Geneva, Switzerland – The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and the Universal Postal Union (UPU) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish a structured cooperative framework aimed at supporting the professional development of postal sector stakeholders, including governments, and national postal operators across UN Member States.
The partnership provides a framework through which both organizations can leverage each other’s existing training platforms and learner networks to reach a broader audience with capacity building tools that support the delivery of inclusive digital services.
The MoU was signed by UN Assistant Secretary-General and Executive Director of UNITAR Michelle Gyles-McDonnough and UPU Director General Masahiko Metoki on the sidelines of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Geneva. The WSIS Plan of Action highlights the need to ensure everyone has the skills to benefit from the information society. It cites post office connectivity as a key access pathway.
The UPU Director General highlighted how the partnership would elevate postal networks as digital inclusion partners: “By partnering, the UPU and UNITAR ensure that governments and other stakeholders can build their digital capacity to better serve people and businesses everywhere. At the same time, it also provides a broader platform to showcase how the postal sector can help deliver on digital transformation and sustainable development agendas.”
UN Assistant Secretary-General and Executive Director of UNITAR, Ms. Michelle Gyles-McDonnough, emphasized the strategic depth of this collaboration: “This collaborative framework between UNITAR and the Universal Postal Union reaffirms our shared commitment to helping governments bridging digital divides. By facilitating capacity-building, raising awareness, fostering collaboration and developing the necessary digital skills, we aim to empower public servants, regulators, and postal sector professionals across our member states to design and deliver inclusive e-government services.”
Capacity Building to Leverage the Postal Sector for Digital Inclusion
The development of digital government has seen a significant upward trend worldwide, with all regions leveraging technology to enhance government service delivery and improve people’s engagement. Substantial improvements have been achieved in the past years with an increase in the proportion of the world’s population with access to digital government.
Despite advances, uneven access to technology and information creates disparities among countries and communities in the same region. And while connectivity has expanded rapidly, an estimated 2.2 billion people remain unconnected, with many facing barriers to effective digital access, particularly in rural, remote and underserved communities.
The global postal network plays a critical public role in advancing digital inclusion, with over 670,000 post offices worldwide with most of them in rural areas, serving as gateways to communication, services and inclusion. Post offices are emerging as digital hubs providing citizens access to digital services, e-commerce, government and financial services in a secure and trusted environment, particularly in rural communities and for elderly populations and women.
In leveraging postal networks to contribute to more inclusive digital societies, strengthening the capacities of governments, regulators, policy makers, and postal operators is fundamental. To help with this, the UPU and UNITAR will share knowledge and develop joint training in the following priority areas: inclusive e-government service delivery; gender mainstreaming and inclusivity; postal sector resilience; security; and operational capacity development. Resources will be shared across the UPU’s e-learning platform, TrainPost, as well as on UNITAR’s own online training platforms.
The signing of this MoU is of special relevance in the context of WSIS and its Plan of Action , highlighting that “everyone should have the necessary skills to benefit fully from the Information Society”. The Action Plan also stresses the importance of establishing community access points and connecting post offices, public libraries, and hospitals with ICTs to improve connectivity and ensuring that citizens have access to ICTs within their reach (Action Plan 6.e-f)
About UPU
Established in 1874 and a member of the United Nations system since 1948, the UPU the specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for coordinating international postal policies and overseeing the global postal network. Representing 192 member countries, the UPU serves as the primary forum for cooperation between governments, postal operators, and wider stakeholders across the global postal sector. Among its fundamental pillars, the UPU actively promotes the continued development of human resource capabilities through its capacity-development and e-learning arm, TrainPost, supporting professional growth worldwide. www.upu.int
About UNITAR
Established in 1965, the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) is the dedicated training and capacity development arm of the United Nations. Its mission is to bridge the knowledge and skills gaps through high-quality training, research and innovative learning solutions across peace, diplomacy, sustainable development, and effective governance. www.unitar.org
