UPU Puts Addressing on UN Agenda

UPU Director General Edouard Dayan has urged United Nations organizations and agencies to join a UPU campaign to develop efficient addressing systems world-wide.

Attending the United Nations Chief Executives Board meeting in New York, Dayan told Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and colleagues that addresses are a critical tool for economic and social development and an essential part of a country’s national infrastructure.

Addresses are taken for granted in industrialized countries, but billions of people in developing countries don’t have them, preventing citizens from being full members of the community, Dayan said.

“People without addresses cannot easily vote or enjoy a full legal identity, nor can they easily open a bank account or qualify for credit or loans,” he recalled.

The head of the UN agency for postal services reminded his colleagues that addresses are important for delivering health and emergency services, developing rural and urban policies, and providing access to basic public services, such as electricity or water.

“How can you apply for a decent job without a personal address? How can businesses sell, and customers buy online, if there is no physical address for delivering the goods? How can people get a passport or an ID?” said Dayan.

The UPU wants to raise awareness of addressing systems and give an address to everyone in the world. Plans include the creation of a multi-agency working group and holding a global summit on addressing in 2011.

Many postal-sector stakeholders are enthusiastic about the initiative. The United Nations Development Program, the World Bank, UNESCO, the International Telecommunications Union, and UN-Habitat have also indicated their desire to join the campaign.

---Source: Universal Postal Union (UPU) November 2, 2009 (www.upu.int).