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October 9 is World Post Day, which celebrates a form of communication that, despite all the advances made, continues to play a leading role in society. FIIAPP is working in North Macedonia to improve the quality of its postal services.
On October 9, 1874, the General Postal Union was founded within the framework of the Bern Convention. It would be renamed the Universal Postal Union (UPU) in 1878 and be the organization that regulated postal services worldwide. In 1948, this institution became a specialized agency of the United Nations.
According to the United Nations, the UPU is responsible for promoting and developing communication between nations, thereby enabling closer relations between postal services. Furthermore, for this three-year cycle, this institution wants to highlight innovation, integration and inclusion as being the three strategic cornerstones by which it is governed.
According to UPU data, every year around 368 billion letters and 6,4 billion packages are delivered by five million postal workers.
Due to new trends, which are currently changing the way we communicate, the UPU’s General Director, Bishar A. Hussein, points out that postal services “must be reinvented, adopt digitalization, redefine their value propositions and develop new products and services. They also need political support and investment, as well as a regulatory framework adapted to their activities”
World Post Day
October 9 saw the celebration of World Post Day, which was first declared at the 1969 UPU Congress held in Tokyo, Japan. On this occasion, it coincided with the 145th anniversary of the founding of the aforementioned UPU.
“It is worth reflecting on just how much our organization has helped humanity. The best way to celebrate our past is to fight for a better future. In this task, we were guided by the need to help humanity overcome its challenges, so that we can secure the future we all want for our planet. This is the best way to bring development and progress to the world”, said Bishar A. Hussein, General Director of the UPU.
There is no doubt that the postal sector contributes to the social and economic development of countries despite being an old but very useful means of social communication.
Although World Post Day does not have its own motto, it is celebrated in over 150 countries, who perform a range of activities such as the presentation and promotion of new postal services and products, rewarding employees for the work they do, the organization of exhibitions and trade fairs, the issuing of new stamps, the holding of conferences and workshops, as well as the sale of souvenirs and the holding of sports, cultural and educational events.
CORREOS and the Sustainable Development Goals
CORREOS (the National Postal Service of Spain) contributes to the achievement of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by focusing on three fundamental mainstays: people, markets and supply chain.
In relation to SDG 13 on Climate Action, this nationally owned company has implemented cleaner distribution and delivery thanks to its 500 zero-emission vehicles, and has reduced its CO2 emissions by 13% compared to 2013.
Furthermore, CORREOS participated in the #ODSéate campaign, which ran from September 16 to 27, with the aim being to implement goal number four, namely that by 2020 the entire Spanish population must be familiar with the 2030 Agenda and respond to the changes that it proposes.
Furthermore, CORREOS is issuing a series of ‘Solidarity Stamps’, and on this occasion it dedicated it to the 2030 Agenda with a set of stamps that feature the logo of this proposal together with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
FIIAPP and CORREOS
The objective of the project funded by the European Union and managed by FIIAPP entitled ‘Strengthening the Capacities of the North Macedonia Postal Agency’ is to improve the quality of the postal services provided by the aforementioned company and the training of its employees. The project is set to last 18 months. The main focal points areas of the project are the regulatory framework, analytical accounting, postal inspection, letter boxes and market analysis.
Furthermore, it will lay the bases for preparing and adopting a new postal sector strategy. In particular, it will improve the administrative and regulatory capacity of the Postal Agency.
Project coordinator, Eva Picos, goes on to highlight the liaison work being done by FIIAPP and points out that, “FIIAPP has driven Spain’s participation in this project forward at the operational level by acting as go-between with the European Union. In general, the EU supports and guides us on a day-to-day basis in addition to being the institution that sees to the entire management process”.
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Miguel Ángel Lombardo, EVALÚA project coordinator, points out that with the integration of the Sustainable Development Goals and their importance in society, there is a need to change international agendas
In recent times there has been a change in international development agendas, and also in the public policies of different countries, towards ever more comprehensive approaches which are less incrementalist than those seen before. To mention one example, if climate change is a global issue that affects different sectors and multiple territories, does it make sense to focus on cities, to reduce emissions in central hubs or in restricted areas? It may not have a significant impact in terms of reducing emissions, but it does have a significant impact in terms of changing the development model and its relationship with cities. It is not a matter of summing efforts together city by city—this is never-ending—and achieving certain goals, but one of changing behaviour from one generation to another.
In terms of the international agenda, this trend has been marked by the acceptance by most countries of a series of objectives that shape development, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It is as if these countries are committing themselves to a de facto renewal of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaimed by the General Assembly of the United Nations, on 10 December 1948, just 70 years ago. These newer development goals focus on poverty, hunger, health, water, industry and climate, among other issues, and they focus on a different way of doing things.
An interesting example of this is the work of groups of women who, in the 1980s, fled the war in Guatemala to find refuge in the southern areas of Mexico, then later, on their return to Guatemala, they managed to promote substantial changes in the communities where they were resettled. These are processes that occurred outside the major axes of the social and political conflict that marked the cities, neighbourhoods and rural areas, the counterinsurgency struggle and violence, but they were able to articulate a sense of community that would become essential at the time when democracy was re-established. Once the women achieved co-ownership of the land in the communities to which they returned, there was a change in power relations, and if that is accompanied by organisation and leadership, as was the case, it can lead to other changes in terms of the participation and political representation of women at the national level.
The new vision that the SDGs promote consists of the analysis of problems from a broader perspective and in promoting changes in power relations, not just in progress measured in percentages for compartmentalised goals. To this we must add what we already knew, that both civil society and the local sphere play a very important role in the implementation of public policies.
As the rationale behind the SDGs is not incrementalist, it has a great potential to encompass actions that arise in local and civil society spheres, and it is not limited to drawing up lines of action in which the State is the only player. It is here where the impact of small, locally supported actions can be very positive at the national and even global level.
