Congress updates

Credentials and proxies

Dear Sir/Madam,

We wish to remind the governments of all UPU member countries of the need to notify the International Bureau (won-ja.lee[at]upu.int/hillary.donohoe[at]upu.int) as quickly as possible of the members of their delegation to the Universal Postal Congress before it opens on 20 September 2016. In addition, every delegate needs to be registered through the Congress website (http://registration.upu2016istanbul.gov.tr). Any member country that does not notify the International Bureau of its delegation may be denied access to the Congress venue.

Please find attached the IB's circular letter of 2 September 2016 concerning the decision taken by the extraordinary Council of Administration session held on 29 August 2016 to proceed with the Congress in Istanbul as planned.

Thank you for your attention and kind cooperation.

Yours faithfully,

UPU Congress to go ahead in Istanbul

The 26th Universal Postal Congress will still be held in Istanbul, Turkey, from 20 September – 7 October, following an unanimous decision taken by acclamation by the Union’s Council of Administration (CA).

CA members attending an extraordinary Council meeting made the decision after taking into consideration Turkey’s own report on the security situation in its country and the United Nations Department of Safety and Security’s comprehensive risk analysis. The UNDSS report was presented by Under-Secretary-General Peter Drennan via video link from New York.

Addressing the delegates earlier, UPU Director General Bishar A. Hussein had said: “The Turkish authorities have so far done a commendable job to ensure Congress is secure, going by the information they have shared with the UPU.”

‘Perfectly safe’

Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Turkey to United Nations Organizations in Geneva Mehmet Ferden Carikci told the meeting that his nation was not the only one to be affected by “scourge of terrorism”.

“Turkey remains perfectly safe,” he said.

For his part, CA Chairman Faleh Al-Naemi underlined that it had been necessary to hold this extraordinary session as it was the responsibility of all concerned to ensure that the UPU Congress is held in a secure environment, where all delegates and participants feel safe.

“The CA takes note of the additional security measures that Turkey commits to undertake to fully secure Congress in compliance with the requirements pointed out by UNDSS”, he said.

Turkey won the bid to host the 26th UPU Congress during the last event held in Doha, Qatar in 2012, but the mandate had been under review in recent months, following a series of terrorist attacks in Istanbul and the recent failed military coup.

Looking ahead

Some 2,000 decision-makers from UPU member countries are expected to attend Congress, the supreme decision-making organ of the Union.

Director General Hussein underlined that the preparation work for the 2016 Congress was progressing well to date.

“Both the Turkish and UPU secretariats have worked efficiently to deliver good results,” he said. “Furthermore, Turkey has deployed substantial resources to ensure provision of modern facilities for the Congress,” he added.

Plenipotentiaries wishing to attend Congress are advised to make arrangements as soon as possible.