Universal Postal Union (UPU)
Mission
With its 192 member countries, the UPU is the primary forum for cooperation between postal sector players. It helps to ensure a truly universal network of up-to-date products and services.
In this way, the organization fulfils an advisory, mediating and liaison role, and provides technical assistance where needed. It sets the rules for international mail exchanges and makes recommendations to stimulate growth in mail, parcel and financial services volumes and improve quality of service for customers.
1 Regular budget has been allocated to the emergency support.
Since 2010, the UPU has been implemented the regular supporting scheme to contribute the worldwide postal sector to restore postal operation after disasters by the voluntary fund which is named the Emergency and Solidarity Fund. In addition to the voluntary fund, the UPU has allocated regular budget to the Emergency and Solidarity Fund to support restoration from postal disruption since 2024. The restoration activities will be quick as possible, more stable and it has more flexibility than before.
2 Regional workshops for postal sector
The disaster risk management activities for preparedness have been launched in the UPU since 2010. The UPU has created two guide books for postal sector and raised awareness regarding the disaster risk management. In 2024, the first series of regional workshops has been launched and completed workshops in the Caribbean region, Asia Pacific, Africa and Europe CIS region. Latin America and Arab regional workshops will be held in 2025.
3 The disaster risk management certification mechanism
The certification mechanism to evaluate the status and situation of each postal operators is common in postal sector. We have launched the disaster risk management certification has been launched in 2024 to raise awareness, facilitate self- assessment and Individualised needs approach.
202405dCDEVUPUDRM_DRMCertificationQuestionnaire_En.xlsx
202405dCDEVUPUDRMPandemicResponseCertificationQuestionnaire_En.xlsx
4 The UPU contracted climate resilience assessments for the designated postal operators of Bhutan and Tuvalu, identifying entry points and potential funding sources to enable these postal operators to reduce the vulnerability of their postal infrastructure to shocks, and to contribute to broader national resilience priorities. These assessments are expected to provide a template for expanding similar assessments for other postal operators, and will form the basis for future practical projects.
Voluntary Commitments
The Sendai Framework Voluntary Commitments (SFVC) online platform allows stakeholders to inform the public about their work on DRR. The SFVC online platform is a useful toolto know who is doing what and where for the implementation of the Sendai Framework, which could foster potential collaboration among stakeholders. All stakeholders (private sector, civil society organizations, academia, media, local governments, etc.) working on DRR can submit their commitments and report on their progress and deliverables.
