Universal Postal Union (UPU)

1. Responding to the multiple crises, has the governing body of your organization taken any decisions or adopted any new strategies to enhance effective delivery of sustainable, resilient, and innovative solutions and to reinforce the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and poverty eradication?

The UPU’s plenipotentiary Extraordinary Congress approved Resolution C 7/2023, setting voluntary UPU emission reduction targets of 30% (scopes 1 and 2) by 2030 for member countries in tier 1, and a global UPU emission reduction target of 85% (scopes 1 and 2) by 2050, and associated implementation plans; enabling adaption to, and mitigation of, climate change through access to climate finance, capacity building, technology transfer, and a supportive policy environment in the form of a UPU climate facility; introducing a set of voluntary operational performance indicators for climate action; converging the climate action and wider access agendas of the UPU.

The UPU’s governing body approved the UPU’s first Sustainable Development Policy as well as its first Policy on Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women, at its first 2023 session.

The current Abidjan Postal Strategy 2021-2025 contains the Postal Vision 2030, an advocacy message in line with the SDGs which urges all key postal sector stakeholders to take action in a number for areas. Governments are thus invited to reduce gaps in postal development by utilizing the postal network for socio-economic development. Regulators are encouraged to harmonize and enhance the frameworks under their responsibility. Operators are expected to boost their performance through diversification and operational improvements. Other stakeholders are encouraged to integrate further with the postal world, which will also trigger changes in the UPU’s role. Work is ongoing on the future strategy 2026-2029 development, which will be strongly aligned with the RDM methodology and the SDGs.

UPU’s 133 work proposals approved by the governing bodies for the 2021-2025 cycle, align, to varying degrees of relevance, with 15 of the 17 SDGs, with 91% of all UPU work proposals contributing towards achieving Goal 17 and 87% towards Goal 9.

2. In the past year, has your organization organized any intergovernmentally mandated conferences, forums or events that contributed to the achievement of the SDGs, or in the process of planning and organizing any such mandated events to be held next year?

Event Name:	UPU Strategy Summit 2023
Event Dates:	October 4-5
Event Location (City, Country):	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Relevant SDGs:	SDG 17
Description (max 150 words): please include a short summary of the event’s mandate and contributions to the SDGs, including its main outcome(s)	The UPU Strategy Summit 2023 was held on 4 and 5 October as part of the fourth Extraordinary Congress in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The only event of its kind, the summit brought together ministers, CEOs and postal sector leaders under the theme “People, purpose, progress – The next chapter for the postal sector”. Outcomes from the summit will contribute towards the overarching vision of the future strategy. At the summit, leaders from the global postal sector exchanged ideas, shared experiences and set the vision to build a stronger, more resilient sector. The discussions and insights shared during the summit underscore the postal sector’s potential for growth, adaptation and transformation in a rapidly changing world. From enhancing the customer experience to fostering sustainability and contributing towards the SDGs, these sessions emphasized the sector’s role as a critical player in the global landscape. It is evident that the postal sector is poised to become a dynamic force, bridging the gap between the digital and physical worlds, and co-creating value for citizens, businesses and governments.
Website (if applicable)	https://www.upu.int/en/Events/UPU-Strategy-Summit-2023

Event Name:	Postal Data Hackathon
Event Dates:	23 and 24 June 2023
Event Location (City, Country):	Bern, Switzerland
Relevant SDGs:	SDG 8, 9, 12, 13, 17
Description (max 150 words): please include a short summary of the event’s mandate and contributions to the SDGs, including its main outcome(s)	The event aimed at facilitating the development of partnerships between postal operators, technology companies, academic institutions and other experts, with a view to addressing challenges and jointly creating solutions based on the wealth of postal data. It brought together nearly 60 participants from more than 20 countries, representing UN organizations, academic institutions, postal operators and companies in the technology and logistics sectors, including data scientists, developers, business managers and policy experts. Working in various multifunctional and multidisciplinary groups, the participants produced some unexpected outcomes, extending beyond the selected challenges. For example, the UPU’s Universal POST*CODE database was successfully transformed into a map, creating a solution that the UPU will develop further in the near future with a view to making postcode maps widely accessible.
Website (if applicable)	https://hackathon.post/

