The Public Relations Association of Guyana (PRAG) has been officially launched, establishing the country’s first unified professional body dedicated to advancing ethical standards, professional development and strategic communication across the public and private sectors.
The association was launched on World Public Relations Day under the theme “Elevating Professional Standards, Ethics, and Excellence in Communication,” bringing together practitioners from government, business, academia, civil society and the media.
Minister within the Office of the Prime Minister with responsibility for Public Affairs and Information Kwame McCoy said Guyana’s rapid transformation has made strategic communication more important than ever.
He said communications professionals play a critical role in ensuring citizens receive credible, transparent information, and argued that practitioners should be involved from the earliest stages of policy development rather than brought in afterwards.
“The challenge is no longer simply to be heard. The challenge is to be trusted,” McCoy said, citing the rise of artificial intelligence and misinformation as reasons for stronger professional standards.
PRAG President Jennifer Persaud-Boodhoo said the association was created to unite an industry that has long needed a dedicated organisation to promote best practices. “PRAG may be new, but the need for PRAG is not,” she said, adding that the group’s motto, professionalism, integrity and national development, reflects three promises rather than mere words beneath a logo.
Communications professional Christopher Chapwanya, who formally endorsed the association at the launch, described PRAG as timely as Guyana experiences rapid economic growth. He said credibility cannot be manufactured through press releases or social media content and must instead be earned through truthfulness and consistency.
PRAG also received endorsements from the Public Relations Society of Jamaica and the Public Relations Association of Trinidad and Tobago, both of which expressed interest in regional collaboration.
The association plans to introduce training programmes, mentorship opportunities, certification pathways and a code of ethics, with a long-term vision of becoming Guyana’s trusted authority on public relations practice.
