The International Public Relations Association (IPRA) was formally established in London on May 1 1955, after several meetings and talks, with the adoption of a Constitution and the appointment of the first IPRA Council.

IPRA since then continues working to foster the ethical practice of public relations across the world, being instrumental in the creation of the Code of Athens - the basis of the codes for almost all PR Associations worldwide.

Today, IPRA is a very active community of Public Relations practitioners from all over the world with constant activities conducted in partnership with different academic institutions including several conferences, workshops, world congresses, as well as the recognized Annual IPRA Golden World Awards for Excellence in Public Relations, a truly representative awards programme of its kind in the world.

IPRA currently has 700 members from 80 countries around the world.

IPRA’S MISSION

IPRA will be the world’s most relevant, resourceful and influential professional association for senior international public relations executives.

IPRA will provide both intellectual leadership in the practice of international public relations and make available to its members the services that will help them meet their professional responsibilities and to succeed in their careers, thus enabling the Association to increase membership, grow financially and create a virtuous circle of success.

The concept of establishing an international public relations association first took concrete shape in November 1949 during a meeting in London between two Dutch and four British public relations practitioners. As they discussed their respective activities, the idea emerged of organising public relations professionals into a transnational society with the objective of raising standards of public relations practice in the various countries and improving the quality and efficiency of practitioners.

Participating in the foundation meeting in London were Hans Hermans and Jo Brongers, respectively Chairman and Honorary Secretary of the Dutch Public Relations Club, and four members of the newly formed Institute of Public Relations in Britain: R S Forman (President), Roger Wimbush (Chairman), Tom Fife Clark (Vice-Chairman) and Norman Rogers (Honorary Secretary). As an outcome of this informal talk in London, a group of public relations executives from Britain, the Netherlands, France, Norway and the United States of America subsequently met in Holland in March 1950 under the auspices of the Royal Netherlands International Trade Fair and the Public Relations Society of Holland. Following a review of the needs and challenges entailed in an increasingly international practice of public relations, the participants resolved to set up a provisional committee aimed at promoting exchange of information and co-operation within the profession and eventually establishing an International Public Relations Association (IPRA). During the next five years, regular meetings of this provisional committee were held in England, usually in conjunction with the annual Weekend Conference of the Institute of Public Relations. Participants came mainly from the founding countries mentioned above, but also on occasions from Australia, Belgium, Canada, Finland, Italy and Switzerland.

The International Public Relations Association (IPRA) was formally established in London on May 1 1955, with the adoption of a Constitution and the appointment of the first IPRA Council.

Founding Council Members included the following:

Tom Fife Clark, President (Great Britain)
Tim Traverse-Healy, Honorary Secretary (Great Britain)
Roger Wimbush (Great Britain)
Alan Hess (Great Britain)
Etienne Bloch (France)
Jean Choppin de Janvry (France)
René Tavernier (France)
Rein J Vogels (Netherlands)
M Weisglas (Netherlands)
Erling Christopherson (Norway)
Per Johansen (Norway)
Odd Medboe (Norway)
Richard B Hall (United States)
Edward L Lipscomb (United States)

 1. MEETINGS WORLD WIDE

Reflecting a continued commitment to providing opportunities for international association in public relations, the IPRA Council and its Board of Directors meet regularly to review the organisation's activities and future operations and to focus the attention of the membership on emerging issues in public relations practice. Council meetings are held normally in conjunction with an IPRA sponsored public relations conference hosted by individual national public relations associations. Every three years IPRA sponsors a World Public Relations Congress, which brings together practitioners from all sectors of the profession to assess the latest standards and techniques of practice and to explore means of increasing co-operation.

2. PUBLIC RELATIONS CODES

As noted above, promotion of higher standards and ethical conduct in the practice of public relations constituted one of the major objectives in the founding of IPRA. This commitment led subsequently to the adoption of various codes of practice aimed at highlighting the ethical, moral and socially responsible aspects of the profession.

An early achievement in this direction was the adoption at the Venice meeting in 1961 of an IPRA Code of Conduct aimed at establishing accepted standards of professional ethics and behaviour in the field of public relations to be adhered to by all members of the Association worldwide. The IPRA Code has served as the inspiration and basis for similar codes of conduct adopted by many national public relations associations.

