IPS is an international communication institution with a global news agency at its core, raising the voices of the South and civil society on issues of development, globalisation, human rights and the environment.

Information is an agent of change. Since its inception, back in 1964, IPS has believed in the role of information as a precondition for lifting communities out of poverty and marginalization. This belief is reflected in our historic mission:

“giving a voice to the voiceless”– acting as a communication channel that privileges the voices and the concerns of the poorest and creates a climate of understanding, accountability and participation around development, promoting a new international information order between the South and the North.

The statutes of the IPS International Association provide a formal organisational framework for carrying out our mission.

To fulfil this very important mission, IPS has developed a three-pronged strategy that is reflected in its three main areas of work:

Providing news and content: producing stories and analyses, which explain how events and global processes affect individuals and communities, especially the marginalised and voiceless.

Capacity-building: empowering journalists, media organisations and civil society to be better able to communicate effectively by leveraging IPS’ unique character as a Southern-focused news agency, offering a different kind of training and follow-up.

Dissemination and networking: building an information bridge linking civil society, international institutions, policy-makers, donors and individual readers, to promote an ongoing dialogue about communication and development for a better world.

Because of its mission and conceptual approach, IPS has grown together with and systematically covered civil society, particularly its increasing international impact. Recognising the impact of globalisation on the South is another crucial insight that influences the way we report, build capacity and disseminate our news. This has made IPS a relevant actor within the overall development process and the main international news provider of organised civil society worldwide.