UNESCO works to strengthen higher education in the developing world through the UNITWIN and UNESCO Chairs programmes. One such programme is the Network of UNESCO Chairs in Communication (ORBICOM). It was created in 1994, when UNESCO and Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) saw the need for a global network that would link communications leaders from academic, media, corporate and government circles with a view to providing for the exchange of information and the development of shared projects.

Both UNESCO and ORBICOM have been building upon that foundation to ensure that their support for journalism education becomes even more relevant to the changing social, political, economic and technological context in which both organisations operate. In 2010, during the ORBICOM AGM, Mr. Jānis Kārkliņš, ADG/CI, called for a “repositioning of ORBICOM within UNESCO”.