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Feb. 19, 2023, 9:14 p.m.
UNITED NATIONS: Universal Postal Union
5010
The 27th Congress of the Universal Postal Union. Photo: UPU
We continue our series of publications on the activities of global international organizations. We refer to such organizations as structures whose members are the vast majority of countries. An important feature of such organizations is that the rules and decisions they adopt actively influence the formation of a certain area of human interests - politics, economics, justice, sports, etc. Today we will focus on the Universal Postal Union.
General characteristics of the UN
General description of the Universal Postal Union
The structure of the organization
Activities of the Universal Postal Union
The UPU and the Russian-Ukrainian war
General characteristics of the United Nations
The United Nations consists of 193 states. All sovereign countries can be found among the UN member states, except for the Vatican. Such a respectable representation potentially allows to consider and resolve any issues of global or regional level. In particular, the UN is able to extinguish armed conflicts, as it was repeatedly demonstrated in the twentieth century (Iraq, the former Yugoslavia, Somalia).
The organization is headquartered in New York. The UN also has additional offices in Vienna, Geneva, Nairobi and The Hague. The organization uses six official languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.
The UN structure includes six main bodies: The General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Secretariat, the International Court of Justice and the Trusteeship Council. However, the latter body has been formally suspended since 1994. The chief official of the UN is the Secretary-General. Since January 1, 2017, this position has been held by the Portuguese politician and diplomat Antonio Guterres.
General characteristics of the Universal Postal Union
The Universal Postal Union (hereinafter referred to as the UPU) is an intergovernmental organization that functions to ensure and improve postal services in the world. The UPU is the world's main forum for postal cooperation and one of the oldest international organizations. The UPU unites member countries into a single postal territory with fixed international postal rates. The organization is headquartered in Bern. The organization was founded in 1874. The UPU became a specialized agency of the United Nations in 1947.
The headquarters of the Universal Postal Union. Photo: UPU
The UPU is headed by a Director General. Since January 2022, this position has been held by Japanese politician Masahiko Metoki.
Director General of the UPU Masahiko Metoki. Photo: AIR FORCE
In 1902, an international competition was announced for the best design of a monument to honor the founding of the Air Force. The jury received 122 sketches, of which 6 were selected. The winner was the French sculptor René de Saint-Marceau.
The monument was erected in 1909. It is a globe above the clouds. The globe is surrounded by five women symbolizing the five parts of the world. At the base of the monument are the mountains of Switzerland, among which is another woman symbolizing Bern.
Monument to the Universal Postal Union in Bern. Photo: Wikipedia
This monument is schematically reproduced on the flag of the Universal Postal Union.
The flag of the Universal Postal Union. Photo: Wikipedia
In some countries, commemorative mailboxes have been installed in honor of anniversaries associated with joining the UPU.
Commemorative mailbox, Tokyo 1952. Photo: Wikipedia
The organization consists of 192 members. Most of the members are countries, but there are also dependent territories. Any UN member is free to join the UPU. For non-member countries, a two-thirds vote of the organization's members is required to join the UPU.
The UPU is funded by contributions from member countries. When joining the organization, each country can choose one of ten classes, which vary the amount of annual contributions. A separate contribution class is allocated for the least developed countries.
Members of the UPU on the world map. Image: Wikipedia
Congress is the main body of the UPU. All members of the organization meet once every 4 years to determine the global postal strategy and establish new rules for postal exchange.
The 27th UPU Congress. Photo: UPU
An extraordinary congress can be convened if necessary. It requires a two-thirds vote of the UPU members. Such a congress has been convened only three times: in 1900 in Bern, in 2018 in Addis Ababa, and in 2019 in Geneva. The fourth extraordinary congress will be held in early October 2023 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The Administrative Council consists of representatives from 41 countries and meets annually. The Council ensures the workflow between congresses, examines regulatory, administrative, normative and legal issues. The body addresses urgent issues, adopts a biennial budget and is responsible for promoting and coordinating all aspects of technical assistance to member countries. The Council has the right to adopt proposals from the Postal Operations Council on the implementation of regulatory and procedural issues.
