Caribbean

The region comprises the countries of Caribbean. The Development Cooperation implemented in the region is managed by a regional team at UPU IB headquarters and two regional offices loacated in Bridgetown (Barbados) and Castries (Saint Lucia).

During the first three years of the current cycle, in the Caribbean region, 55 activities from 15 projects were carried out. These activities included capacity-building workshops and consultancy missions related to the ORE project, financial and social inclusion, postal sector reform and development, and other interregional and national projects aimed at improving the Posts’ quality of service. The execution rate at the midpoint of the cycle is 77.5% for the Caribbean, with the successful achievement of the key performance indicators (KPIs), especially for the ORE project. 

As part of the level-one ORE project, 4 workshops were also organized, with 79.4% of the 141 participants being UPU fellows. 16 consultant missions were carried out. For all on-site process review missions, the UPU operational experts worked hand-in-hand with local staff to review postal operations and recommend improvements. This targeted cooperation has allowed the UPU to gain a deeper understanding of each DO’s particularities. The IB’s quality of service experts have established country groupings that will make it possible to tailor support to each DO according to its real needs and target the assistance provided so that the Posts can achieve the project KPIs and, more importantly, improve their operational performance. 

Activities were also carried out as part of the level-two projects on postal reform and postal financial services. Having identified the need to strengthen and update the global pool of postal reform experts, the IB updated key postal reform materials (mainly the Postal Reform Guide), which was shared with the postal community in all UPU languages during 2019. Five successful activities relating to the integrated postal development plan were conducted – these include in-country IPDP missions where draft proposal, roadmap and action plans were presented to the high-level authorities and DOs of the beneficiary countries. Follow up activities in way of market and regulatory studies are being conducted in collaboration with one country.

Within the framework of the postal financial services (PFS) project, the implementation of the postal financial services project as originally conceived was a challenging task. However, 2 activities were carried out and 9 more in-country procurement is ongoing for countries with the appropriate readiness levels to launch PFS on a smaller scale.

Under the e-services and diversification project, a capacity-building workshop plus two onsite missions were implemented in order to strengthen the contribution of Posts to digital inclusion and enable them to make a strong contribution towards the achievement of national digital economy strategies. In addition to one regional workshop, a survey was devised and disseminated to several countries to assess their readiness for a digital strategy – the results of this survey is being analyzed.

The regional development plan (RDP) is an effective and homogeneous tool for deploying UPU actions in the field, based on two fundamental principles:

• The integration of all cooperation activities within the International Bureau. The DCDEV acts as an interface between the various International Bureau programmes and developing countries requiring assistance;
• Regionalization, in order to meet the specific needs of each region. The UPU creates synergies with regional players, and strengthens and diversifies cooperation mechanisms in the field.

The RDP provides a shared platform for all cooperation players whose objectives and priorities are the same, and who share available resources in the best possible way.

Methodology

The methodological approach for the RDP clearly defines the roles of the various players in the process of formulating and implementing the plan and projects in the various regions.