The ethical outlook and approach incorporated in the code was further enhanced through the adoption of an International Code of Ethics, informally known as the "Code of Athens" from the site of the meeting in 1965 where it was approved by the IPRA Council. The Code of Athens authored by IPRA Emeritus member Lucien Matrat (France), constitutes the Association’s moral charter, its principles having been inspired by the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights. The Code has been promoted widely and presented formally to numerous Heads of State.

3. INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

IPRA is recognised as an international non-governmental organisation by the United Nations system and has been granted consultative status Category C by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and Category B by UNESCO. The latter entitles IPRA to participate in UNESCO funded programmes.

4. IPRA PRESIDENT’S AWARD

The IPRA President’s Award was established in 1977, with a view toward celebrating "outstanding contributions to better world understanding." Recipients include individuals or institutions which have utilised the tools of mass communication to promote the principles of peace, social justice, cultural understanding or the role of public relations. The prize was first awarded to the Nobel Foundation. Subsequent winners have included the International Red Cross, Band Aid, The World Wide Fund for Nature and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

5. GOLDEN WORLD AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE

In addition to promoting enhanced standards of ethics and social responsibility in public relations practice, IPRA also works to foster greater expertise and achievement at all levels of the profession. The IPRA Golden World Awards initiative, established in 1990, recognises excellence in public relations practice worldwide. Each year judges consider entries in a wide variety of categories. Public Relations programmes submitted for consideration are judged according to the quality of their research, planning, execution and results. More than one award can be given in each category.

There are therefore no winners as such among the programmes submitted for consideration. But recipients of the award can take particular pride in the recognition granted to their entry as meeting international standards of excellence in public relations. Entries are also assessed by a United Nations panel, with a special award being given to the entry which best embraces the aims and ideals of the work of the UN. An overall IPRA Grand Prize for Excellence is presented to the entry judged as most representing the highest standards of public relations practice. Trophies are presented to all award recipients.

Sponsorship for the GWA programme was first provided by Nissan Motor Co. Ltd from 1990 to 1991, then by the NEC Corporation from 1992 to 1999.  Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd sponsored the competition from 2000-2004.

6. TODAY

As the International Public Relations Association has grown, the complexity of its operations and the wide geographical representations of its membership have necessitated structural adaptations and increased strategic planning. Today IPRA constitutes the most genuinely international grouping of public relations practitioners worldwide, active not only in promoting exchange of information and co-operation in every sector of the profession, but also in building a programme of professional development opportunities and other initiatives aimed at enhancing the role of public relations in management and international affairs.

Special emphasis continues to be laid on education and professional literature, though the scope of this activity has been increasingly expanded to include promotion of the profession in the developing countries and Eastern Europe and in addressing key issues such as the environment or the assessment of quality in public relations practice. 

As such, IPRA’s own development over the past five decades has mirrored that of the public relations profession as a whole. From its origins as a close-knit fellowship of public relations pioneers to its current status as the most representative international network of top-level professionals in the field, IPRA has been the focus of an ever-evolving approach to management and social communications.

The issues and personalities that have shaped the growth of the public relations function have played a guiding role in the creation and expansion of IPRA. IPRA today is a reflection of its members over the years, a dynamic professional body that still retains the fellowship of its origins.

The IPRA Board

 The IPRA Constitution

IPRA Codes

Throughout its existence IPRA has always sought to provide intellectual leadership for the public relations profession.

A key part of this has been the development of a number of Codes and Charters seeking to provide an ethical framework for the activities of the profession. Upon joining IPRA all members undertake to uphold these Codes and in doing so benefit from the ethical climate that they create.

In 2011 these Codes were consolidated into a single document updated to reflect the age in which we now live.

The “IPRA Code of Conduct”

Adopted in 2011 the IPRA Code of Conduct is an affirmation of professional and ethical conduct by members of the International Public Relations Association and recommended to public relations practitioners worldwide.

The Code consolidates the 1961 Code of Venice, the 1965 Code of Athens and the 2007 Code of Brussels.

