Bologna has won the European Mobility Week Award for its work in making sustainable mobility more accessible through Car-Free Days, information stands, and educational activities. Czech association Pěšky městem won the Mobility Action Award for promoting active mobility in 501 schools.
The EU is investing €1.3 billion to roll out critical technologies that are strategically important for the future of Europe and the EU’s tech sovereignty. Work will focus on boosting the use of AI and its uptake by businesses and public administration, cyber resilience and digital skills.
That’s according to the head of the UN stabilization mission in DR Congo (MONUSCO), Bintou Keita, who briefed the Security Council in New York on Thursday over escalating violence and displacement in the country since M23 overran the key cities of Goma and Bukavu last month.
These armed groups are not only seizing territory, she explained, but also attempting to install “a parallel administration”, recently appointing a governor and two-vice governors in Bukavu as well as financial and mining officials in North Kivu.
The MONUSCO peacekeepers have been in DRC since 2010 with a mandate to protect civilians and strengthen the Congolese Government’s efforts to quell violence and insecurity at the hands of multiple armed groups in the east.
MONUSCO had proceeded, at DRC’s request, to withdraw its troops from South Kivu in June 2024 but Kinshasa reversed course, asking the Security Council to extend MONUSCO’s mandate through the end of 2025.
Despite best efforts, armed groups have made major recent gains, chiefly the March 23 Movement which defends the interests of Congolese Tutsi – many exiled from Rwanda – and benefits from the support of Rwandan forces, and the extremist Allied Democratic Forces (ADF).
Ms. Keita described an alarming rise in human rights violations, including the summary execution of more than 100 civilians, forced child recruitment, abductions and cases of forced labour.
“Women and children remain the main victims,” she told the Council, noting a spike in sexual violence linked to mass displacement, conflict and the presence of escaped prisoners and new recruits in affected areas.
“Internally, displaced girls and boys are traumatised,” explained Charlotte Slente, from the Danish Refugee Council, also briefing Member States. “We have heard reports of girls engaging in survival sex,” she underscored.
Aid workers have documented rape cases involving girls as young as five, with nearly every child protection case involving sexual violence. From December 2024 to February 2025, 403 grave violations of children’s rights were verified.
In Ituri province – above North-Kivu – violence between CODECO and Zaïre armed groups has worsened, with civilians near mining zones and farmland bearing the brunt of the attacks.
The security situation has driven hundreds of thousands from their homes, with over 100,000 newly displaced since January in the city of Djugu in Ituri, alone.
However, humanitarian access remains severely constrained due to insecurity, roadblocks and the closure of key airports in Goma and Kavumu.
At the same time, the situation is being aggravated “in a global context of financial crisis”, Ms. Keita stressed. As of March, the 2025 Humanitarian Response Plan for the DR Congo was only 8.2 per cent funded.
Despite these obstacles, MONUSCO continues to deliver on its mandate, she underlined, citing expanded patrols, civilian protection efforts and the facilitation of disarmament talks in Ituri.
These led to the surrender of over 2,200 fighters from the Zaïre group and the capture of weapons and ammunition.
Meanwhile, the deployment of a new Force Commander in North Kivu, has boosted coordination with Congolese forces. Still, MONUSCO faces movement restrictions imposed by M23 in and around Goma, including roadblocks and advance notice requirements.
Ms. Keita expressed deep concern over rising hate speech and ethnic targeting of Tutsi and Swahili-speaking Congolese, particularly as displaced populations move westward into DRC’s vast interior.
She called on the Government to adopt legislation to counter tribalism, racism and xenophobia, and reaffirm the nation’s diversity.
Efforts toward a ceasefire and political solution have so far stalled despite regional and international pressure – including resolution 2773 and mediation efforts led by Angola under the leadership of the African Union.
M23’s advance disrupted transition talks between MONUSCO and Congolese authorities, especially in South Kivu, where Bukavu is under rebel control.
Ms. Keita explained that the efforts to plan the mission’s disengagement from North Kivu and Ituri are “compromised”, with several planning assumptions now obsolete.
Nevertheless, she reiterated MONUSCO’s commitment to a coordinated withdrawal process when possible.
In closing, the UN Special Representative called on the council to take “concrete measures” against those responsible for grave rights violations and to renew efforts to ensure a political resolution.
