UPU News:-Addressing high on Congress agenda

The Universal Postal Union will call on governments to support its Addressing Declaration and include the development of sound address infrastructure in national policies, in the interest of social and economic development.

Tanzania’s minister for lands, housing and human settlements development, Anna Tibaijuka, also special ambassador for the UPU’s “Addressing the world – An address for everyone” initiative, will invite member countries to support the Addressing Declaration on 9 October 2012 during the 25th Universal Postal Congress in Doha.

The declaration aims to secure member countries’ commitment to designing efficient national address infrastructures that pave the way for more efficient mail processing and delivery as well as for the provision of other valuable public and private services.

“For the first time in history, half of the world’s population lives in towns and cities. Urban areas are growing faster in developing countries, mostly through informal settlements, and our responsibility as local, national or international leaders is to make sure nobody is left behind in this new urban era,” says Tibaijuka, a former head of UN-Habitat. “I am convinced that the implementation of address infrastructure will result in improved public services, such as sanitation, hygiene and water supply coverage, and many more fundamental services.”

Public good

Addressing goes far beyond the postal sector and is essential for all of society, says UPU Director General Edouard Dayan. “A quality address infrastructure must be considered as an essential part of a country’s socio-economic infrastructure, for improving public services, but also facilitating business, trade and national development. In view of the vast benefits it provides, address infrastructure is a public good, and governments should make every effort to work with regional, national and international stakeholders to expand the address network.”

Costa Rica, where physical addresses barely existed in the early 2000s, estimated annual losses of 720 million dollars for the country’s economy. Since developing a national addressing project, the country has improved emergency services, statistics, urban planning and zoning, the postal service and tourism.

Several stakeholders are interested in the value of addresses as part of a person’s identity. “The concept of legal identity, legal rights and voice are very much dependent on having an address,” says the United Nations Development Programme, in its contribution to a UPU white paper that accompanies the declaration.

UNESCO, the International Telecommunications Union, the World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme are among the many organizations that support the UPU’s addressing initiative.