Addressing “Addressing The World – An Address For Everyone .

KeystoneAddressing the world – An address for everyoneForewordAnna TibaijukaWhen the Universal Postal Union (UPU) askeddemonstrated unequivocally that it is almostimpossible for individuals to be part of societyUN-Habitat to participate in its 24th Congressheld in Geneva in 2008, it was clear to us, without a legal identity, and that establishingas urban planners, and particularly to me as such an identity often depends on havingExecutive Director at the time, that we must an official address. They also stressed thatpromote the value of address infrastructure inurban development, economic growth andour societies. Our work with urban inhabitants the provision of basic services are inextricain developing countries that suffer from little or bly linked to the existence of sound addressno urban planning and housing, particularly ininfrastructure, in urban and rural areas alike.informal settlements, has shown that the lack As a matter of fact, addresses appear to be aof an address can also mean the lack of legalkey element in aiding the delivery of policiesidentity, equal opportunities for employment at national and international levels in supportof the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),and social integration.This century is witnessing a fundamentalparticularly with regard to governance, rule ofchange in our way of life; for the first timelaw, poverty reduction, disease prevention andin history, half of the world’s population lives the provision of basic services such as electricity,sanitation and water.in towns and cities. Urban areas are growingHaving served as a member of variousfaster in developing countries, mostly throughinformal settlements, and our responsibilitycommissions and professional associationsas local, national or international leaders is to that deal with the development and improvemake sure that nobody is left behind in this ment of infrastructures around the world, I amnew urban era. We must do this by supportingconvinced that the implementation of addressurban development through all possible meansinfrastructure will result in improved publicin order to guarantee adequate living condi- services such as sanitation, hygiene and watertions and poverty reduction. We need new supply coverage, and many more fundamentalapproaches for urban planning, management, services.financing and service delivery to ensure that theToday, initiatives such as the UPU’scities we create are socially inclusive.“Addressing the world – An address forSince the launch of the “Addressing theeveryone” help to inform governments of theworld – An address for everyone” initiativeadvantages of investing in a national addressin 2009, the UPU has organized two confer- ing infrastructure for the benefit of all. Thisences on addressing in 2010 and participatedwhite paper moves the initiative forwardin a series of events that raised awareness of through an innovative analysis of the value ofthe value of address infrastructure as a key addresses through historical, economic andpractical perspectives. This paper, prepared ininfrastructure of countries. These activities6cooperation with several UN organizations andother partners, supports the need for a betterunderstanding of the role that addresses play inurban development. It may also help to createlegitimacy for change; but more importantly,it provides a focus for intervention.As the Minister of Lands, Housing andHuman Settlements Development in Tanzania,I am particularly concerned about the problemsinflicted by poor land tenure, deficient housingand unsustainable human settlements. As anAfrican woman living on the world’s fastesturbanizing continent, I am aware that weneed to persuade everyone, from presidentsto ordinary policy-makers, of the urgency ofurban development issues. For this reason, Ioffer my full support to this initiative and I amhonoured to serve as a special ambassador forthis initiative. My hope is that the governmentsof member states and other agencies world-wide will commit themselves to this initiativeaimed at improving addressing infrastructures,which in turn supports individual rights andsustainable cities.Now is the time to actProfessor Anna Tibaijuka,Minister of Lands, Housing and HumanSettlements Development inTanzania – Special ambassador tothe “Addressing the world –An address for everyone” initiative