Event Name:	African Postal Leaders Forum
Event Dates:	3 to 5 July 2023
Event Location (City, Country):	Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire (Rep.)
Relevant SDGs:	SDG 8, 9, 10, 13, 17
Description (max 150 words): please include a short summary of the event’s mandate and contributions to the SDGs, including its main outcome(s)	The event brought together high-level decision-makers to discuss current issues and challenges, share knowledge and articulate recommendations. The forum also provided a collaboration platform for participants, thereby paving the way for new working relationships and partnerships. The Forum concluded with the “Abidjan Declaration”, a document of understanding and commitment to concrete actions to advance the sustainable an inclusive digital transformation of the postal sector in Africa.
Website (if applicable)	https://laposte.ci.post/forum/upu www.upu.int

Event Name:	TradePost Forum
Event Dates:	6 December 2023
Event Location (City, Country):	Geneva, Switzerland
Relevant SDGs:	SDG 5, 8, 9, 10
Description (max 150 words): please include a short summary of the event’s mandate and contributions to the SDGs, including its main outcome(s)	The forum will feature relevant regional initiatives and implementation cases in each session, and it will demonstrate how the postal network, powered by digital technologies, can enhance inclusive economic growth and empower MSMEs and underrepresented segments of the population to participate in global trade. The forum will allow the participants to share their experiences and perspectives on the postal sector’s contribution to various aspects of trade inclusion and e-commerce.
Website (if applicable)	www.upu.int

Event Name:	TradePost Awards
Event Dates:	6 December 2023
Event Location (City, Country):	Geneva, Switzerland
Relevant SDGs:	SDG 5, 8, 9, 10
Description (max 150 words): please include a short summary of the event’s mandate and contributions to the SDGs, including its main outcome(s)	The UPU launched the first edition of the UPU TradePost award in July 2023. This prize aims to gather the best practices for trade inclusion and SME growth within the sector, acknowledge the sector’s efforts in the area of sustainable trade inclusion initiatives, and reward the most impactful submissions. The objective of the UPU TradePost award is to advocate, towards policymakers and development partners, the key role that the UPU and its member governments and their Posts can play in achieving trade inclusion goals, particularly for MSMEs and underrepresented communities. This award will also serve as a platform for knowledge transfer, reflection and sharing, and analysis of practices related to the inclusion of MSMEs, women, people with disabilities and others in e-commerce and domestic and global trade. The aim is to foster cross-fertilization of ideas and initiatives successfully implemented in UPU member countries and supported by wider postal sector players.
Website (if applicable)

Event Name:	Arab Postal Leaders Forum
Event Dates:	12 to 14 February 2024
Event Location (City, Country):	Muscat, Oman
Relevant SDGs:	SDG 8, 9, 10, 13, 17
Description (max 150 words): please include a short summary of the event’s mandate and contributions to the SDGs, including its main outcome(s)	The forum aims to provide top management and senior officials from Governments, Postal Operators, regulators, and development partners in the Arab region with relevant and insightful information on digital transformation of the postal sector and on the role the postal network can play in advancing national and regional digital and e-commerce strategies. Also, the forum will facilitate the development of partnerships with key development organizations to collaborate on digital transformation and implementing the digitalization of the postal services in the Arab region.
Website (if applicable)

Event Name:	Innovating equality: The Post as an engine of digital empowerment
Event Dates:	9 March 2023
Event Location (City, Country):	Webinar
Relevant SDGs:	Goal 5
Description (max 150 words): please include a short summary of the event’s mandate and contributions to the SDGs, including its main outcome(s)	UPU convened a cross-sector panel of digital empowerment leaders to share best practices and address some of the key related questions, including: How can Posts use gender equality to meet their digital transformation goals? What are the various ways that the Post can support women and girls in the technology sector and help them succeed? How can Posts help encourage women-led innovations? How can postal digital services be used to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment society-wide?
Website (if applicable)	https://www.upu.int/en/Events/Innovating-equality-The-Post-as-an-engine-of-digital-empowerment

Event Name:	UPU Conference on Postal Regulation: Climate action by the global postal sector
Event Dates:	6 May 2023
Event Location (City, Country):	Berne, Switzerland
Relevant SDGs:	Goal 7, 11, 13, 17
Description (max 150 words): please include a short summary of the event’s mandate and contributions to the SDGs, including its main outcome(s)	The conference highlighted a need for aligned postal and sustainability regulations and standardized data on postal carbon emissions to set appropriate reduction targets. Further, Posts have an important role in reaching communities affected by the climate crisis, as a way to provide essential services and also to collect climate-relevant data.
Website (if applicable)	https://www.upu.int/en/News/2023/June/UPU-members-zero-in-on-regulation-for-climate-action

3. In the past year, has your organization published or planned to publish any analytical work or guidance note or toolkits to guide and support the implementation of SDGs at national, regional and global levels? Please select up to three to highlight, especially those that address interlinkages among the SDGs.

