ROME, 17 May 2002 - The "Best multimedia product for environmental information," one of the Pirelli INTERNETional Award prizes for the diffusion of scientific culture, was awarded to the WAICENT Portal of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization at a ceremony held yesterday at Palazzo Taverna in Rome.

Ms. Carleen Gardner, FAO Assistant Director-General, General Affairs and Information Department, received the award on behalf of the UN specialized agency. The CEO and Director-General of Pirelli S.p.A., Mr. Carlo Buora, handed Ms Gardner a commemorative plate and a Euro 15,000 cheque (US$13,000).

The award ceremony was attended by several Italian VIPs, high ranking FAO officials and journalists.

The Pirelli INTERNETional Award is an international multimedia award for work entirely carried out on the internet aimed at the diffusion of scientific and technological culture.

WAICENT is the World Agriculture Information Centre, FAO's strategic programme for improving access to documents, statistics, maps and multimedia resources on agriculture, forestry and fisheries.