14.09.2012 - 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.
Source : news.upu.in
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