Resource Name	The role of the postal sector in sustainable digital infrastructure deployment
Relevant SDGs (list all relevant goals)	SDG 2, 4, 6, 7, 11, 12, 16, 17
Publishing entity/entities	UPU
Target audience	Policymakers, Regulators, Postal Executives, Development agencies
Description (max 150 words)	The policy brief highlights the crucial role of the global postal sector, with over 650,000 post offices, in deploying sustainable digital infrastructure, especially in rural and underserved communities. This network, fulfilling universal postal service obligations, can aid social, financial, and digital inclusion, especially for small and medium enterprises, but faces challenges due to a lack of digitalization in connectivity-deprived communities. Proposals include using postal networks for co-locating infrastructure, sharing resources to reduce carbon footprints, and improving service quality monitoring. The postal network can enhance digital service adoption by facilitating e-commerce access and serving as trusted intermediaries for digital services. Recommendations focus on cross-sector collaboration and partnerships between postal and telecom sectors to foster inclusive digital infrastructure and service adoption.
Language(s)	English, French
Website (if applicable)	https://www.upu.int/en/Universal-Postal-Union/Activities/Research-Publi…;

Resource Name	Enhancing postal references in international e-commerce agreements: WTO Joint Statement Initiative (JSI) on e-commerce
Relevant SDGs (list all relevant goals)	SDG 1, 2, 5,8,9,17
Publishing entity/entities	UPU
Target audience	Policymakers, Regulators, Executives of postal organizations, UN system and related development agencies
Description (max 150 words)	This policy brief highlights the rising relevance of e-commerce in global trade. It examines the WTO Joint Statement Initiative (JSI) on e-commerce, involving 89 WTO members, including 38 developing countries (DCs), focusing on traditional trade topics and digital policy issues like data flows and online consumer protection. The brief emphasizes the absence of postal sector references in the WTO JSI negotiations, despite its significant role in e-commerce. It argues for integrating postal data in monitoring trade agreements' effectiveness, aiding in trade volume analysis, market access evaluation, and identifying trade patterns. The brief notes the postal sector's potential in enhancing trade for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), women, and underserved communities. It recommends emphasizing the postal sector's role in e-commerce in the WTO JSI negotiations, highlighting its importance in goods delivery, data exchange with customs, cybersecurity, and payment services. The brief suggests strategies to integrate postal services with border agencies for efficient customs processes and security measures. Finally, it recommends enhancing postal references in e-commerce policy frameworks at national, regional, and global levels to facilitate cross-border trade, promote inclusivity, and support sustainable e-commerce growth.
Language(s)	English, French
Website (if applicable)	https://www.upu.int/en/Universal-Postal-Union/Activities/Research-Publi…;

Resource Name	Posts as enablers of MSME payment digitalization
Relevant SDGs (list all relevant goals)	SDGs 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 10, 17
Publishing entity/entities	Universal Postal Union (through FITAF programme in partnership with Visa Inc and B&M Gates Foundation), to be published by the end of 2023
Target audience	Postal operators, postal policy makers
Description (max 150 words)	The Study will provide information on the role of MSMEs in the global economy and how designated postal operators can help facilitate their payment digitalization and come up with certain recommendation for postal operators and policy makers. Many MSMEs face challenges in adopting digital payment systems, such as lack of access to financial services and limited digital literacy. The UPU's financial inclusion initiatives aim to address these challenges and promote digital payments for MSMEs in developing countries. The Study provides examples of successful partnerships between postal operators and MSMEs to promote digital payments. Through the Study UPU would like to emphasize the importance of helping MSMEs in digitalize their payments and the role that postal operator can play in facilitating this process.
Language(s)	EN, FR
Website (if applicable)	Tbc after publication at the end of the year

4. In connection with the 2023 SDG Summit, the United Nations development system announced 12 High-Impact Initiatives where transformative progress is possible despite challenging global circumstances. Please share if your organization is contributing to any of these High Impact Initiatives and how various actors are being rallied behind them to mobilize further leadership and investment to bring progress to scale.

