The Universal Postal Union (UPU) and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that will see them share resources to provide digital inclusion professional development resources for governments and other postal stakeholders.
The partnership provides a framework through which both organizations can leverage each other’s existing training platforms and learner networks to reach a broader audience with capacity building tools that support the delivery of inclusive digital services.The MoU was signed by UN Assistant Secretary-General and Executive Director of UNITAR Michelle Gyles-McDonnough and UPU Director General Masahiko Metoki on the sidelines of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Geneva. The WSIS Plan of Action highlights the need to ensure everyone has the skills to benefit from the information society. It cites post office connectivity as a key access pathway.
The UPU Director General highlighted how the partnership would elevate postal networks as digital inclusion partners: "By partnering, the UPU and UNITAR ensure that governments and other stakeholders can build their digital capacity to better serve people and businesses everywhere. At the same time, it also provides a broader platform to showcase how the postal sector can help deliver on digital transformation and sustainable development agendas.”
For UNITAR, Gyles-McDonnough emphasized the strategic depth of this collaboration: “Positioning the postal sector as an enabler of digital public infrastructure, financial inclusion, and e-commerce requires investment in people and institutions. Through this UNITAR-UPU collaboration, we will work together to strengthen the capacities of postal personnel, regulators, government officials, and public institutions to support inclusive digital transformation.”
Learning to leverage the postal network
Governments worldwide are working to implement digital solutions that improve government services delivery and increase people’s engagement. Access to these services has grown, but an estimated 2.2 billion people still lack internet connectivity, particularly in rural, remote and underserved communities.
With more than 670,000 post offices worldwide, the postal network is a gateway to inclusion in these areas. Post offices are emerging as digital hubs providing citizens access to digital services, e-commerce, government and financial services in a secure and trusted environment, particularly in rural communities and for elderly populations and women.
Governments, regulators and policy makers must also build their capacity to use the postal network effectively to deliver inclusive digital services. To help with this, the UPU and UNITAR will share knowledge and develop joint training in the following priority areas: inclusive e-government service delivery; gender mainstreaming and inclusivity; postal sector resilience; security; and operational capacity development.
Resources will be shared across the UPU’s e-learning platform, TrainPost, as well as on UNITAR’s own online training platforms.