 Today, we take a look back at the last nine years of the Universal Postal Union under the stewardship of Director-General Bishar A. Hussein and Deputy Director-General Pascal Clivar. The years have been punctuated by place names, each one representing cooperation, hard work and progress, Doha, Istanbul, Paris, Moscow, Addis Ababa, Amsterdam, Geneva and finally Abhijan. Bishar Hussein was first elected Director-General of the UPU International Bureau on 10 October 2012, during the 25th Universal Postal Congress in Doha. At the same time, Pascal Clivar was elected Deputy Director-General. The Kenyan-Swiss team received a second mandate during the 26th Congress in Istanbul in 2016. They have fulfilled an advisory, mediating and liaising role for the 192 members of the UPU from the beginning of 2013 until now. It has always been clear what Bishar Hussein and Pascal Clivar wanted to achieve for the UPU and the postal sector during their years in office. The leadership team promised to establish strong and visionary leadership for the UPU. Mr Hussein and Mr Clivar endeavored to promote mutual cooperation among union members. Looking at the positive working climate among members today and the strong position of the UPU, this has been achieved. In the field, the UPU has made technical support for the postal organizations of developing countries a priority while encouraging and supporting the interests of all UPU member countries. Not of respect for the long and distinguished history of the organization and in the best interests of the UPU's future, the pair committed to maintaining the neutrality of the UPU. The Universal Postal Congress is the supreme authority of the union. It brings together plenipotentiaries of all member countries every four years to discuss the state of the global postal sector and decide on its future. At the Doha Congress in 2012, the member countries agreed on a comprehensive agenda for the 2013 to 2016 period. This postal strategy aimed at strengthening the postal sector's three dimensions, physical, financial and electronic, was overseen by Mr Hussein and Mr Clivar. Interconnection, governance and development were established as key axes to strengthen postal services worldwide while responding more effectively to market changes. The groundwork was laid in 2013 with the launch of regional activities to meet the Doha postal strategy's ambitious objectives by 2016. These activities sought to improve the interoperability of the international postal networks, to disseminate technical knowledge and expertise related to the postal sector, to promote innovative products and services, and to foster sustainable business development of the postal sector. By 2016, the mission had been accomplished with all goals met. This success required a tremendous effort by the International Bureau, including restructurings and rationalization measures in many areas. And then came Istanbul. With the approval of the Istanbul World Postal Strategy at the Congress in 2016, the UPU set yet another ambitious agenda for the ensuing cycle. In order to monitor the implementation of the new strategy, regular reports were presented to the UPU's Council of Administration. In addition, a series of annual strategic reviews have been produced to provide a snapshot of the year's achievements. For the current cycle, a prime area of concern was the governance structure. The UPU had to pursue its efforts towards speeding up decision-making processes, reducing the number of formal working groups, meetings and documents. In this way, it could free up resources to fulfill the ever-expanding mandate of the organization and maximize benefits to member countries. A second major focus was finding a way to keep the organization and the sector sustainable amidst funding challenges and increasing competition from private sector players. Achieving both of these goals has meant maintaining closer contact with UPU members than ever. Among the highlights in recent years is a new fixture in the calendar, the World's CEO Forum for Postal Chief Executives. The exclusive CEO event has proved to be an excellent forum for leaders to discuss opportunities and challenges in the industry. By working together and sharing first-hand experiences in a free and open setting, CEOs have gained valuable insight and inspiration on how to shape the future of the sector. The inaugural annual forum in Paris in 2016 was followed by successful gatherings in Moscow, Istanbul and Amsterdam. Extraordinary times, called for extraordinary measures and the organization has twice needed to respond quickly to evolving events in recent years. The UPU's second-ever Extraordinary Congress, held in Addis Ababa in 2018, proved to be a pivotal moment for moving the organization forward on several fronts. The Extraordinary Congress managed to achieve consensus on one of the UPU's longer-standing discussions, UPU reform. After two years of intense work, the UPU's ad hoc group on reform, led by the People's Republic of China, presented a new package of proposals focused on speedier decision-making in proving the UPU's efficiency and management of resources. The package included the introduction of a system of qualified, equitable distribution of member countries on the UPU's bodies as well as enhancing the