“We must direct all our efforts towards securing an unconditional ceasefire,” she said.
The Council approves conclusions setting out clear guidelines for the future of EU’s cohesion policy.
Priorities for investment range from new technologies for cybersecurity, including on AI and post-quantum transition, to actions for improving EU cyber resilience and supporting SMEs.
The adoption of the DEP WP 2025-2027 constitutes a fundamental instrument for the implementation and advancement of the mission of the ECCC. The Centre aims to pool investment in cybersecurity research, technology, and industrial development, and ensure the efficient implementation of projects and initiatives in coordination with the Network of National Coordination Centres (NCCs).
During 2025-2027, the ECCC will continue to finance uptake and deployment actions in cybersecurity by the means of calls for proposals. The programme is structured as follows:
New technologies, AI and post-quantum transition
Dedicated actions will support entities in developing and deploying systems and tools for cybersecurity based on AI (including GenAI based technologies), reliable, secure and resilient AI models and algorithms or build the European testing infrastructure for the post quantum transition.
These enabling technologies should allow more effective creation and analysis of Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI), automation of large-scale processes, as well as faster and scalable processing of CTI and identification of patterns that allow for rapid detection and decision making.
It will also include actions aimed at improving industrial and market readiness for the cybersecurity requirements for SMEs as specified in relevant EU cybersecurity legislation and to ensure the development and use of more secure hardware and software products.
Cyber Solidarity Act Implementation
The ECCC will contribute to the creation of the European Cybersecurity Alert System (ECAS) foreseen in the Cyber Solidarity Act, to build and enhance coordinated detection and common situational awareness capabilities at European level. In this regard, a pan-European network of national and cross-border Cyber Hubs will be established. The ECCC will support preparedness activities, part of the Cybersecurity Emergency Mechanism and the mutual assistance mechanisms foreseen in the Cyber Solidarity Act.
Additional actions improving EU cyber resilience
The ECCC will support the integration of relevant cybersecurity requirements deriving from several regulations and directives: NIS 2 directive, Cyber Resilience Act, CSA, DORA, GDPR, AI Act as required. It will contribute to the EC priorities, including to support the cybersecurity of hospitals and healthcare providers in alignment with the Action Plan. In addition, it is envisaged to provide support to improve the resilience and security of the infrastructure critical for global communications and solutions to cover the surveillance and protection of critical undersea infrastructure, such as submarine cables, as well as the detection of malicious activities around them.
ECCC Executive Director Luca Tagliaretti said: “The first ECCC Cybersecurity Work Programme is an important milestone in our establishment as key player in the EU cybersecurity landscape. The funding available will support innovation and deployment of technologies in Europe and contribute to the common goal of building a cyber resilient EU.”
Background
The ECCC implements the ‘Specific Objective 3: Cybersecurity and Trust’ from the DEP Regulation (EU) 2021/694. This is the first DEP Work Programme developed by ECCC following its financial autonomy reached in 2024. The Cybersecurity WP is meant to complement the main DEP WP and was written in close consultation with the ECCC Governing Board and the European Commission.
This document includes inputs from the ECCC strategic agenda and considers all the legal obligations stemming from the ECCC regulation, DEP regulation, Cyber Solidarity act, while supporting the implementation of other key legislative files including the Cyber Resilience Act, the Cybersecurity Act and NIS 2 Directive.
For more information: Digital Europe Cybersecurity Work Programme 2025-2027
Contact for media: communicationeccc [dot] europa [dot] eu (communication[at]eccc[dot]europa[dot]eu)
UNICEF’s Rosalia Bollen, who’s on the ground there, said that hundreds of children had been killed and injured – some with severe burns, shrapnel lodged in their bodies, fractures and amputations.
“Even on 18 March with that very heavy, intense bombing, children still kept hope because they thought maybe it’s a one-off, but it’s not,” she told UN News.
“The attacks continue, the airstrikes continue, tank shelling, shooting and displacement orders continue…people keep being pushed around with very few belongings.”
The head of the UN’s Palestine refugee relief agency (UNRWA), which is now outlawed by Israel although continuing to operate inside the shattered enclave, said everyone feared the worst is yet to come in Gaza.
“For nearly three weeks now, the Israeli authorities continue to ban the entry of any humanitarian aid or basic commercial supplies,” Philippe Lazzarini said in a social media post.
