The Public Affairs Section

The PA section handles press and cultural relations for the U.S. Consulate General in Naples, and also liaises with the Italian academic community in the Naples Consulate district. There is also a Public Affairs office in Palermo.

The Public Affairs’ offices in Naples and in Palermo each host a Fulbright Commission Advising Service.

Public Affairs works to strengthen and develop U.S.-Italian relations through:

• enunciating and explaining U.S. policies
• presenting American society in all its complexity so that others can gain a better comprehension of the United States.
• creating, promoting and administering educational and cultural exchange programs that increase understanding between the peoples of Italy and the United States.

To support these goals, the Public Affairs Section works in the areas of:

• the media, including press conferences, briefings and interviews, organization of dialogues for representative Americans with their Italian counterparts, providing texts, transcripts and explanatory articles stating and explaining United States policies.
• electronic outreach, including reports and documents released by the Administration, the Congress, and government or independent agencies on various subjects and referred to a targeted audience, providing information on a wide range of topics and issues. The Public Affairs Section in Naples also operates with the Information Resource Center (IRC) of the Public Affairs Section at the U.S. Embassy in Rome, which provides research and reference documentation on United States foreign and domestic policy, foreign relations, Italian-U.S. relations, domestic American politics, the economy, environment and trade, among other subjects.
• cultural and educational activities, including developing and managing an array of exchange programs between various segments of Italian and American society, and administering United States government involvement in U.S.-Italian cultural and educational activities, including those in collaboration with the Fulbright Commission. Note: the Fulbright Commission Educational Advising office, hosted by the Naples Consulate, can be contacted at: fulbrightnaples@fulbright.it. For students from Sicily, the Educational Advisor at the Public Affairs Office in Palermo can be contacted at: fulbrightpalermo@fulbright.it.