The Postal Operations Council is the technical and operational body of the UPU. The Council consists of representatives of 48 member countries and meets annually. The Council's activities are aimed at helping postal services of the countries to modernize their postal products and services. Within its competence, the body provides recommendations to member countries on standards in technological, operational and other processes.
The International Bureau acts as the secretariat. The Bureau provides logistical and technical support to other UPU bodies. The body functions as a center of interaction between member countries, providing information and advisory services. The bureau has about 250 employees from about 50 countries.
Activities of the Universal Postal Union
The UPU is constantly working to create an efficient network that offers modern postal products and logistics services. The organization classifies postal products, oversees the quality of global postal services and works with supply chains. The UPU also helps member countries organize their addressing systems to ensure that mail arrives correctly and on time.
The digital transformation of postal services has become a strategic priority for the UPU. According to the organization's research, more than 93% of postal services provide digital postal services either directly or in partnership with other companies. These services include e-mail, e-government, and e-commerce services. In particular, the UPU offers the .POST domain to the world's postal services as a reliable and trustworthy one. The organization has also adopted a number of cybersecurity recommendations for member countries.
The UPU provides its customers with wide access to basic financial services: (savings, payments, money transfer, insurance, credit). Approximately 1.5 billion people worldwide use financial services provided by postal organizations. This makes the postal sector the second largest provider of basic financial services in the world after the banking system. The UPU provides technical assistance to its member countries to enhance their capacity to provide financial services to the public.
The world's postal service network has a significant number of vehicles that produce carbon emissions. Postal organizations have already begun to convert their vehicles to alternative forms of energy. The UPU has developed and offered its member countries the OSCAR online platform, which helps analyze greenhouse gas emissions and look for ways to reduce negative impacts.
The UPU offers technical cooperation to member states. This helps to reduce the technological gap between industrialized and developing countries. In particular, the organization provides technical advisory services, helps to purchase the necessary equipment and conducts trainings to acquire appropriate skills in working with the instruments.
The UPU is the key organization in the world that collects information and knowledge on the development of the postal sector. The UPU conducts regular surveys and publishes the results. In particular, the Comprehensive Postal Development Index has been published since 2017 and includes databases, statistics and key surveys produced by the UPU. The annual Postal Economic Survey provides a snapshot of the postal sector in the context of the evolution of the global economy.
The UPU International Bureau organizes the work of the World Association for the Advancement of Philately (WAPP). The Bureau also has a unique collection of postage stamps, which includes many thousands of samples. Exhibitions of this collection are periodically held.
The UPU, together with its member countries, is working to develop universal standards for everything from barcodes to security equipment. This greatly facilitates communication within the global postal network.
The UPU and the Russian-Ukrainian war
Ukraine has been a member of the UPU since 1947. In 2012, Ukraine signed all the key documents of the UPU.
After the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022, Ukrposhta asked the UPU in March to impose sanctions against Russian Post. In particular, Ukraine asked the organization to withdraw from the international WARF system the stamps that Ukraine produced jointly with Russia and Belarus. "Ukrposhta urged UPU members not to make any joint stamp issues with Russian Post. Ukrposhta also insisted on re-electing the head of the HACC, as this position was held by a representative of Russia.
On April 11, Finland's state-owned postal operator Posti suspended postal service with Russia and Belarus. On May 12, the Parliament passed a resolution to remove the Russian representative from the post of co-chair of the Customs Commission.
At the end of May, the EPU adopts a resolution in support of Ukraine. The resolution calls on member countries to make efforts to restore Ukraine's postal infrastructure, which was destroyed during the war. Ukraine will receive technical assistance to continue and restore postal services. The resolution also emphasizes the obligation of member states to exempt letters, parcels and postal payment services addressed to prisoners of war and civilian internees from postal charges.
The UPU is one of the oldest international organizations and occupies a very important place in the modern globalized world, as the exchange of information is of essential importance in the twenty-first century. The authority of the UPU is evidenced by the fact that the organization has 192 members, i.e. almost all countries of the world. It is important to emphasize that the UPU meets the needs of modern communication by transferring part of its activities to the Internet. The organization also follows global trends, including taking steps to reduce carbon emissions. The UPU develops rules and standards for the postal industry, collects information and conducts research, and provides technical assistance to member countries. It should be recognized that the modern global postal system is hard to imagine without the UPU.
