety she crossed the 100-metre wide Rusizi river separating DRC and Burundi with her three small children and their belongings, Mr. Ito told journalists in Geneva:
“I saw this plastic sheeting ball – it’s one mother and three small children – she put her belongings and wrapped it with a plastic sheet, to make it float…It’s a very perilous journey and I was told it’s full of crocodile and hippos.”
Overstretched resources
Since January, more than 71,000 people have crossed into Burundi, fleeing ongoing violence in eastern DRC, UNHCR data shows. Since then, more than 12,300 have been relocated to Musenyi refugee site, while others live with host communities in border areas.
Living conditions in Musenyi – five hours’ drive from the DRC border – are becoming unsustainable.
The site today houses 16,000 people although it was designed for 3,000, adding to tensions. “Food rations are already cut to half of what they’re supposed to be,” Mr. Ito explained, warning that even these rations will run out by the end of June without additional funding.
Food is far from the only concern, however, as emergency tents set up on lowland farming areas have now flooded during the onset of the rainy season.
Aid teams are already bracing themselves for diseases to spike.
People who fled violence in DR Congo to Burundi use a water point at a refugee camp in Cibitoke Province.
“Schools, clinics, basic sanitation systems are either non-existent or overwhelmed” and the UN agency has no more dignity kits, leaving nearly 11,000 women and girls with access to basic hygiene items, Mr. Ito said.
Funding crisis cutbacks
UNHCR’s funding crisis has also “severely reduced” support for family tracing, making it increasingly difficult to identify, locate, and reunite separated children with their families.
There are currently no child-friendly or women-friendly spaces where groups can gather for services and peer support in key hosting areas, Mr. Ito added.
Confronted with the catastrophic living conditions in Burundi and ongoing violent clashes in eastern DRC between Rwanda-backed M23 rebels and government forces, refugees often move back and forth between the two countries. “Nearly half of last week’s registered 700 arriving refugees have been previously registered in Burundi,” the UN official said, pointing out that Congolese refugees are among the most vulnerable in the world.
Citing reduced resources and operational challenges, the UN agency insisted that the delivery of lifesaving aid and protection services remains a priority. This includes additional support amid a 60 per cent increase in reported sexual violence cases, most involving rape in the DRC.
“This balancing act is becoming increasingly impossible, with teams on the ground running a full-scale emergency response, responding to the needs of existing refugees in the country and preparing for future arrivals while also facing pressure to reduce their operations because of funding shortages,” Mr. Ito said.
Guatemala: Statement by the Spokesperson on detention of former indigenous leaders, including Vice-Minister Luis Pacheco
Guatemala: Statement by the Spokesperson on detention of former indigenous leaders, including Vice-Minister Luis Pacheco
Guatemala: Statement by the Spokesperson on detention of former indigenous leaders, including Vice-Minister Luis Pacheco
Guatemala: Statement by the Spokesperson on detention of former indigenous leaders, including Vice-Minister Luis Pacheco Source link
WFP runs out of food stocks in Gaza
On Friday, WFP announced it had delivered its last remaining supplies to kitchens preparing hot meals which are expected to be completely gone within days.
The UN agency warned that it may be forced to end critical assistance to families unless urgent action is taken.
Back to ‘breaking point’
“The situation inside the Gaza Strip has once again reached a breaking point: people are running out of ways to cope, and the fragile gains made during the short ceasefire have unravelled,” it said.
The kitchens have been the only consistent source of food assistance in Gaza for weeks, representing a critical lifeline even though they reached just half the population with only a quarter of their daily food needs.
WFP also supported 25 bakeries which all fully closed on 31 March as wheat flour and cooking fuel ran out. Furthermore, food parcels distributed to families – containing two weeks of rations – were exhausted that same week.
No aid for nearly two months
No humanitarian or commercial supplies have entered Gaza for more than seven weeks as all main border points remain closed.
UN agencies and senior officials, including Secretary-General António Guterres, have repeatedly appealed for humanitarian access.
