Caribbean

The region comprises the countries of Caribbean. The Development Cooperation implemented in the region is managed by a regional team at UPU IB headquarters and two regional offices loacated in Bridgetown (Barbados) and Castries (Saint Lucia)

During the first three years of the current cycle, in the Caribbean region, 55 activities from 15 projects were carried out. These activities included capacity-building workshops and consultancy missions related to the ORE project, financial and social inclusion, postal sector reform and development, and other interregional and national projects aimed at improving the Posts’ quality of service. The execution rate at the midpoint of the cycle is 77.5% for the Caribbean, with the successful achievement of the key performance indicators (KPIs), especially for the ORE project. 

As part of the level-one ORE project, 4 workshops were also organized, with 79.4% of the 141 participants being UPU fellows. 16 consultant missions were carried out. For all on-site process review missions, the UPU operational experts worked hand-in-hand with local staff to review postal operations and recommend improvements. This targeted cooperation has allowed the UPU to gain a deeper understanding of each DO’s particularities. The IB’s quality of service experts have established country groupings that will make it possible to tailor support to each DO according to its real needs and target the assistance provided so that the Posts can achieve the project KPIs and, more importantly, improve their operational performance. 

Activities were also carried out as part of the level-two projects on postal reform and postal financial services. Having identified the need to strengthen and update the global pool of postal reform experts, the IB updated key postal reform materials (mainly the Postal Reform Guide), which was shared with the postal community in all UPU languages during 2019. Five successful activities relating to the integrated postal development plan were conducted – these include in-country IPDP missions where draft proposal, roadmap and action plans were presented to the high-level authorities and DOs of the beneficiary countries. Follow up activities in way of market and regulatory studies are being conducted in collaboration with one country.

Within the framework of the postal financial services (PFS) project, the implementation of the postal financial services project as originally conceived was a challenging task. However, 2 activities were carried out and 9 more in-country procurement is ongoing for countries with the appropriate readiness levels to launch PFS on a smaller scale.

Under the e-services and diversification project, a capacity-building workshop plus two onsite missions were implemented in order to strengthen the contribution of Posts to digital inclusion and enable them to make a strong contribution towards the achievement of national digital economy strategies. In addition to one regional workshop, a survey was devised and disseminated to several countries to assess their readiness for a digital strategy – the results of this survey is being analyzed.

As the starting point for the regionalization of the UPU technical assistance programme, the Regional development plans (RDPs), introduced by the IB, are based on two fundamental principles:

1. The integration of all IB cooperation activities building on the role of the Development and Cooperation Directorate (DCDEV) as a “single window” interface between the various IB directorates and the countries in need of assistance, resulting in the harmonization of activities conducted in the field by the DCDEV regional programmes, implemented by the regional field experts (RFEs) in cooperation with other players, including Restricted unions (RUs) and consultants; and
2. A regional approach designed to respond to each region’s specific needs by creating synergies with players at the regional level and strengthening and diversifying cooperation mechanisms in the field (partnerships with RUs, regional training centres, economic organizations, etc).

Methodology

The methodology for the formulation of the RDPs for 2026–2029 aims to promote a shared vision of the deployment of UPU technical assistance activities, and to reinforce close relations with the RUs, international organizations and the various postal sector stakeholders. The RDPs also map regional priorities as defined by postal leaders, authorities and development partners to create synergies with the global postal vision.

The regional priorities contained in each RDP are then translated into regional thematic projects that should not only lead to effective coordination between development cooperation activities and the actions launched under other funding sources, but also enable each region to benefit from targeted assistance and increased, more active involvement of the RUs.

RDP stakeholders

The RDP is the reference system that groups together all the development activities to be carried out in favour of the countries of each region by the various players, both within the IB and at regional level. It is a common platform for all cooperation players, enabling them to pursue the same objectives and share the same priorities while avoiding duplication of effort as regards both the allocation of resources and the deployment of activities.