Public Relations Global Network Endorses UNESCO Declaration on a Healthier, Viable, Better World

Global communications group joins initiative calling for communications professionals to do their part in face of the global pandemic, climate emergency and future threats facing mankind

The Public Relations Global Network (PRGN) today joined an initiative endorsed by Orbicom, the network of UNESCO chairs in communications, and called the “International Declaration of Communications Professionals and Researchers For a Healthier, Viable, Better World”. Building on the key role communications professionals play in managing global issues, the initiative now calls for the professionals’ joint commitment and action to help fight the coronavirus pandemic, climate change and other global challenges facing mankind.

According to the declaration, “with its health, social, economic and financial ravages, the coronavirus pandemic that has hit all regions of the Earth since the beginning of 2020 depicts the most serious crisis our world has experienced since the last century and more particularly since the Second World War. And communication is directly involved. […] In the face of this pandemic, a vast mobilization has been launched to bring together specialists and researchers in their communication roles and responsibilities. As this unprecedented global crisis calls for all the synergies around the world, the time has come to build solidarity to mobilize and to strengthen the cohesion of communication forces on an international scale.”

“As much as it is a truly sad and unwanted event, the coronavirus pandemic has showed yet again that communication plays a part and communications professionals have a strategic role in managing crises,” said Robert Bauer, President of PRGN and managing partner of accelent communications in Vienna, Austria. “By joining this declaration, I wish to express my sincere belief that members of our global network also do their share in solving local and global issues – be it the pandemic, climate change, racial equality, health and poverty or the lack of education – on the six continents where they are present.”

Founded in 1992 by a group of visionary public relations leaders, with approximately 1,000 professionals in 52 locations on six continents, PRGN is one of the world’s largest international public relations networks.

According to his message addressing the declaration, Oumar Kane, secretary general of Orbicom, the international network of UNESCO chairs in communications, said: “The pandemic requires the broadest possible global solidarity. We share the belief that organizations dedicated to communication have an important role to play in this current crisis.”

By joining the group of organizations endorsing the declaration, PRGN wishes to live up to that important role and to demonstrate its commitment to global solidarity.

The declaration calls for certain commitments by communications professionals:

• To work jointly and put our full energy into bringing people together to make a healthier world possible towards a harmonious shift to a viable, better future;
• To shoulder our responsibility through information and communications;
• To call for equal protection for all, strongly affirming that everyone deserves the same protection regardless of race, origin, gender, group or status;
• To play our full part in accompanying our communities in a critical transition to a new way of life, one that respects nature and the resources she gives us, that nurtures biodiversity and protects and treasures the Earth, our only home;
• To open, transparent and honest communications, free from fear and hatred, fostering a global, participatory, inclusive conversation, unwrapping unexpected opportunities in this uncertain world;
• To honour the power of active listening, lively and inclusive dialogue helping our communities and humanity build a healthier, viable, better world.

PRGN member agencies are independent, local, owner-operated public relations and marketing communications firms that share expertise and resources, while providing broad-based comprehensive communications strategies to clients worldwide.

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About Public Relations Global Network (PRGN):

Clients across six continents depend on the combined resources of the Public Relations Global Network (PRGN) to deliver targeted public relations campaigns in markets around the world. PRGN is one of the world’s largest international public relations networks measured by revenue. PRGN harnesses the resources of 50 independent public relations firms in 52 locations and close to 1,000 communications professionals to connect international companies and organizations with individual and culturally diverse markets globally. Visit PRGN online at www.prgn.com or on twitter at @PRGN. 

Companies or organizations interested in the services of PRGN’s local agency network can visit the agency directory section of the PRGN website or contact PRGN’s executive director Gábor Jelinek at gabor.jelinek@prgn.com for more information.

Independent agencies interested in joining the network can visit the member recruitment section of the PRGN website for more information or email its membership chair, David Wills, Senior Vice President of Media Profile at david.wills@mediaprofile.com.