“Under our daily watch, people in Gaza are again and again going through their worst nightmare. An endless unleashing of the most inhumane ordeals.”
Also on Thursday, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned that hundreds of thousands of Gazans risk severe hunger and malnutrition as food stocks dwindle and borders remain closed.
WFP now has approximately 5,700 tons of food stocks left in Gaza, which is enough to support operations “for a maximum of two weeks”, the agency said.
The agency has decided with the deteriorating security situation, rapid displacement of people, and growing needs, to distribute as much food as possible, as quickly as possible in Gaza:
Food parcels: WFP plans to distribute food parcels to half a million people; the reduced size parcel will feed a family for roughly one week.
Bakeries: Wheat flour supplies are sufficient to support bread production for 800,000 people for five days only. Currently 19 of 25 WFP-supported bakeries remain operational, and many struggle with severe crowd control issues as fear of bread shortages spreads throughout the Strip.
Hot meals: WFP has supplies to support 37 kitchens across Gaza cooking 500,000 hot meals per day for the next two weeks.
Fortified biscuits: WFP has emergency stocks of fortified biscuits – enough for 415,000 people – which can be used as a last resort if all other food stocks are exhausted.
WFP and partners have positioned more than 85,000 tons of food commodities outside Gaza, ready to be brought in if border crossings are opened.
UNRWA continues to provide healthcare and medical services in its health centers in Gaza.
Intensified hostilities continue across the Strip, killing and injuring people and severely constraining the ability of humanitarian workers to provide life-saving support, said UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, briefing journalists in New York.
Since Israel’s ground operation commenced in Rafah on Sunday, several ambulances belonging to the Palestinian Civil Defense – as well as the Palestine Red Crescent Society – were hit trying to rescue the wounded and their crews became trapped in the area.
“Contact with the teams was lost, but several casualties have been reported,” he added.
Yesterday, a UN humanitarian and Red Crescent team attempted to extract any casualties and recover the ambulances, but they were unable to reach the area.
“Health workers, including first responders, should never be targeted,” Mr. Dujarric said. “Civilians fleeing fighting must be allowed to do so safely, and they must be allowed to return voluntarily when the situation allows it.”
More people in Gaza are being forced to flee, and displacement orders now cover 18 per cent of Gaza’s territory again.
“The UN and our partners are responding to people’s deepening needs as the situation allows it, but the complete closure of the crossings for the entry of cargo, which includes humanitarian aid – coupled with the ongoing hostilities – is making all of this increasingly challenging,” the UN Spokesperson underscored.
Tens of thousands of tents and hundreds of thousands of shelter items are waiting to enter Gaza, and many families forced to flee are unable to bring any of their belongings, further intensifying the shelter crisis.
“Dwindling shelter stocks in Gaza are completely insufficient to meet the immense needs,” said Mr. Dujarric.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) warns that the health system in Gaza is in freefall.
Health partners report that essential supplies for mass casualty incidents need to be restocked due to the sharp increase in trauma cases and the severity of injuries.
WHO reports there are fewer than 500 units of blood available, when 8,000 are needed every month.
The Council imposed restrictive measures on an additional 25 persons and 7 entities responsible of undermining democracy and the rule of law in Belarus, as well as contributing to ongoing internal repression and human rights abuses.
And as supplies of food, medicine and other supplies run low, aid teams are increasingly concerned about growing anxiety in bread lines outside the enclave’s remaining bakeries.
“Most attempts by humanitarian organizations to coordinate access with Israeli authorities within #Gaza result in #AccessDenied,” the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, said in an online post.
Five out of seven such attempts were denied on Monday and six out of nine were rejected on Tuesday, it explained.
Medical teams in Gaza are also exhausted “and urgently need protection and reinforcement” from ongoing strikes across the Strip, the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, said on Wednesday.
It cited new reports of attacks against health workers, ambulances and hospitals and warned of “hundreds of casualties, a severe drop in medical stocks and a lack of equipment, blood units and personnel” since the ceasefire ended.
“No one is safe. The world must have zero tolerance for atrocities,” the UN agency insisted.
Nearly 800 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in recent days following the resumption of Israeli bombardment on 18 March, according to the health authorities. This includes a reported 38 individuals killed in the last 24 hours.
