Ferpi > News > Global Alliance: una lettera di Sej Motau dal Brasile e la sua relazione al Festival Mondiale delle

Global Alliance: una lettera di Sej Motau dal Brasile e la sua relazione al Festival Mondiale delle

11/07/2006

Dopo la Dichiarazione di Brasilia, pubblicata la scorsa settimana, ecco ora un resoconto e un intervento del Presidente della Global Alliance dal Terzo Festival Mondiale delle Relazioni Pubbliche.

A conclusione del terzo Festival Mondiale delle Relazioni Pubbliche, svoltosi a Brasilia dal 26 al 28 giugno u.s. - la scorsa settimana abbiamo pubblicato la Dichiarazione conclusiva  del congresso che racchiude i cinque principi emersi e condivisi tra i rappresentanti di 18 paesi presenti al Festival dedicato a 'RP: Voci del Mondo'.Questa settimana presentiamo la lettera del presidente della Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management, Sej Motau, a commento dell'esito del Festival che ha ribadito il ruolo centrale delle Relazioni Pubbliche nella promozione dei valori democratici basati sulla libera espressione e sul libero flusso delle informazioni, anche attraverso i nuovi Media, seguita dal suo intervento al convegno di Brasilia.

Ecco la lettera di Sej Motau rivolta ai membri della Global Alliance."Letter From Brazil"  
Dear GA partners,
"Public Relations must support the promotion of democratic values based on free expression, free will and free flow of information, including on the Internet and new technologies".On that note, the curtain came down on a successful 3rd World Public Relations Festival in Brasilia, Brazil, on 28 June 2006. This commitment is one of several contained in a statement Letter from Brazil - co-signed by the GA and Conferp in the presence of delegates from18 countries assembled in Brasilia for the historic event.Giving substance to the festival theme, Public Relations The Voice of the World, the letter also stated that: 

The practice of Public Relations is an instrument for the development of people and nations in the construction of just societies.
Public Relations professionals should be engaged in the fight against injustice, discrimination and social exclusion of men and women as minimum standards to assist development and support human rights.
The Public Relations profession has a responsibility to lend its voice and talents in pursuit of the freedom of individuals, the acceptance of individual differences, as well as diversity in all its forms, be it ethnic or cultural, for the greater good of society.
Public Relations professionals should pursue the establishment and enhancement of relationships with all stakeholders in order to break down or reduce the barriers that hinder the access for millions of people in the world to minimum conditions to sustain themselves. 
I hope that the statement sends a clear message that public relations professionals around the world are no longer prepared to "just do our work" and stand on the sidelines of world issues that affect their profession and their lives. They are prepared to employ their skills and talents to make a contribution to global efforts to make the world a better place for all of us. I urge our partners to encourage their members to internalize these sentiments so that they form an integral part of the culture of public relations around the globe.  
To this end, let me say that the executive board and I would have liked to see most of our GA partners represented at the festival and during our council meeting in Brasilia but for various reasons, that was not to be. I believe that the relatively late invitation with vital information about the festival had a lot to do with the poor attendance by members. We regret this and I promise that, in future, we will do all in our power to ensure that members are well informed in time about GA events. While 18 countries were represented at the festival not all of them were members of the GA. I could go into detailed explanations as to why things turned out the way they did this time, but that would be like crying over spilt milk. On the other hand, I would really like to thank the members of the executive board who made it to Brazil, even after many of us had to cope with the uncertainty of how we would get to Brasilia due to problems with Varig, the Brazilian national carrier on which many of us were booked. To our credit, we persevered and got there. I would also like to thank our GA partners and hosts, Conferp, for their hospitality and excellent arrangements made for the GA executive board and council meetings. Both meetings were highly productive. You should have received this information by now, but I would like to, formally, introduce to you our two new members of the executive board: Dr Ajit Pathak of the Public Relations Society of India, secretary; and treasurer, Mr Furio Garbagnati of FERPI, Italy. We look forward to their contribution to the common good of the GA, our profession and the members of our partner associations. The festival, attended by more than 500 delegates, followed the format of the two successful earlier festivals in Italy with plenary, breakaway sessions and several benchmark case studies. Something heartening about the delegates was that many of them were students in public relations from local universities. The inputs from speakers were of a high quality and I believe that the stature of our brand was enhanced by the event. As I pointed out during my presentation: "In our quest to raise the quality and professionalism of public relations, the GA has developed the concept of world public relations festivals. These festivals bring together some of the best minds in the profession to share and explore the latest trends in the public relations and communication management industry. The GA is proud of this brand and we plan to refine the product as we gain experience to be the best practice for the world in this kind of forum."  
On a different note, I also made the following appeal to our members: "It is generally accepted in many parts of the world that most public relations practitioners remain outside the ambit of any public relations professional body. This is a serious challenge for the GA and our partners in the various countries because while this trend persists, we cannot mobilize and leverage the profession's resources to the best effect. While we must give primary attention to our members, we must also strive to bring these outsider colleagues' into the extended public relations family. This can only strengthen all of us." Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could all increase of memberships by at least 5 percent by the end of 2007. Which brings me to the 4th World Public Relations Festival. This event will take place in Cape Town, South Africa, from 13 15 May 2007 and our hosts will be PRISA, the Institute for Public Relations and Communication management in Southern Africa. You may expect to hear more about the event and arrangements for this festival in due course from our hosts. The executive board and the GA council meetings will also take place during the festival. I urge our members to make sure that they are all well represented in Cape Town to make sure that the decisions taken by the council serve their interests and those of our profession well.Enquiries about the festival may be referred to: margim@prisa.co.za or susanr@prisa.co.za.
In our effort to give substance to the GA mission to: "Leverage the work of associations and institutes for the benefit and growth of our member associations and institutes," the executive has been invited and has accepted to hold its next meeting in Puerto Rico on 5 October 2006. This meeting will form part of the national conference of the Public Relation Society of Puerto Rico set to take place at the Dorado del Mar Beach and Gold Resort on 6 7 October. I am sure Puerto Rico would like to host as many of our members at their conference as possible. Raquel Rivera is director national conference committee 2006 and she may be reached on: rcrivera@prtc.net. I trust that by now you have received communication about the GA's involvement in the World Congress on Communication for Development which will take place in Rome, Italy, from 25 27 October 2006. This promises to be a n event of high significance for communication and development and the GA will take its role on the Advisory Council and the session on "The role of Public Relations in the New Development Paradigm very seriously. More on this congress in due course. Let's build the public relations profession together: One Profession One Voice. Sej Motau, FPRISAChairman Global Alliance