WFP said the closure is the longest that Gaza has faced, and it is exacerbating already fragile markets and food systems.
Open aid corridors
Food prices have skyrocketed 1,400 per cent compared to the ceasefire period earlier in the year, while essential food commodities are in short supply.
This is raising serious concern about malnutrition – especially for young children, pregnant and breastfeeding women, older people, and other vulnerable persons.
Meanwhile, more than 116,000 metric tonnes of food assistance – enough to feed a million people for up to four months – are ready and waiting to be brought into Gaza by WFP and partners as soon as borders reopen.
“WFP urges all parties to prioritize the needs of civilians and allow aid to enter Gaza immediately and uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law,” the agency said.
Recent increase in Israeli attacks
The UN human rights office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory highlighted the deteriorating situation in both Gaza and the West Bank in a statement published on Friday.
It said that over the last 18 months, the lives of 2.2 million Palestinians in Gaza have been devasted by hostilities, severe restrictions on humanitarian assistance, and the destruction of nearly all essential infrastructure.
“Since the collapse of the ceasefire, and during the past week in particular, Israeli attacks on Palestinians have accelerated, claiming the lives of countless civilians and further risking the complete destruction of what little infrastructure remains.”
Displacement orders and “Israeli’s renewed complete blockade of the Gaza Strip” have further exacerbated the situation.
Desperation stokes unrest
The statement noted that “as the population becomes increasingly desperate due to the scarcity of food and other vital provisions, social unrest is deepening further, with frequent reports of disputes breaking out within the community involving the use of firearms.”
This is unfolding “in an environment where the law enforcement and justice system has been systematically dismantled by Israeli attacks and the targeting of civilian officials of the local administration.”
The Israeli military also continues to target civilian infrastructure in Gaza that is critical to survival.
Between 21 and 22 April, deliberate and coordinated attacks across three governorates resulted in the destruction of 36 heavy machines used in humanitarian relief operations, such as excavators, water trucks, and sewer suction tanks.
Their destruction “is likely to significantly hinder rescue operations, including retrieval of the injured and killed from under the rubble, clearance of debris to allow the movement of ambulances, as well as delivery of safe drinking water, solid waste collection, and the operation of sewage systems – further risking outbreaks of disease.”
Homes under fire
Strikes against shelters also continue. Between 18 March and 22 April. OHCHR’s Office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory recorded 229 attacks on residential buildings, and 91 attacks on tents for displaced people. Most resulted in fatalities, including many children and women.
The Office said persistent Israeli military attacks on civilians and civilian objects have continued throughout Gaza in violation of the core principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution, as required by international humanitarian law.
“Extremely high civilian casualties over 18 months do not appear to have prompted any changes in Israeli targeting practices and policies, a pattern indicating at the very least a complete disregard for the lives of civilians in Gaza,” it said.
“Matched with Israel’s policy of deliberately blocking life-saving assistance from entering the Gaza Strip, these policies appear to be aimed at punishing the civilian population of Gaza and inflicting on them conditions of life increasingly incompatible with their continued existence as a group in Gaza.”
Settler violence in the West Bank
Meanwhile in the West Bank, “rampant settler violence and operations conducted by Israeli security forces” continue to kill or injure Palestinians or force them from their homes or shelters in many areas.
In one incident on 23 April, settlers reportedly attacked Palestinians and their property in a village in Ramallah. Eight young Palestinian men were injured, and three agricultural structures were destroyed. Other “concerning incidents” were recorded elsewhere in the West Bank.
The statement noted that Israeli security forces have killed 192 children in the West Bank since 7 October 2023 – the date Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups launched deadly attacks on Israel.
Additionally, the large-scale Israeli operation in the northern West Bank has now entered a third month, with Israeli security forces continuing to prevent Palestinians from returning to their homes in the Jenin and Tulkarm refugee camps.
“With every day this operation continues, the prospect that Palestinians in affected camps will be able to return to their homes is diminishing, risking the permanent displacement of Palestinians from key West Bank population centres, amounting to forcible transfer,” the statement warned.
