UPU News:- UPU Strategy Conference cancelled due to prevailing situation in Western Africa

The government of Côte d’Ivoire and the Universal Postal Union’s Council of Administration have decided to cancel the holding of the UPU’s Strategy Conference in Abidjan on 14 and 15 October 2014.

Recalling the prevailing health challenge in neighbouring countries and  the low levels of registration due to this, the authorities decided it would be judicious to cancel the meeting. The UPU’s Council of Administration will discuss the matter at its November session at UPU headquarters in Berne.

After a meeting between Ivorian Prime Minister Daniel Kablan Duncan and UPU Director General Bishar A. Hussein this week in Abidjan, the Ivorian minister for posts and telecommunications and government spokesperson, Bruno Koné, said: “We have exchanged on the consequences of the difficulties the region is experiencing. For us, it is a matter of being reasonable and realistic, and making sure that this conference can be a success. The context and the environment must be appropriate for the organization of this event,” he emphasized.

For his part, Bishar Hussein recognized the efforts made by Côte d’Ivoire so far to prepare for the Strategy Conference and thanked the Ivorian authorities of their dedication to the Union. “We have had to take a difficult but necessary decision due to circumstances beyond our control,” he said. “The UPU thanks the government of Côte d’Ivoire for the remarkable efforts invested in the preparations for this important conference. To ensure the event’s success, however, the right conditions must be met to ensure the greatest participation possible by representatives of our 192 member countries, international and United Nations organizations and other postal-sector stakeholders.”

The UPU’s Strategy Conference invites member countries and other postal stakeholders to take stock of progress being achieved on the current world postal strategy. The meeting also aims to identify the trends and developments to take into account during the drafting of the next roadmap for the postal sector, to be presented for adoption by UPU member countries at the 2016 Universal Postal Congress in Istanbul.