Qui di seguito, l'intervento di Motau al 3rd World PR Festival di Brasilia.
Public Relations: Voices in the WorldONE PROFESSION ONE VOICE IT is now common cause that we live in a global village, a world without borders that operates in a "zero time" environment. Looking at the theme of this festival Public Relations: The Voice of the World - one cannot but help feeling that in the world I have just described, we would have had to invent the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management (GA) if it did not exist. Luckily the GA does exist and the organisation is seized with the challenge of getting the myriad "PR voices in the world" to speak as one, thus its vision: One Profession One Voice. THE Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management (GA) is an association of national and non-national associations of public relations and communication management. The GA has more than 60 members or partners representing more than 160 000 public relations professionals around the world. Conferp, the Federal Council of Public Relations Professionals in this country, is one such partner and we are grateful that they have agreed to host the GA executive and council members at this festival. As indicated earlier, the vision of the GA is "One Profession One Voice" and our mission is to:

Unify the profession by linking together all national public relations and communication management associations in the world as well as regional, specialty and international associations.
Provide a framework for the discussion and consensus-based definition for professional standards and to share resources for the benefit of the professional community. 

Leverage the work of associations and institutes for the benefit and growth of our member associations and institutes and their members; and 

Become the authoritative global voice on public relations matters and to work in the public interest for the benefit of the public relations profession.  
Guiding Principles The GA is driven by the belief that there are universal values and behaviours such as ethics and honesty to be promoted for the good of our profession and practitioners. To this end, a global Protocol for Codes of Ethics has been adopted and December 2006 has been set as the deadline for ratification by member associations. The GA also believes in flexible approaches to universal standards that reflect cultural differences in the interpretation, adaptation and implementation of our work. Thus, a series of profiles on how Public Relations is practiced around the world, known to us as PR Landscapes, has been launched. We have also undertaken a study to facilitate the formulation of a global public relations curriculum. This research is work in progress carried out by a doctoral student at Leeds Metropolitan University. We look forward to the outcome and we hope that once completed these projects will take us further on the journey to achieve our stated long-term objective of One Profession One Voice.
PR Festivals  In our quest to raise the quality and professionalism of public relations, the GA developed the concept of world public relations festivals. These festivals bring together some of the best minds in the profession to share and explore the latest trends in the public relations and communication management industry. This global PR Indaba, the 3Rd World PR Festival, follows two highly successful festivals that were held in Trieste in 2005 and Rome in 2003, both in Italy. The 4th World PR Festival will be hosted by the Institute for Public Relations and Communication management in Southern Africa (PRISA) in Cape Town, South Africa, from 13 15, 2007. The GA is proud of this brand and we plan to refine the product as we gain experience to be the best practice for the world in this kind of forum.Challenges The GA is currently engaged in a serious introspection regarding governance and its future role. This critical self-assessment comes just over five years since its launch. This is a necessary intervention as the organisation wants to remain relevant to the profession and its members. After all, self-definition is the beginning of self-actualisation. Whatever comes out of this exercise should further empower the GA and its partners and their members. It should also enhance its credibility. The organisation, as part of the global village, is also looking at issues external to itself to position itself appropriately to be an effective participant in the world of public relations and communication management.  
It is generally accepted in many parts of the world that most public relations practitioners remain outside the ambit of any public relations professional body. This is a serious challenge for the GA and our partners in the various countries because while this trend persists, we cannot mobilize and leverage the profession's resources to the best effect. While we must give primary attention to our members, we must also strive to bring these "outsider colleagues" into the extended public relations family. This can only strengthen all of us. How we achieve this goal, remains a vexed issue in its own right. We must strive to raise the voice of the profession where it matters. I am happy to say that the GA is recognized by the United Nations as an interlocutor on public information issues facing all nations. For instance, in 2004 we launched an initiative to document the role of public relations in the Tsunami that devastated South Asia. A report was commissioned and posted by the GA. And today at this forum, GA speakers are sharing the platform with a representative of the World Bank. We have also been invited by the Bank - and have accepted - to serve on the Advisory Board of the World Congress on Communication for Development which takes place in Rome, 25 27 October 2006. We cherish this relationship and collaboration and the GA is committed to its long-term sustainability. This can only augur well for our institutions and the world.  
We must redouble our efforts to build sound relationships with other international public relations organisations like the International Public Relations Association, the International Association of Business Communicators, and continental associations like the Federation of African Public Relations Associations. This can only be good for the practitioners and our profession. Clearly, the challenges facing a body like the GA are many and quite daunting in their magnitude. I am, however, encouraged by the quality of people and partner associations we have in the organisation. We have the commitment and the determination to succeed. And as such, I believe I'm right when I say: We must stay the course because we are on track to achieve our goal: One Profession One Voice. Sejamothopo Motau, FPRISAChairman, Global AllianceBrasilia, Brazil; June 27, 2006
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