International gathering given African flavour
The Honourable Musalia Mudavadi, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Kenya, today officially opened the 24th Universal Postal Congress.
The UPU is indeed giving the Congress a special African flavour because Kenya was unable to host the event owing to the unrest in the country at the beginning of this year. Moreover, the UPU gives particular priority to the development of the postal sector in developing countries, especially in Africa, and this issue will be at the heart of numerous discussions during the Congress.
In spite of great progress in developing the single postal territory since the creation of the UPU 134 years ago, there remain great differences between industrialized and developing countries in terms of quality of service, postal reform and the adoption of new technologies, declared Mr. Mudavadi, speaking before 1,500 delegates, among them about 70 ministers.
"We can never achieve a truly universal single postal territory as envisaged by the founding fathers of this Union, without strengthening the chain of the postal administrations of the developing countries," said the Kenyan Deputy Prime Minister. "The strength of a chain is always determined by its weakest link. We must seek ways and means to advance more resources and technical support for developing countries in order for them to adopt reforms and remain viable."
Kenya will still take the chairmanship of Congress, in the person of His Excellency Bishar A. Hussein, and will also chair the next UPU Council of Administration up to the following Congress in 2012.
In Africa, at least 12% of the population is without a postal service, and 66% of people have to visit a postal establishment to collect their mail, with only 22% receiving it at home (compared with a worldwide average of 81%). On the African continent more than anywhere else, whole sections of civil society, the public sector and financial services depend on the postal infrastructure.
The Secretary General of the United Nations reminded delegates that postal services were universal, connecting people the world over. "The UPU makes a valuable contribution in many different areas, including migration and fund transfers, transport and trade, education and literacy, sustainable development, health and security, and standards to ensure compatibility and interconnectivity… Across the world, Posts provide a natural gateway to the information society," declared Ban Ki-moon, in a message relayed by Sergei Ordzhonikidze, Director General of the United Nations Office in Geneva.
A Universal Postal Union more open to the world and to its environment is today welcoming a "united world postal community," said Edouard Dayan, UPU Director General and Secretary General of Congress.
"The postal sector is increasingly seen as not only driving economic development, but also offering countries a new possibility of access to the world economy by enabling them to join a universal network."
Other distinguished invitees taking part in the opening ceremony were: Mario Felmer, Doyen of Congress and former Director General of the Chilean Post; Dr. Hans Werder, Secretary General of the Swiss Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications; Lenin Moreno Garcés, Vice-President of the Republic of Ecuador, who presented the UPU with a sculpture of El Chasqui, the Inca messenger and historic postal symbol of his country; and His Excellency Bishar A. Hussein, of Kenya, who was confirmed as Chairman of the 24th Universal Postal Congress.
The UPU Congress is held every four years. This 24th Congress is taking place in Geneva from 23 July to 12 August 2008. A high-level general debate is scheduled for the whole of Friday, 25 July, on the theme “The postal sector – An important component of the global economy”, the running theme of this Congress.
Delegates will also be invited to adopt a world postal strategy for the coming four years, and a new Postal Payment Services Agreement designed to facilitate electronic money transfers. On 6 August, elections will be held for the posts of Director General and Deputy Director General of the UPU International Bureau, posts currently occupied by Edouard Dayan of France and Guozhong Huang of the People's Republic of China. As no other candidates have come forward, Dayan and Huang are expected to be elected by acclamation for a second term. On the same day, delegates will also elect 40 member countries of the Council of Administration (CA) and 40 member countries of the Postal Operations Council (POC), the bodies which oversee the work of the Union between Congresses. Three countries – Great Britain, Greece and Switzerland – are seeking the chairmanship of the POC, the body responsible for technical and operational postal sector issues.
Note: All speeches delivered during the opening ceremony of the 24th Universal Postal Congress are available online: http://www.upu.int/congress/opening_meeting/en/index.shtml