Ukraine: Continued Russian assaults drive civilians from frontline communities
“Attacks on frontline regions (are) increasing and it’s always civilians that are bearing the highest cost of the war,” said UNHCR Representative Karolina Lindholm Billing.
Since January, more than 3,500 newly displaced people have transited through a centre in Pavlohrad towards central Ukraine; in total, more than 200,000 people have been evacuated or displaced from frontline areas between August last year and the start of 2025.
Last to leave
Last month, more than 4,200 evacuees arrived at a transit centre in the northeastern city of Sumy where UNHCR and partners provide humanitarian support. These numbers are only a fraction of all those made homeless by the violence and mandatory evacuation orders issued by Kyiv in the face of ongoing Russian aggression.
The majority of those being moved are the elderly with low mobility or disabilities, families with few resources and children. In many cases, they stayed until the end because they didn’t want to leave everything they had behind, UNHCR said.
Cities and civilians targeted
On Thursday, UN aid agencies led condemnation of Russian missile-and-drone attack on Kyiv that killed 12 people and injured 84, one of a wave of attacks across the country that point to an intensification of the conflict since the start of the year – and growing humanitarian needs for refugees.
“Those deadly Russian attacks have intensified alarmingly since January,” said Ms. Billing, speaking to journalists in Geneva via videolink from Kyiv.
“More than 1,000 people have been directly affected as their homes have been damaged or completely destroyed. Civilian infrastructure were also hit in several other regions yesterday, including in Kharkiv, where I myself woke up around 2 am in the morning to the loud sound of explosions.”
According to the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, civilian casualties in Ukraine were 70 per cent higher in March this year compared to 12 months earlier.
Supporting lives and livelihoods
The war has left four million internally displaced since 24 February 2022 when Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine. Many of those uprooted have yet to find affordable housing and a new job – which is why support from humanitarian organizations is so crucial, the UNHCR official continued.
“One of the main things we deliver as part of the emergency response are emergency shelter materials that help people cover broken windows, roofs and doors,” Ms. Billing said.
Since 2022, UNHCR has supported around 450,000 people making repairs on their homes. The UN agency also provides psychological first aid and legal support to those who have lost their identity documents and emergency cash assistance to help people cover most basic needs.
Funding impacts
But more support is needed to sustain a timely and predictable response to the many calls for assistance the agency receives from the affected people and the authorities.
Last year, US funding for UNHCR accounted for around 40 per cent of its overall contributions. For 2025, UNHCR has appealed for $803.5 million to address the emergency situation in Ukraine. Today, that appeal is just 25 per cent funded. During the winter period, the agency had to put some of its programmes partially on hold, impacting psychosocial support, emergency shelter material and cash assistance.
Closing vaccination gaps, reaching every community
European Immunization Week is an initiative led by the World Health Organization (WHO) to raise awareness about the vital role immunisation plays to prevent diseases and protect life. This year’s EIW runs from 27 April to 3 May.
Vaccination is not only an act of self-protection but also one of solidarity, and one which offers both immediate and long-term benefits, even if they might not be visible directly: vaccines protect individuals from potentially serious diseases and in the long run also protect others by reducing spread of infections. That way, vaccination is not only an act of self-protection but also one of solidarity. Without widespread vaccination, many diseases that are now rare thanks to vaccines, could return.
Successful vaccination programmes are built on understanding and responding to people’s beliefs, concerns, and expectations, and large parts of the population in European Union and European Economic Area (EU/EEA) countries follow the national vaccine recommendations in their countries.
However, in 2023 and 2024, case reports of diseases such as measles and pertussis surged following a period of low transmission during the COVID-19 pandemic. Routine childhood vaccination coverage, particularly for measles, remains below the recommended threshold in several countries.
In this context, social and behavioural science approaches can help identify and address barriers to vaccination and improve uptake in populations with lower coverage rates through tailored interventions.
Join our digital event bridging epidemiology and social sciences to identify, understand and find joint solutions to address barriers against vaccination, close immunity gaps and improve vaccination coverage across the EU/EEA.