UPUPrefaceEdouard DayanWhat constitutes an address, and what doesit mean to have one, or not to have one?Addresses serve as one of the basic facilitatorsof communication between people, publicservice institutions and businesses. Withoutthem, it is difficult to reach individuals. It isdifficult for governments and municipalitiesto deliver public services, and for businessesto operate effectively.In most industrialized countries, physical –and, of course, electronic – addresses are partof everyday life. Just like roads, running waterand health services, physical addresses areoften taken for granted. Yet, in developingcountries, physical addresses frequently existonly in major city centres. In such countries,many streets have no names and propertiesare not numbered. It is therefore difficult orimpossible for public services and businessesto reach their target customers. For the postalbusiness, an accurate and complete addressis the key to providing quality service, so thatcorrespondence, documents and goods reachtheir destination as quickly as possible.The preamble to the Constitution of theUniversal Postal Union (UPU) states that theUPU carries out its mission “with a view todeveloping communications between peoplesby the efficient operation of the postal services,and to contributing to the attainment of thenoble aims of international collaboration in thecultural, social and economic fields.” In keepingwith its mission, the UPU has been workingto develop and improve national addressing and postcode systems around the worldsince 1999, especially in developing countries.Indeed, addressing is a key component of theUnion’s activities. However, addressing is notonly about home mail delivery. It goes farbeyond the postal sector and is essential forindividuals, governments, the business sectorand international organizations – indeed, forall of society.A basic human rightToday, an address is considered part of aperson’s identity, and not only in the UPUenvironment. According to the United NationsDevelopment Programme’s Commission onthe Legal Empowerment of the Poor, 4 billionpeople are excluded from the rule of lawbecause they do not have a legal identity.This lack of identity is often a barrier to theenjoyment of their rights as citizens. Setting upan address infrastructure is one step towardstackling this issue.Moreover, the last few decades have seenincreasing population migration from ruralto urban areas, resulting in an urban demographic explosion worldwide. This growth inboth formal and informal urban settlementshas made it increasingly difficult to locatepeople. An effective urban governance systemis needed to ensure the social and environmental sustainability of urban settlements. Putsimply, rapid urbanization means that peopleneed addresses, a point that Professor AnnaTibaijuka, former Executive Director of theUnited Nations Human Settlements Programme(UN-Habitat), recognized in her message to the2008 UPU Congress.Access to servicesThere is no doubt that address infrastructure –the network of road names and house numbers– forms an important basis upon which societycan function. The exact benefits of a nation-wide address network are not easy to quantify,but the value increases dramatically when thenetwork is considered as an infrastructurethat enables access to other services. At theindividual level, everyone needs an address tobe recognized formally as a member of thecommunity, to have access to property, to takeon the rights and obligations attached to his orher social role, and to more easily participatein national and international markets. At theorganizational level, local and national gov-ernments need addresses to help individualssecure a legal identity, to facilitate the plan-ning and implementation of public policies andservices (like water and electricity), to respondeffectively to natural disasters and diseasesby providing aid and emergency services, toreinforce national and international security,and to facilitate tax collection. Businesses alsoneed accurate addressing networks to locateclients and providers, promote and facilitateaccess to products and services, deliver goods,send mail and develop new markets.7

UPUAddressing the world – An address for everyoneUPU monument, Berne, SwitzerlandA public goodThe absence of a complete, correct and uniquenational address infrastructure constitutes amajor socio-economic challenge for a numberof developing countries. A quality addressinfrastructure must be considered as an essential part of a country’s socio-economic infrastructure, not only improving public services,but also facilitating business, trade and, consequently, national development. In view of thevast benefits it provides, address infrastructurecan be considered as a public good, alongsidetraffic lights and national security. Moreover,the benefits extend beyond a country’s borders,contributing to the global well-being. Whereaddresses do not exist, therefore, governmentsshould make every effort to work with national,regional and international stakeholders toexpand the address network.A global initiativeIn June 2009, the UPU launched an initiative tomeet the global challenge of providing everyone with an address. The initiative, “Addressingthe world – An address for everyone”, aimsto create synergies between United Nationsorganizations, intergovernmental institutionsand other interested parties to emphasize thevalue of addresses, identify problems relatedto not having an address and, above all,tackle the challenges associated with the lackof addresses. The final goal – to ensure thatevery inhabitant has an address – is certainlyambitious, but the UPU is ready to facilitate8the necessary collaboration among stakeholders at the national, regional and internationallevels to help countries implement nationaladdressing projects and work together to findsolutions, fund projects and expand knowledge. In order to put addressing on the globaldevelopment agenda, I presented the initiativeto the United Nations System Chief Execut

Improving an addressing infrastructure: the Danish experience 50 Case study: Republic of Korea Korea’s new addressing system 55 Case study: Costa Rica Addressing and signage in Costa Rica 59 Case study: India The Aadhaar Number: a unique ID project 63 Table of contents 2 Addressing the world – An address for everyone