Delegates from English-speaking Eastern Africa have learnt how to analyse quality performance and better manage processes at a recent workshop.
Ten countries attended the March workshop in Kigali, Rwanda, which was the second in a series of five. These aim to support the implementation of up-to-date technology to enhance quality of service in letter post, parcels and express mail services.
Ignace Gatare, the minister for information communications technology in the Rwandan presidential office, opened the proceedings. He affirmed his government’s commitment to raising quality performance.
“We will continue to do our best to make postal services viable and vibrant… the Post must play its role in the socio-economic development of our country,” Gatare said.
In a message delivered to delegates, Edouard Dayan, UPU director general, said quality of service was a high priority for the Union.
“How do we encourage customers to use postal services if prompt delivery cannot be guaranteed, if mail is lost or damaged, or never delivered because of an incorrect address?” he asked.
Help at hand
Certain tools could offer assistance to operators. “Our International Postal System software application or IPS gives operators an accurate view of their mail movements, covering every point from origin to destination,” Dayan said.
He added that the UPU’s Post*Net network had enabled the majority of postal operators to exchange messages by electronic data interchange or EDI.
Rodah Masaviru, the Pan African Postal Union’s secretary general, said that such workshops helped to improve the quality of postal services in their entirety. However, she also noted that action was necessary.
“Discussions alone are not enough. They need to be followed up,” Masaviru said.