In just the last week, eight aid workers have been killed in the enclave, bringing the total killed in Gaza to 399. That number includes at least 289 UN personnel, OCHA said, with staffers from the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) and the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) killed last Wednesday in an apparent Israeli tank strike on a United Nations compound in Deir al-Balah that also seriously wounded six others. Israel denied responsibility for the attack.
Three of those injured worked in support of the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) which is involved in clearing unexploded ordnance in Gaza.
OCHA noted that on 20 March, the Israeli military re-deployed along the eastern and central part of the “Netzarim corridor” in Gaza. Movement between the north and south of Gaza was only allowed via the Al Rashid coast road.
These military activities and new displacement orders issued by the Israeli military have triggered “new waves” of displacement across Gaza, with more than 142,000 people likely uprooted between 18 and 23 March, the UN aid office said.
“Israeli evacuation orders have covered 55 square kilometres across six areas of the #Gaza Strip – nearly the size of Manhattan,” OCHA said in an online post.
Around 15 per cent of the enclave has been impacted by evacuation orders – in addition to “no-go zones” that run along borders and in central Gaza.
The Israeli Government’s decision to ban the entry of humanitarian aid and any other supplies via all land crossings into Gaza is the longest such closure since October 2023, OCHA added, warning that gains made during the ceasefire to support survivors “have been reversed”.
To date, at least 50,000 Palestinians have been confirmed dead by local authorities with 113,828 wounded since the war erupted on 7 October 2023, in response to Hamas-led terror attacks on Israel that left more than 1,100 dead and more than 250 taken hostage.
The arrest of First Vice President and main opposition leader Riek Machar, alongside mounting military clashes and reported attacks on civilian populations, signals a severe unravelling of the peace process and a direct threat to millions, rights investigators said.
“At the heart of South Sudan’s crisis is a failure to protect civilians and uphold the commitments of the Revitalized Peace Agreement,” said Commission Chair Yasmin Sooka.
“The deliberate targeting of opposition leaders and civilians represents a reckless disregard for international law and the country’s future,” she added.
South Sudan is the world’s youngest nation, having gained independence in July 2011. However, war erupted in December 2013 between troops loyal to President Salva Kiir and opposition forces led by Mr. Machar, resulting in hundreds of thousands of deaths. The 2018 peace deal ended the fighting and established a unity government.
The Commission noted that violence has intensified in multiple regions of the country over the past month.
This includes Upper Nile state, where aerial assaults have displaced more than 60,000 people and targeted populated areas following an attack on a helicopter from the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) on 7 March.
Following reports of Mr. Machar’s arrest on Wednesday, UNMISS issued a statement urging the parties to exercise restraint and uphold the Revitalized Peace Agreement.
The UN Commission warned that failure to uphold the protections enshrined in the accord – including freedom of movement, political participation, and the cessation of hostilities – will lead to a catastrophic return to war.
“The Peace Agreement is not optional – it is binding,” said Ms. Sooka. “Its systematic undermining by political and military actors is not only unlawful but a betrayal of the South Sudanese people who have already endured years of devastating conflict.”
The Commission noted that the situation is further exacerbated by the deployment of Ugandan troops and battle tanks into South Sudan following a request by the country’s President.
The development raises serious concerns over potential violations of the UN arms embargo and the growing partisan role of foreign forces, which further endangers civilians and risks regional escalation.
Although the protection of civilians must be the central priority, “instead, we are witnessing actions that increase civilian vulnerability – indiscriminate attacks, arbitrary detentions, and foreign intervention,” said Commissioner Carlos Castresana Fernández.
The Commission emphasized that all parties to the conflict – including State actors and militias – are bound by international humanitarian and human rights law. Furthermore, violations, including war crimes and crimes against humanity, may lead to individual criminal accountability before domestic or international courts.
“We must not allow South Sudan to repeat the mistakes of the past,” said Commissioner Barney Afako, warning that “failure to de-escalate the ongoing political and military tension will be cataclysmic” for the country.
“The way forward is clear: an immediate recommitment to the Revitalized Agreement, the release of political detainees, the cessation of hostilities, and above all – protection of civilians,” he said.
The Commission is calling on regional and international partners, including the African Union (AU), East African bloc IGAD and the UN, to urgently intensify diplomatic pressure, support de-escalation, and ensure full implementation of the provisions of the peace agreement.
