Postal services in Egypt are experiencing disruptions due to the turmoil affecting the country.
The Egyptian Post has informed the UPU’s International Bureau that it has been experiencing difficulties in providing postal services since 25 January and expects such difficulties to continue until the country’s situation stabilizes.
The Egyptian Post employs some 49,000 staff, making it the largest postal employer in the Arab world, and manages more than 4,500 post offices.
Meanwhile, following the lead of other UN organizations in the field, the UPU has evacuated its regional coordinator based in Cairo.
Security concerns in Egypt and Cairo in particular have forced many UN organizations there to evacuate non essential staff.
The UN peacekeeping mission in Cyprus is hosting some 600 UN staff.
The UPU’s regional coordinator, who works in Cairo with the region’s Arab countries on various postal projects, has returned to his home country, Tunisia, where the situation has stabilized.
The Tunisian Post this week announced that postal operations had returned to normal. It had experienced some disruptions in mid-January, at the height of the conflict in that country.