This is the News in Brief from the United Nations. 

Israel-Palestine crisis: Silence the guns, UN relief chief tells Paris forum

The UN’s top relief official Martin Griffiths travelled to the Paris humanitarian conference on Gaza on Thursday to issue an appeal for a significant break in the fighting there and greater protection for displaced civilians.

The UN relief chief stressed the urgent need for a humanitarian ceasefire, “silencing the guns” to give some respite to Gazans and allow for vital services to resume.

He also called for the protection of civilians “wherever they are” and reiterated concern over the displacement by Israeli military operations of hundreds of thousands of people from the north to the south of the enclave to “so-called safe zones”, where in fact their security was not guaranteed.

According to the UN humanitarian aid coordination office (OCHA) headed by Mr. Griffiths, another 50,000 people reportedly evacuated from north to south Gaza on Wednesday through a “corridor” opened by the Israeli military.

Mr. Griffiths stressed the crucial role of multilateral diplomatic efforts to protect civilians, ensure aid access and enable the release of the 240 people held hostage by Hamas in Gaza since the militant group carried out its terror attacks in southern Israel over a month ago.

‘Striking’ regional inequalities in early breast cancer detection

Crucial early detection of breast cancer is strongly determined by where the cancer patient lives, according to new research by the UN World Health Organization’s cancer research agency, IARC.

The study of more than two million women across 81 countries found “striking” variations across countries and regions. Close to one in three women diagnosed with breast cancer in sub-Saharan Africa for example were found to have later-stage tumours which had spread from their original location, compared to just one in 10 in Europe and North America.Breast 

The report also shows that a higher proportion of women with low socioeconomic status were diagnosed with later-stage tumours.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer type worldwide and the leading cause of death from cancer in women. 

To reduce breast cancer deaths, WHO advises that countries strive to increase the proportion of breast cancers diagnosed at an early stage to at least 60 per cent, which requires investment in detection capabilities and in data-gathering.

Funding needed to prevent El Niño from aggravating global hunger

The El Niño climate pattern will have severe impacts on agriculture and food security, threatening the lives and livelihoods of millions of people who require urgent support, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Thursday. 

El Niño affects farming and food production by bringing either too much or too little rain, depending on the region, and disrupting temperatures. FAO called for emergency funding of $160 million to help over 4.8 million of the most vulnerable people in 34 countries and prevent damage and loss of crops, livestock, land, water and infrastructure.

The UN agency warned that the world was entering the current El Niño cycle with a record 258 million people experiencing acute hunger and only a fifth of the total funds required to cope with the high levels of food insecurity.

Farmers, pastoralists, fishers and other small-scale producers bear the brunt of climate shocks, FAO said. In Somalia, the UN agency supported them by repairing riverbank breakage points along the Shabelle river to protect 40,000 hectares of cropland from floods.

“Every dollar invested in anticipatory action can create a return for farming families of more than $7 in avoided losses and added benefits,” according to the FAO.

Dominika Tomaszewska-Mortimer, UN News.