Digital Public Infrastructure (Scaling inclusive and open digital ecosystems for the SDGs) :

The UPU is working with its members to leverage the postal network for an inclusive last-mile delivery development and deployment of e-government services, with the connect.post initiative (www.connect.post).

FutureGov (Building public sector capabilities for the future):

The postal sector is contributing to the development of public sector capabilities e.g. digital IDs, e-voting solutions, etc.

Local2030 Coalition (Pushing key transitions and achieving the SDGs by 2030) :

Counting on its 700,000 postal offices, the UPU covers 95% of the world's population and acts as an accelerator for the local implementation of the SDGs through all its activities

Power of Data (Unlocking the data dividend for the SDGs) :

The UPU provides its members with a Multilateral Data Sharing Agreement (MDSA) to facilitate the exchange of data necessary for the operations of international postal services. Also, the UPU hosts multi-stakeholder data innovation events to unlock the value of postal exchanges data in the global supply chain.

The UPU actively participates in various sessions of the United Nations World Data Forum, aiming to forge strategic data partnerships. These collaborations are primarily focused on leveraging the UPU's expansive big data platform, which is pivotal in monitoring cross-border e-commerce shipments. The strategic partners involved predominantly comprise other United Nations organizations and various multilateral institutions, such as the World Bank. These entities stand to gain significantly from alternative data sources, such as real-time international postal, parcel, and logistics data. This information is crucial for a more accurate and timely assessment of the global digital economy and its diverse impacts, particularly regarding the achievement of sustainable development goals.
Furthermore, the UPU has successfully mobilized funding from the Japanese government. This crucial financial support is currently directed towards the development of a unified data platform available to potential partners. This platform is envisioned to address and fill critical data gaps in the measurement of e-commerce activities. To this end, the UPU collaborates closely with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database (UN Comtrade), the World Trade Organization (WTO) as well as with regional development banks such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) . The synergy among these organizations is expected to enhance the precision and breadth of e-commerce data, thus contributing to a better understanding and management of global digital commerce dynamics. This initiative reflects the UPU's commitment to harnessing the power of data in facilitating sustainable global development.

The SDG Stimulus (Scaling up long-term affordable financing for the SDGs) :

The UPU, through its Connect.post initiative, is setting up a financing platform to facilitate the sustainable and inclusive deployment of digital infrastructure and services through the postal network.

Transforming4Trade (Paradigm shift to boost economic development) :

The UPU TradePost program is encouraging utilization of national postal infrastructure and re-orienting policies to support productive trade inclusion and build socioeconomic resilience for all communities through the postal network.

5. In addition to the above, has your organization been part of any other initiatives or multi-stakeholder partnerships that enhance effective delivery of sustainable, resilient and innovative solutions and reinforce the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, especially in the areas of SDG1 (no poverty), SDG2 (zero hunger), SDG13 (climate action), SDG16 (peace, justice and strong institutions), SDG17 (partnerships for the goals), which will go under in-depth review at the HLPF in 2024, or related to the Secretary-General’s proposals in Our Common Agenda?

Initiative/Partnership Name	UPU paper on Postal networks: a platform for financial inclusion enablement on FITAF
Partners (please list all partners)	Visa Inc. and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Relevant SDGs (list all relevant goals)	SDG 5, 8, 10, 17
Member States benefiting from it
Description (max 150 words)	The UPU recently published a paper “Postal networks: a platform for financial inclusion enablement” aiming to provide an overview on the Financial Inclusion Technical Assistance Facility (FITAF), a joint programme formulated by the Universal Postal Union (UPU), Visa Inc. and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to advance common goals of financial inclusion (FI). The FITAF programme facilitated the examination and deployment of various postal DFS engagement models, enhanced postal DFS knowledge transfer, supported an enabling postal network dialogue with regulators and policymakers on the requisite postal DFS provision, focused on enabling government and non-government collaborative postal partnerships, delivered focused postal financial literacy and capacity-building modules, and engaged 5.3 million underserved postal customers, 3.1 million of whom were women.
Website	https://www.upu.int/en/Publications/Financial-inclusion/Postal-networks…;

