The Secretariat of the World Congress on Communication for Development (WCCD) announced today that the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management has joined the Advisory Body of the Congress to be held in Rome, Italy from October 25 to 27, 2006 organized by the World Bank, the Food and Agriculture Organization and the Communication Initiative Network.

The Global Alliance will be represented by its Chairman, Mr. Sej Motau, who will advise on the strategy to involve policy and decision makers to participate in the Congress, on the post-Congress advocacy strategy and agenda, and also on the study on mainstreaming communication being carried out ahead of the Congress.

The Global Alliance will organize a session on “The Role of Public Relations in the New Development Paradigm” as one of the twelve Special Events of the WCCD.

Several high level participants are expected to participate in this event and discuss how public relations can contribute to promoting the participation and inclusion of stakeholders in the policy making process in developing countries.

The Members of the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management - 63 national associations representing more than 160 thousand professionals around the world - will also contribute to the Congress outreach strategy by disseminating information on the key topics discussed in the WCCD in their respective countries.

The WCCD, organized by the World Bank, Food and Agriculture Organization and the Communication Initiative Network, will be hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Italy in Rome on October 25-27. It will be a unique event as it will bring together in the same forum and for the first time communication professionals engaged in development initiatives, policy- and decision-makers, practitioners, donor and Civil Society representatives, community representatives, and academics from around the world (600 participants from over 120 countries).

The Congress aims to incorporate communication for development into mainstream development policies and practice by demonstrating its value-added, providing evidence of its impact in increasing sustainability of development interventions, and consolidating the theories and methodologies of the discipline.

Communication for development can be defined as a process of dialogue, information sharing, building mutual understanding, agreeing to collective action, and amplifying the voice of people to influence policies that affect their lives. It is also a fundamental tool to assess and mitigate the political risks of development interventions.

Health, Governance, Sustainable Development, and New Frontiers in Communication will be the main thematic focuses of the discussions.

Further information: For more information on the WCCD, please visit www.devcomm.org