27 projects approved for developing countries
In its first year, the Universal Postal Union’s Quality of Service Fund (QSF)
collected more than 14 million USD and approved a total of 27 projects in favour
of developing countries. Mr. Edouard Dayan, Director of European and
International Affairs with _x0017_
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Trustees, described the QSF start-up as “very promising”.
The 27 projects approved cover fields as diverse as reorganizing offices of
exchange, streamlining mail collection and distribution networks, putting in place
track-and-trace systems for international mail and preparing mail quality
development plans.
Created in 2001 by the UPU, the Quality of Service Fund represents a major
innovation in the financing of postal development cooperation, bringing fresh
resources to the sector. Every year from 2001 to 2005, the postal administrations
of each industrialized country pay a sum corresponding to 7.5% of the terminal
dues owed to each developing country into this new Fund. The new resources
generated in this way – estimated between 75 and 100 million USD – will be
dedicated exclusively to activities that promote the improvement and
measurement of international postal service quality. In this way, the Fund helps
developing countries to provide a more efficient universal postal service, a
principle which features in the Universal Postal Convention.
Besides the financial aspects, the QSF obliges developing countries to give
concrete substance to their postal service quality development strategy and to
design their projects more rigorously, with an eye to subsequent project
monitoring and evaluation. The QSF Secretariat will shortly facilitate their task by distributing Fund best practices.
The QSF is now entering a consolidation phase. Nearly one hundred new project
proposals should be submitted over the next 12 months. From 2003, initial
tangible results for the QSF will be available and will be notified to the entire postal community.
