Kenya’s Bishar Hussein elected as new UPU Director General

Kenya’s Bishar A Hussein has been elected as the new director general to lead the Universal Postal Union over the next four years. Ambassador Hussein is a former Kenyan postmaster general, and has served his country as Ambassador to the UAE.

Hussein served as chairman of the UPU’s Council of Administration from 2009-2012.

The UPU’s 192 member countries elected him director-general today over the Uruguayan candidate Serrana Bassini Casco, who is currently secretary general of the Postal Union of the Americas, Spain and Portugal.

Hussein won the election with 87 votes compared to 72 for Dr Bassini.

“I accept with humility the honour and privilege given to me today,” said Hussein, shortly after being elected. “Under my watch, the UPU will work to fulfill the mandates given to it by this Congress. We will take the UPU to the next level.”

The UPU said as director-general, Hussein will run the day-to-day operations of the UPU’s International Bureau at its headquarters in Berne, Switzerland, representing the organisation at major international meetings and act as secretary general for the annual meetings of the UPU’s official bodies.

Hussein takes over from current UPU director general Edouard Dayan from January 2013, for a four-year term. Dayan steps down after reaching his term limit, leading the UPU for the past eight years.

• See also: Post&Parcel’s interview with new UPU director-general Bishar A Hussein, in which he discusses his hopes and ambitions for the role.

Swiss deputy

The UPU has also confirmed that Switzerland’s Pascal Thierry Clivaz has been elected as UPU deputy director general today. Clivaz was running against Dennis Delehanty from the United States.

Clivaz has been director of finance and strategic planning at UPU headquarters in Berne since 2005. He is a former executive of the Swiss Post and was a Swiss delegate at the UPU before joining the organization in 2005.

He will take over from China’s Guozhong Huang, who finishes his second mandate in that position at the end of this year.

“I am very honoured of the trust given to me by the 25th UPU Congress,” Clivaz said after his election victory. “I look forward to pursuing reforms at the UPU and supporting the new director general in the initiatives that will be taken as the UPU faces various challenges.”

• For more on the new UPU deputy director-general, read Post&Parcel’s interview with Pascal Thierry Clivaz.