The Universal Postal Union (UPU) has cancelled a major conference due to be held in Ivory Coastnext month due to the Ebola outbreak in Western Africa that has impacted on registrations for the
event.The UPU announced the government of Côte d’Ivoire and the UPU’s Council of Administration havedecided to cancel the strategy conference scheduled to take part in the capital, Abidjan, on 14 and15 October 2014 “due to the prevailing situation in Western Africa”.
“Recalling the prevailing health challenge in neighbouring countries and the low levels ofregistration due to this, the authorities decided it would be judicious to cancel the meeting”, theUPU explained.
After a meeting between Ivorian Prime Minister Daniel Kablan Duncan and UPU Director GeneralBishar A. Hussein this week in Abidjan, the Ivorian minister for posts and telecommunications andgovernment spokesperson, Bruno Koné, said: “We have exchanged (views) on the consequences of thedifficulties the region is experiencing. For us, it is a matter of being reasonable and realistic,and making sure that this conference can be a success. The context and the environment must beappropriate for the organisation of this event,” he emphasised.
For his part, Bishar Hussein recognised the efforts made by Côte d’Ivoire so far to prepare forthe conference and thanked the Ivorian authorities for their dedication to the Union.
“We have had to take a difficult but necessary decision due to circumstances beyond ourcontrol,” he said. “The UPU thanks the government of Côte d’Ivoire for the remarkable effortsinvested in the preparations for this important conference. To ensure the event’s success, however,the right conditions must be met to ensure the greatest participation possible by representativesof our 192 member countries, international and United Nations organisations and other postal-sectorstakeholders.”
The UPU’s Strategy Conference invites member countries and other postal stakeholders to takestock of progress being achieved on the current world postal strategy. The meeting also aims toidentify the trends and developments to take into account during the drafting of the next roadmapfor the postal sector, to be presented for adoption by UPU member countries at the 2016 UniversalPostal Congress in Istanbul.
The UPU’s Council of Administration will discuss the matter at its November session at UPUheadquarters in Berne.