Initiative/Partnership Name	Etrade4all initiative
Partners (please list all partners)	AfDB, BSI, Commonwealth of Nations, Consumers International, CUTS, DCO, DiPLO, e-Residency, ECA, ECLAC, EIF, ERIA, ESCAP, ESCWA, IAP, ICAO, IDB, ILO, ISOC, ITC, ITFC, ITU, PIF, South Center, UNCDF, UNCITRAL, UNCTAD, UNECE, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WEF, WIPO, WBG, WTO
Relevant SDGs (list all relevant goals)	SDG 5, 8, 9, 10, 13, 17
Member States benefiting from it	Participation in the eT Readies (eTrade Readiness Assessments) in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Benin, Bhutan, Burkina Faso , Cambodia, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Kiribati, Lao PDR, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mongolia, Nepal, Niger, Senegal, Solomon Islands, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda,
Description (max 150 words)	The UPU was a founding partner in the eTrade for all initiative, which was born in July 2016 from a common vision: digital advances can be a powerful driver of economic growth, job creation and sustainable development including in the developing world. However, concerted global efforts are required to spread the digital economy’s gains to all and help close the digital divide.  eTrade for all is a multi-stakeholder partnership, which connects the dots between beneficiary countries, partners and donors.  The UPU has been an active co-author, contributor and reviewer of etrade readiness assessments, Ecommerce Strategies and Action Plans in the above-mentioned beneficiary countries
Website	https://etradeforall.org/

Initiative/Partnership Name	The United Nations Group on the Information Society (UNGIS)
Partners (please list all partners)	The UNGIS is comprised of 37 UN entities. FAO, IAEA, ICAO, IFAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, IOM, ITU, UN WOMEN, UNAIDS, UNCTAD, UNDP, UNECA, UNECE, UNECLAC, UNEP, UNESCAP, UNESCO, UNESCWA, UNFPA, UN-HABITAT, UNHCR, UNICEF, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNODC, UNOPS, UNRWA, UNWTO, UPU, WFP, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WORLD BANK GROUP, WTO
Relevant SDGs (list all relevant goals)	All
Member States benefiting from it	Global
Description (max 150 words)	The United Nations Group on the Information Society (UNGIS) is the UN system’s inter-agency mechanism for advancing policy coherence and programme coordination on matters related to information and communications technologies (ICTs) in support of internationally-agreed development goals. The UPU has been a regular participant in UNGIS meetings, advocating for enhanced coherence and programme coordination through UNGIS.
Website	https://ungis.org/

Initiative/Partnership Name	Partner2Connect Digital Coalition
Partners (please list all partners)	Almost 400 entities are part of this coalition (see website for details)
Relevant SDGs (list all relevant goals)	SDG 8, 9, 10, 13, 17
Member States benefiting from it	Global
Description (max 150 words)	The Partner2Connect Digital Coalition is a multistakeholder alliance launched by ITU to foster meaningful connectivity and digital transformation globally, with a focus on but not limited to hardest- to-connect communities in Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS). As a contribution to the P2C, the UPU pledged to work with industry stakeholders and the partners to enhance meaningful connectivity in all communities by connecting all post offices to the internet by 2030.
Website	https://www.itu.int/itu-d/sites/partner2connect/

Initiative/Partnership Name	Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development
Partners (please list all partners)	The Broadband Commission collaborates with a variety of partners to advance our work and fulfill our common goal of advancing universal connectivity.
Relevant SDGs (list all relevant goals)	SDG 8, 9, 10, 13, 17
Member States benefiting from it	Global
Description (max 150 words)	The Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development is a public-private partnership fostering digital cooperation and developing actionable recommendations for achieving universal connectivity. The Commission acts as a UN advocacy engine for the implementation of the UNSG’s Roadmap for Digital Cooperation. The UPU joined the working group on connectivity of MSME and has been an active member contributing to the working group outcome report released in 2023.
Website	https://www.broadbandcommission.org/

