What is the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management?

The Alliance is a framework for collaboration with a mission to enhance the public relations profession and its practitioners throughout the world. The Alliance was formally established in Chicago, Illinois, USA, on 25 October, 2000, after a Public Relations World Congress sponsored by the Public Relations Society of America and the International Public Relations Association. More than 20 national and international associations were actively involved in the founding of this historic framework. As of July 2003 there were 40 national and international associations members representing well over 100,000 practitioners from around the world. Through this website our partners have established a platform for sharing resources and important information about the industry.


Why is the Global Alliance needed?

In this new century, more and more public relations practitioners represent organizations that transcend national boundaries. In addition, everyone is increasingly affected by global trends and issues. Most professions have a forum for discussing and adopting common positions that affect the profession. The public relations industry now has the GA to play that key advocacy role. For several years, practitioners and the associations who serve them have felt a need to share ideas and best practices, seek common interests and standards, and better understand the unique aspects of each culture in which practitioners operate. As no one association can do, the Global Alliance will provide initiatives to help achieve these goals. Through cooperation, the associations and their member practitioners will be able to strengthen the influence of the public relations industry among our constituents around the world. A key first international standard was achieved with the unanimous approval of a universal code of ethics that took into consideration flexibility of application in different parts of the world without compromising the basic elements of such a code.

What are the benefits of the Global Alliance for individual members of our associations?

This new entity is an alliance of associations; there are no individual members. However, members of participating associations will benefit in a variety of ways. Interested individuals will be able to access information regarding regional or international conferences and seminars, case studies, awards programs, benchmarking research, and other pertinent communication. As a further benefit for all members, the GA decided to extend ‘member status’ to one another for the purchase of documents and registration to conferences and seminars. This benefit automatically applies to individual members of partner organisations - giving individuals a direct access to a world of possibility at a reduced rate. The Global Alliance will continue to enhance the value of one’s membership by offering unique networking opportunities for professionals and will serve as a vehicle for examining ethical standards, universal accreditation options, and other initiatives to strengthen the profession around the world.

Will our members be required to pay more money for our associations to be involved?

The participating entities have pledged to avoid any additional burden on their members. A modest fee of $500 USD is charged annually to all national associations. Other types of financial and non-financial (i.e. in-kind) arrangements are also possible for smaller and developing associations. The GA is also making efforts that solicit donations, grants, sponsorships, usage fees, and other funding possibilities. Associations that have chosen to support a nominee for one of the six executive board positions have agreed to cover the respective costs of their nominee for the meetings of the executive as well as the annual council members meeting.

Which associations have been involved in founding the Global Alliance?

Canadian Public Relations Society (CPRS); 
Public Relations Institute of Southern Africa (PRISA);
Confederation Europeene des Relations Publiques (CERP); 
Public Relations Society of America (PRSA);
Estonian Public Relations Association (EPRA); 
Public Relations Society of India (PRSI);
Federazione Relazioni Pubbliche Italiana (FERPI); 
Public Relations Society of Kenya (PRSK);
Hungarian Public Relations Association (HPRA); 
Public Relations Society of Puerto Rico (PRSPR);
Institute of Public Relations (CIPR, United Kingdom); 
Public Relations Society of Slovenia (PRSS);
International Association of Business Communicators (IABC); 
Public Relations Society of the Philippines (PRSP);
Public Relations Society of Yugoslavia (PRSY);
Public Relations Agencies Association of Mexico (PRAA); 
Romanian Public Relations Association (RPRA);
Public Relations Institute of Australia (PRIA); 
Russian Public Relations Association (RASO);
Public Relations Institute of Ireland (PRII); 
Swedish Public Relations Association (SPRA);
Public Relations Institute of New Zealand (PRINZ)

August 2003