Participants of the 27th Universal Postal Congress in Abidjan gathered to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the UPU’s Quality of Service Fund – a mechanism that has funded nearly 900 projects to improve the global quality of mail exchanges.
In opening the event, UPU Director General Bishar A. Hussein praised the Quality of Service Fund’s (QSF) numerous achievements to create a “level playing field for postal operators across the world.” He added, “QSF’s work reflects a desire for fairness and equity within the international postal sector.”The Director General credited QSF projects for helping beneficiary countries take advantage of new opportunities and keep pace with digitalization.
In her own remarks, Ms. Mary Anderson representing the United States, Chair of the QSF Board, described e-commerce as a “new day and a new dawn.”
The Fund was created in 2001, following shortly after the UN’s development agenda for the new millennia. It operates using contributions from UPU member countries, which are then dispersed to finance quality of service projects in developing countries. In 20 years, the Fund has approved 898 projects aimed at improving postal conveyance and delivery, track and trace, global performance monitoring, postal security and disaster recovery across the global postal territory.
Projects approved and funded under the QSF have helped beneficiaries overcome what would have been significant hurdles without the assistance, including the introduction of electronic advance data (EAD) to keep up with global regulations.
The celebration included the launch of a new publication detailing the Fund’s history, evolution and success stories from beneficiary countries. It also provides a look into the future, describing new possibilities available under the QSF Common Fund – an additional mechanism approved by the last Congress that makes it easier for the UPU to mobilize resources for global projects and extend their scope to cover all critical e-commerce elements.
The 27th Universal Postal Congress will decide on several proposals determining the QSF’s future. Some proposed changes include the introduction of a review committee to provide guidance on the prioritization of Common Fund projects, the inclusion of sustainable development in the QSF’s objectives, the addition of more beneficiary countries, and the development of a long-term funding model.
To learn more about the achievements of the Quality of Service Fund and the vision for its future, check out Celebrating 20 Years of Quality: UPU Quality of Service Fund 2001-2021 here: https://www.upu.int/en/Publications/Congress-publications/Celebrating-20-years-of-quality-UPU-Quality-of-Service-Fund-2001%E2%80%932021