UPU: Countdown to Nairobi
The Strategy Conference will be held at the United Nations Office in Nairobi, Kenya, on 22 and 23 September 2010. Close to 500 delegates representing more than 110 countries will participate. How can Posts remain relevant in the face of technological advances and changing consumer behaviors? Should Posts increasingly diversify their services to remain competitive and generate new revenues that compensate declining letter-post volumes? How can Posts use their extensive networks to bring people out of poverty by offering services that promote financial inclusion?
Delegates at the Strategy Conference will look for answers to these questions and more as the worldwide postal sector redefines itself in the face of economic difficulty, the advancement of new technologies and ever-evolving business and customer demands.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Achim Steiner, executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme, Kunio Mikuriya, secretary general of the World Customs Organisation, Jesús Miranda Hita, vice-minister of Spain’s ministry of transport and public works, the secretaries general of several regional postal organisations and the CEOs of Posts from around the world are among the high-level stakeholders participating in the Conference.
Shaping a future strategy
An important task of the Conference is to take stock on progress made in achieving the broad objectives of the current four-year roadmap the UPU adopted at the last Universal Postal Congress, held in Geneva in 2008. The Conference will also serve as a platform for shaping the future strategy of the organisation and the postal sector at large.
“From a business angle, the economic crisis has precipitated trends such as the decline of physical mail and the need to diversify postal products and services to better meet the need of customers,” says Edouard Dayan, director general of the UPU. “And from a social and development angle, postal services have never been more critical in helping governments bridge communication gaps, promote financial inclusion, reduce the impact of climate change, promote health and education, foster trade and other issues that plague our society. These issues are at the heart of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, and it will be most appropriate that the postal sector talk about its role in these issues as the UN General Assembly meets in New York to discuss progress on achieving the Millennium Goals by the 2015 deadline.”
It is the first time the UPU is holding its Strategy Conference on African soil. Edouard Dayan says countries all over the continent are making tremendous efforts to strengthen their postal networks and bring improvements to the quality of service. The Strategy Conference is being organised with the kind support of the Kenyan Government and Post.
“Posts in Africa, like others, are adapting to the new business and communication environments. Major technological advances are enabling some to improve existing services and offer new ones. Innovation will be an important topic during our conference because it is a key element of Posts’ ability to develop. But our global strategy also aims to reduce the development gaps that exist among Posts so that postal services worldwide deliver a consistent quality of service to retain customers’ trust.”
