New director takes up post at Swiss-based UPU

(MENAFN- Swissinfo) The bronze statue in Bern, commemorating the 1874 founding of one of the world's oldest international organistaions, the Universal Postal Union. Keystone / Gaetan Bally

Japan's Masahiko Metoki has taken over as director general at the Swiss-based Universal Postal Union (UPU).

This content was published on January 5, 2022 - 19:15 January 5, 2022 - 19:15 swissinfo.ch/urs,dos

In a ceremony at the UPU headquarters in the Swiss capital, Bern on Wednesday, Metoki pledged to strengthen the organisation and to set it on a path towards more sustainable development.

Metoki, who was previously a senior official at Japan Post and Japan's representative on the UPU's Postal Operations Council from 2012, has taken over from Kenya's Bishar A. Hussein, who led the 192-member organisation since 2012.

Switzerland's Pascal Clivaz, who acted as deputy to Hussein, was also a candidate for the top post, but lost out in elections last year.

According to a UPU insider quoted by the Berner Zeitung paper last August, Clivaz's defeat was largely due to member states unhappy with how the leadership team handled several scandals in the past few years, including a case of sexual harassment at the organisation, as well as cases of unlawful firing of staff.

Established in 1874, the United Nations agency is one of the world's oldest international organisations and is the primary global forum for cooperation between postal sector players.

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