UPU's role and relevance. Its recommendations were broadly adopted in Addis Ababa. During the Addis Ababa Extraordinary Congress, the Director-General also asked member countries to consider the plight of small island developing states, leading to the creation of a special contribution class to reduce the financial burden on these nations and allowing them to participate fully in the UPU's work. The union also made significant progress toward modernizing postal products and their associated remuneration structures during the five-day Congress. The next challenge to emerge was when the government of the United States of America informed the Director-General in October 2018 of the country's decision to withdraw its membership to the union over the international system for remunerating the exchange of letters and small packets. Both Mr. Hussein and Mr. Cleaver were optimistic that a solution could be reached to reverse the decision. They set about trying to resolve the matter amicably, bringing member countries together over the course of a year to find consensus on a new system. This was finally achieved in September 2019 when the Third Extraordinary Congress in Geneva found common ground on postal remuneration rates, adopting a system that would allow countries to self-declare rates while protecting low-volume developing countries from the impact of the swift reform. It was a historic breakthrough. The UPU succeeded in laying to rest the ghost of remuneration rates that had haunted successive conferences for half a century. Through dialogue led by Bishar Hussein and Pascal Cleaver, the union managed to emerge from the Congress stronger, having agreed on a remuneration solution that offers something for everyone. This development is an expression of the growing realization that the UPU has a role, not just in post, but also in e-commerce and trade. In considering the way forward for securing the organization's role and relevance, members are exploring opening it up to the wider postal sector and engaging the private sector. The Postal Operations Council and the Council of Administration met in April 2019 to discuss policies on the access of wider postal sector players to UPU products and services. Representatives from governments, regulators, designated operators, the private sector, civil society and international organizations were invited to a 2020 forum which was a key milestone in the history of the organization. A proposal approved by both councils will see the UPU open up its supply chain-related IT services to priority partners such as customs and airlines in a move to improve the efficiency of transport and security across the postal network. The councils studied the possibility of opening up other UPU products and services such as its postal payment services, training platform and online solution for carbon analysis and reporting, OSCA to wider postal sector players in the future. The postal sector faces radical and profound changes with no precedent in the UPU's 146-year history, liberalization, privatization and the tremendous surge in e-commerce are transforming the sector and introducing a range of new players involved in the supply chain and final delivery. The Director-General and his deputy recognize there is an urgent need to accelerate the process of private sector engagement. A task force was set up to this end and its recommendations have been fed into the strategy developed for the next four years of the UPU's business cycle. At present around 80% of the UPU's products and services are closed to the wider postal sector but change is possible and change is coming. These principles of inclusivity have also been reflected within the UPU's secretariat. Back at UPU headquarters the organization's leadership has focused on promoting equal rights for different cultures, genders and minorities as well as promoting efficiency and rigorous standards for the UPU. Updated hiring practices have ensured a more balanced geographic representation among staff and work to encourage applications from more female candidates. Over the last two cycles the organization has also committed itself to transparency, undertaking many internal, external and UN Joint Inspection Unit audits between 2013 and 2019. It has reviewed 305 recommendations from its auditors having already completed 216 recommendations which brings us to the present day and the repositioning of postal operators with a new strategy the 2022 Abhijan World Postal Strategy. It is designed to dovetail not just with this decision but to take advantage of the newfound role and relevance of the UPU. More than ever the UPU is a relevant organization that is assisting governments, regulators, postal operators and other key stakeholders in these challenging times for the postal sector and the wider world economy. The pandemic crisis has highlighted the public service role of the posts in a very positive way. The far-sighted vision of the Shah Hussain and Pascal Clivaire over the last two terms has reinforced the universal postal union's position as a provider of essential services to postal operators. Thanks to their leadership the organization is now a powerful platform for innovation and creativity that is helping to reshape the international postal network for the 21st century.