GENEVA, Nov 11 (IPS) - A century later, the consequences of the end of World War I are still today resound from the Middle East, including Syria and Kurdistan, to the shaping of financial and economic policies in Europe.

SOUSA, Brazil, Nov 09 (IPS) - Dozens of trucks used to leave São Gonçalo every day, carrying the local agricultural production, mainly coconuts, to markets throughout Brazil, including the cities of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, more than 2,000 kilometers away.

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 09 (IPS) - Marco Napoli, who passed away on November 6, began his early professional career as a New York-based correspondent for several international news organizations, including the Italian Il Progresso News, back in the 1960s, long before he was Regional Director, IPS North America.

SANTIAGO, Nov 08 (IPS) - Julio Berdegué is FAO Regional Representative, Marita Perceval is Director of UNICEF in Latin America and the Caribbean, Miguel Barreto is Regional Director of WFP.

The number of undernourished people increased for the third consecutive year in Latin America and the Caribbean. It has exceeded 39 million people. In addition, almost one in four adults is obese, while overweight affects 250 million; more than the entire population of Brazil.

WAGENINGEN, The Netherlands, Nov 08 (IPS) - At every conference she has attended on the youth, Nawsheen Hosenally has been frustrated to hear that agriculture is not ‘cool’. The 29-year-old graduate in agricultural extension and information systems knew she wanted to do something to redeem the image of agriculture among young people.

SANTA BARBARA, California, Nov 08 (IPS) - Amber Rouleau is with the communications office for African Women Rising.

While its conflict ended in 2007, Northern Uganda struggles with its legacy as one of the most aid-dependent regions in the world.

SANTIAGO, Nov 08 (IPS) - "For the third consecutive year there is bad news" for Latin America and the Caribbean, where the numbers of hungry people have increased to "39.3 million people," or 6.1 percent of the population, Julio Berdegué, FAO's regional representative, said Wednesday.

BEAUNE, Burgundy, France, Nov 07 (IPS) - Boudewijn Mohr* is a former UNICEF country programme and operational management specialist who travelled across 36 countries on the African continent. He is also a former senior international corporate banker in New York, and author of the recently-released "A Destiny in the Making: From Wall Street to UNICEF in Africa".

Some 30 years ago, the international banks were afloat with petrodollars, deposited by the oil exporting countries. The banks in turn stepped up lending to Latin America, in a big way. The new branch of Société Générale in New York where I was working at the time followed suit rapidly building up its portfolio, as the bank needed to make loans to get its branch off the ground.

LOS BLANCOS, Argentina, Nov 06 (IPS) - "I've been used to hauling water since I was eight years old. Today, at 63, I still do it," says Antolín Soraire, a tall peasant farmer with a face ravaged by the sun who lives in Los Blancos, a town of a few dozen houses and wide dirt roads in the province of Salta, in northern Argentina.

NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 06 (IPS) - Mr. Toshitsugu Uesawa is Japan's Ambassador to Kenya and Siddharth Chatterjee is the UN Resident Coordinator to Kenya.

With good reason, Africa is excited over the prospects of sharing in the multi-trillion maritime industry, with the continent's Agenda 2063 envisioning the blue economy as a foremost contributor to transformation and growth.