Initiative/Partnership Name	EDISON Alliance
Partners (please list all partners)	The EDISON Alliance is an open-ecosystem of change-makers, mobilizing joint effort and aligning priorities to enhance the case for digital investment.
Relevant SDGs (list all relevant goals)	SDG 8, 9, 10, 13, 17
Member States benefiting from it	Global
Description (max 150 words)	The World Economic Forum launched the EDISON Alliance as the first of its kind platform to accelerate collaboration between the ICT community and other critical sectors of the economy. The UPU has been contributing to the Edison Alliance to advocate for partnerships to foster meaningful connectivity in all communities, through connecting all post offices to the internet by 2030.
Website	https://www.edisonalliance.org/home

Sustainable Postal Services Group	International Working Group on improving the sustainability of postal services
Partners (please list all partners)	60+ Designated postal operators from UPU member countries, plus 3 external stakeholders from the UPU Consultative Committee
Relevant SDGs (list all relevant goals)	All, but with particular focus on SDG 13
Member States benefiting from it	All
Description (max 150 words)	This group guides the implementation of the UPU’s sustainable development agenda for the current cycle. It includes a large number of representatives from nationally designated postal operators, to ensure that the work of the UPU accounts for the practical challenges of postal operations.
Website	N/A

6. In the Political Declaration adopted at the 2023 SDG Summit, Member States committed to using the review of the high-level political forum at the 78th session of the General Assembly to further strengthen the follow-up and review of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, harnessing data to track progress in implementing the Sustainable Development Goals and targets, strengthening analysis of the interlinkages across the Goals and targets, including policy implications of their synergies and trade-offs. Please provide your organization’s recommendations, if any, in this regard.

This political declaration reaffirms the commitment by Heads of State and Government to implement the 2030 Agenda, its SDGs and related principles. A primary mechanism for countries to make progress on this issue is to mainstream sustainable development as a cross-cutting issue.

However, feedback received by the UPU from some national postal operators is that postal networks are not yet perceived as sustainability infrastructure by national governments. Considering the broad reach of this network, its multiple assets, and high levels of public trust, this is a missed opportunity for advancing the SDGs. The UPU is therefore encouraging greater engagement between ministries responsible for the postal sector, and other ministries that have mandates to advance sustainable development in areas such as transport, trade, digital, health, and environment. In the case of the UPU, our message to other sectors is to consider whether postal infrastructure might be repurposed to meet their SDG priorities. The importance of joined up government in achieving sustainable development is broader than this example from the postal sector. For this reason, we make a high-level recommendation that increased emphasis should be placed upon cross-ministerial cooperation for achieving the SDGs.

Strengthen follow-up and review of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda at HLPF:
- The UPU proposes the integration of postal data into the HLPF review process. Postal networks are widespread and can provide real-time data relevant to several SDGs, especially those related to industry, innovation, and infrastructure (SDG 9), sustainable cities and communities (SDG 11), and partnerships for the goals (SDG 17).
- The UPU recommends periodic thematic reviews focusing on specific SDGs where postal data can offer substantial insights, such as in e-commerce and logistics, which directly impact sustainable economic growth and development.
Harnessing data to track progress in implementation
- The UPU advocates for the use of its big data platform on cross-border e-commerce shipments. This platform can be instrumental in tracking the progress of SDGs related to economic growth, industry innovation, and sustainable cities.
- Collaborate with other UN bodies to ensure the comprehensive incorporation of postal data into broader data ecosystems, enhancing the accuracy and scope of SDG progress measurement.
Strengthening analysis of the interlinkages across Goals and targets, including policy implications of their synergies and trade-offs
- The UPU suggests developing a framework to analyze how postal, parcel, and logistics data interlink with various SDGs. This would aid in understanding the complex relationships and dependencies among different goals.
- Encourage joint research initiatives with academic institutions and think tanks to explore the policy implications of synergies and trade-offs revealed through postal data analysis.
Other suggestions :
- Promote both organic and structured avenues for inter-agency linkages to share best practices, review implementation and avoid duplication of efforts/silos.
- The UPU recommends establishing partnerships with technology companies to innovate in data processing and analytics. This would facilitate more sophisticated analysis of postal data for SDG tracking.
- Advocate for capacity building in developing countries to improve their postal data collection and analysis, ensuring global inclusivity in tracking SDG progress.
- Promote the use of postal data in emergency and disaster response scenarios, contributing to SDG 13 (Climate Action) and SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities).

ECESA Plus Member

UPU

Year of submission: 2023