Chair’s report at CIPR international AGM, 19th September 2023 Samantha Seewoosurrun, FCIPR

This has been my second year as Chair and I am proud to say that it has been another year where we have had committee members from across the globe - from UK, Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East, North America, the Caribbean, with one member based in New Zealand.

CIPR International is one of the largest sectoral groups of the CIPR and we are always happy to welcome PR professionals from across the globe. We now have 978 members, 174 of whom are new this year, which is a testament to the great work of our committee 410 of them are based overseas proving the international appeal of our offer.

In 2023 the Committee has:

• Organised a number of online events including Doing PR in the Caribbean, Doing PR in India and the launch of “Humans needed more than ever”.

• As part of Africa Communications Week, organised two webinars – ‘Building Digital Bridges: Shaping the Future of African Communications’ and ‘How to communicate the successes of women in Africa’.

• Issued flyers and blogs to our members around the world, some of which have contributed to Influence magazine. The blogs have included:

  • Common values between WHO and CIPR as both celebrate their 75th anniversary

  • Navigating cultural minefields

  • Mental health in crisis management

  • Jacinda Ardern and how domestic issues have an international impact

  • Interviews with committee members

• We actively promote our activity and share content on social media

• We liaise with other bodies (inside and outside CIPR), including:

  • Africa Communications Week

  • Global Alliance, where Eva Maclaine represents the CIPR on the European Regional Council;

  • Committee member Crispin Thorold is on Council

  • Committee member Professor Anne Gregory on the CIPR Board

  • Samantha Seewoosurrun is Group Chairs’ representative on the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee

  • Taazima Kala-Essack is Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) champion.

• We are thrilled that two of our committee members were recognised in the CIPR Volunteer Awards this year.

  • Shirley Collyer, as a former committee chair, received an award for Outstanding Long Service, after volunteering on the committee for over a decade

  • Taazima Kala-Essack, our secretary, was one of the Unsung Heroes of the Year award winners. Taazima was surely very well deserving as our very efficient secretary of the committee who keeps everything and everyone on track!

  • We are also keeping our fingers crossed for our colleague Emma Duke, who be chairing the debate shortly, as she has been shortlisted for Independent PR Practitioner of the Year 2023 in the Anglia, Thames & Chiltern Region PRide Awards. Best of luck to Emma!

Looking ahead, we still have some great things to come for the rest of this year!

One of the highlights of our calendar each year is the Maggie Nally Memorial lecture. It is one of the most prestigious events held by the Institute and it is held in memory of Margaret Nally, who in 1976 became the first female President of the CIPR.

This year, for the 75th anniversary edition of the lecture, we will be welcoming a truly world class speaker Melissa Fleming, who is the Under Secretary General for Global Communications at the United Nations.

This session will be held online on Wednesday 4 October and really should not be missed!

Later in October, we will also be holding an in-person 75th anniversary event here in Mauritius hosted at the official residence of the British High Commissioner, so if you are in Mauritius or nearby and able to join us, do let us know, we would love to see you!