1. RECALLING the Charter of the United Nations which determines “to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, and in the dignity and worth of the human person”;
2. RECALLING the 1948 “Universal Declaration of Human Rights" and especially recalling Article 19;
3. RECALLING that public relations, by fostering the free flow of information, contributes to the interests of all stakeholders;
4. RECALLING that the conduct of public relations and public affairs provides essential democratic representation to public authorities;
5. RECALLING that public relations practitioners through their wide-reaching communication skills possess a means of influence that should be restrained by the observance of a code of professional and ethical conduct;
6. RECALLING that channels of communication such as the Internet and other digital media, are channels where erroneous or misleading information may be widely disseminated and remain unchallenged, and therefore demand special attention from public relations practitioners to maintain trust and credibility;
7. RECALLING that the Internet and other digital media demand special care with respect to the personal privacy of individuals, clients, employers and colleagues;

In the conduct of public relations practitioners shall:

1. Observance

Observe the principles of the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;

2. Integrity

Act with honesty and integrity at all times so as to secure and retain the confidence of those with whom the practitioner comes into contact;

3. Dialogue

Seek to establish the moral, cultural and intellectual conditions for dialogue, and recognise the rights of all parties involved to state their case and express their views;
4. Transparency

Be open and transparent in declaring their name, organisation and the interest they represent;

5. Conflict

Avoid any professional conflicts of interest and to disclose such conflicts to affected parties when they occur;

6. Confidentiality

Honour confidential information provided to them;

7. Accuracy

Take all reasonable steps to ensure the truth and accuracy of all information provided;

8. Falsehood

Make every effort to not intentionally disseminate false or misleading information, exercise proper care to avoid doing so unintentionally and correct any such act promptly;

9. Deception

Not obtain information by deceptive or dishonest means;

10. Disclosure

Not create or use any organisation to serve an announced cause but which actually serves an undisclosed interest;

11. Profit

Not sell for profit to third parties copies of documents obtained from public authorities; 

12. Remuneration

Whilst providing professional services, not accept any form of payment in connection with those services from anyone other than the principal;

13. Inducement

Neither directly nor indirectly offer nor give any financial or other inducement to public representatives or the media, or other stakeholders;

14. Influence

Neither propose nor undertake any action which would constitute an improper influence on public representatives, the media, or other stakeholders;

15. Competitors

Not intentionally injure the professional reputation of another practitioner;

16. Poaching

Not seek to secure another practitioner’s client by deceptive means;

17. Employment

When employing personnel from public authorities or competitors take care to follow the rules and confidentiality requirements of those organisations;

18. Colleagues

Observe this Code with respect to fellow IPRA members and public relations practitioners worldwide.

IPRA members shall, in upholding this Code, agree to abide by and help enforce the disciplinary procedures of the International Public Relations Association in regard to any breach of this Code.

Adopted by the IPRA Board 5 November 2010

This consolidated code is available in following languages:

English
Click to download

Albanian
Click to download

Arabic
Click to download

Bosnian
Click to download

Bulgarian
Click to download

Dutch
Click to download

Estonian
Click to download

Finnish
Click to download

French
Click to download

German
Click to download

Greek
Click to download

Hebrew
Click to download

Indonesian
Click to download

Italian
Click to download

Japanese
Click to download

Kazakh
Click to download

Korean
Click to download

Latvian
Click to download

Lithuanian
Click to download

Macedonian
Click to download

Montenegrin
Click to download

Polish
Click to download

Portuguese
Click to download

Romanian
Click to download

Russian
Click to download

Serbian
Click to download

Spanish
Click to download

Turkish
Click to download

Ukrainian
Click to download

Urdu
Click to download

Frequently Asked Questions

The attached list of FAQS has been compiled to assist in the understanding of the Code

Click to download

IPRA would like to thank those who contributed to the translations

The english version of the historic codes from which this consolidated Code was derived are below:

Code of Venice

Adopted in 1961 and amended in 2009, the Code of Venice is an undertaking of professional conduct by members of the International Public Relations Association and recommended to Public Relations practitioners worldwide.

Code of Athens

Adopted in 1965 and amended in 1968 and 2009, the Code of Athens is an undertaking of ethical behaviour by members of the International Public Relations Association and recommended to Public Relations practitioners worldwide.

Code of Brussels

Adopted in 2007 and amended in 2009, the Code of Brussels is an undertaking of ethical conduct on public affairs by members of the International Public Relations Association and recommended to Public Relations practitioners worldwide.