South Sudan addresses UPU forum for first time

South Sudan addresses UPU forum for first time

South Sudan has announced its Post is open for business in its first address to the UPU's Council of Administration.

On Wednesday, 9 November, Telecommunications and Postal Services Minister Madut Biar Yel said the new government is committed to providing basic services, including postal services, to its people.

"Like other sectors of the economy, postal services were almost entirely brought to their knees after 50 years of war. The few post offices we had were entirely destroyed… and we basically had to start from scratch,” the minister told delegates by live link-up from Juba, the capital.

Since the country gained statehood in July 2011, some progress has been made in rebuilding the postal network. Five state post offices are now operational. The minister added that the fledgling nation had issued its own stamps and the training of postal staff had begun. Work is also underway on developing the legal and regulatory framework for postal services.

For its part, the UPU is providing technical assistance to the new nation. The Union recently issued two international mail processing centre (IMPC) codes to the offices of exchange in Juba and Malakal. IMPC codes facilitate international postal operations. The UPU is also liaising with South Sudan in areas such as letter post, parcels, express mail services and addressing.

Biar Yel thanked the Union for welcoming the new nation into the fold after its application for membership was formally accepted in October 2011. It became the UPU’s 192nd member. “We are extremely hopeful that, with our admission to the UPU, we shall be able to learn quickly from regional and global best practices… to catch up and be fully integrated in the global postal ecosystem,” the minister added.

South Sudan has more than eight million inhabitants and is a federation of ten states, subdivided into 86 counties.

Courtesy : http://www.upu.int

Posted by : AIPEDEU,Odisha Circle.                                                                                                                                                          

 

 

HIV an important workplace issue

 

Newly published guidelines will help Posts develop HIV workplace policies and programmes for their staff.

The International Labour Organization, the UPU and UNI Global Union unveiled the new guidelines this week, as part of a global HIV-prevention campaign, which also involves the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).

A key phase of the global campaign launched in 2009 is to encourage Posts to develop HIV workplace policies to raise awareness of prevention and protect infected staff.

“There’s no reason to think that postal workers are more at risk of contracting HIV than others, but because Posts are major employers, they can play an important role in the development of workplace policies, educating staff on the risks of HIV and protecting infected employees from stigma and helping them to remain productive,” said the ILO’s John Myers, who led the guidelines’ development.

UNI Global Union affiliates and the ILO’s field offices will promote the guidelines and assist Posts wanting to develop HIV workplace policies.

The ILO recently worked with Uganda Post to launch the campaign among staff on 9 October, World Post Day.

The guidelines are currently available in English and French. They will also soon be available in Spanish.

The first two phases of the joint global HIV-prevention campaign focused on raising awareness among the public through the post office network and philatelic initiatives to mark 30 years of HIV/AIDS in 2011.

The guidelines will also assist in promoting and implementing the ILO Recommendation concerning HIV and AIDS and the world of work. This first international labour standard on HIV and AIDS is designed to protect human rights at work and calls for measures to be taken to prevent HIV-related discrimination and stigma.

Courtesy : http://www.upu.int

Posted by : AIPEDEU,Odisha Circle.