October 15th, 1999: On The Occasion Of World Food Day,
four world-renowned personalities have been named Ambassadors of FAO by Director-General Jacques Diouf
to support the Organization in its fight against world hunger.

Nobel Prize winner in medicine Rita Levi Montalcini, actress Gina Lollobrigida,
jazz singer Dee Dee Bridgewater and singer Miriam Makeba
will carry the message of World Food Day and TeleFood - Food for All - to the public, increasing awareness of
world hunger and appealing for international solidarity to finance its defeat.

World Food Day is observed every year on 16 October,
the day FAO was founded in 1945. TeleFood is an annual global campaign of broadcasts, concerts and other
events dedicated to building a world free of hunger.

"Youth against Hunger" is the theme of TeleFood/World Food Day 1999.
All TeleFood events in all countries are putting the spotlight on the problem of hunger in the world and highlighting
the contribution of young people to the battle against world hunger.

Said Dr. Jacques Diouf, in his World Food Day Message,
"This year's World Food Day and TeleFood theme 'Youth against Hunger' has been chosen both to underline
the role of young people in the fight against hunger and malnutrition and to provide a strategic opportunity
for their involvement in the campaign to achieve food for all."

Slovakia's president Rudolf Schuster, Italian Minister of Agriculture
Paolo de Castro and FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf
addressed the World Food Day Ceremony at FAO Headquarters on October 15.

On October 19, Dr. M.S. Swaminathan,
one of the leaders of India's "Green Revolution" in the 1960s,
delivered the keynote speech at the World Food Day Ceremony at UN Headquarters
in New York. Other speakers included Dr. Jacques Diouf,
UN Deputy Secretary-General Ms. Louise Frechette, and Mr. Theo Ben Gurirab, Foreign Minister of Namibia
and current President of the UN General Assembly.