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The Somali Postal Service (Somali Post) is the national postal service of Somalia. It is part of the
Federal Government of Somalia The Government of Somalia (GS) ( so, Dowladda Soomaaliya, ar, حكومة الصومال الاتحادية) is the internationally recognised government of Somalia, and the first attempt to create a central government in Somalia since the coll ...
's Ministry of Communications and Technology. Somali Post operated postal services domestically and internationally, before ceasing operations in 1991. Somali Post officially relaunched on 1 November 2013, following a memorandum of understanding signed with Emirates Post, the Emirati national postal service, in April 2013. A postal coding and numbering system for each of Somalia's eighteen administrative regions was developed in October 2014.


History


General

In early 1991, the Somali Postal Service had 100 post offices, with a total staff of between 1,665Reconstruction of Somalia Post
Presentation to the U.P.U., Berne, Somali Ministry of Information, Posts and Telecommunications, 2 March 2012. Retrieved 9 December 2012
Archived here.
/ref> to 2,165 personnel. The national postal infrastructure was later completely destroyed during the
civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policie ...
, with Somali Postal officially suspending operations in October 1991. Residents subsequently had to turn to traditional methods of dispatching parcels and letters. They also communicated via handwritten letters sent through acquaintances and mobile and email messaging services. In order to fill the vacuum, a partially reconstituted Somali Post signed an agreement in 2003 with the United Arab Emirates' Emirates Post to process mail to and from Somalia. Emirates Post's mail transit hub at the Dubai International Airport was then for a time used to forward mail from Somalia to the UAE and various Western destinations as well as to route mail destined for the country.Emirates Post and Somal Post sign agreement to establish money transfer and mail services
AMEinfo.com, 30 June 2003. Retrieved 9 December 2012

/ref>


Relaunch

Concurrently, the Somali Transitional Federal Government began preparations to revive the national postal service. In 2011, a Somali minister approached the
Universal Postal Union The Universal Postal Union (UPU, french: link=no, Union postale universelle), established by the Treaty of Bern of 1874, is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) that coordinates postal policies among member nations, in addition to t ...
(UPU) for support in rehabilitating the Somali postal service. The UPU subsequently reached out to other international postal bodies, recommending bilateral cooperation with the Somali authorities. Several countries expressed interest, notably the UAE. The Somali government's overall reconstruction plan for Somali Post is structured into three phases spread over a period of ten years. Phase I will see the reconstruction of the postal headquarters and General Post Office (GPO), as well as the establishment of sixteen branch offices in the capital and seventeen in regional bases. As of March 2012, the Somali authorities have re-established Somalia's membership with the UPU and taken part once again in the UPU's affairs as well as liaised with other UN agencies. They have also rehabilitated the GPO in Mogadishu, with an initial staff of 25 postal workers ready to handle the mail again. Additionally, the government appointed an official postal consultant to provide professional advice on the renovations. Phase II of the rehabilitation project involves the construction of 718 postal outlets from 2014 to 2016. Phase III is slated to begin in 2017, with the objective of creating 897 postal outlets by 2022. In December 2012, then Minister of Information, Posts and Telecommunications
Abdullahi Elmoge Hersi Abdullahi Elmoge Hersi ( so, Cabdullaahi Ceelmooge Xirsii, ar, عبد الله إلموجآه حرسي) is a Somali politician. He served as the Minister of Information, Posts and Telecommunication of Somalia from November 2012 to January 2014 ...
announced that Somalia's new federal government planned to officially relaunch the Somali Postal Service in 2013. Hersi subsequently signed a memorandum of understanding with Emirates Post President Fahad al Hosani on 22 April 2013, wherein
Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics o ...
is to serve as a hub for handling all parcels bound for or leaving Somalia. The UAE authorities also pledged to finance the first year of Somali Post's resumed operations. Mediated by the UPU Director General Bishar A. Hussein, the agreement represented the first step in the Information Ministry's plan to relaunch the national postal service. In November 2013, international postal services for Somalia officially resumed. The UPU is now assisting the Somali Postal Service to develop its capacity, including providing technical assistance and basic mail processing equipment. In October 2014, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications also relaunched postal delivery from abroad. The postal system is slated to be implemented throughout the country via a new postal coding and numbering system. According to the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications Mohamud Ibrihim Adan, the relaunch's next phase will enable local residents to send letters to acquaintances overseas.


Postal codes

As of October 2014, new postal codes have been developed for each of Somalia's eighteen administrative regions. The postal codes are two letters, such as AW for
Awdal Awdal ( so, Awdal, ar, أودَل) is an administrative region ('' gobol'') in western Somaliland. It was separated from Woqooyi Galbeed and became a province in 1984 and is the most northwesterly province of Somaliland. To the east it borders ...
, BN for
Banaadir Banaadir ( so, Banaadir, ar, بنادر, it, Benadir) is an administrative region ('' gobol'') in southeastern Somalia. It covers the same area as the city of Mogadishu, which serves as the capital. It is bordered to the northwest by the Shabel ...
, BR for
Bari Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy ...
and SL for
Sool Sool ( so, Sool, ar, صول) is an administrative region ('' gobol'') in south eastern Somaliland/north western Somalia. It borders Togdheer to the west, Sanaag to the north, Ethiopia to the south and Nugal, Bari to the east. Its capital city ...
. Additionally, numbers have been allocated for each of the provinces and their districts.


Import regulations


Permit

The Somali Postal Service requires addressees within Somalia to have an import permit for all commercial goods.


Prohibitions

Somali Post bans items on
Australia Post Australia Post, formally the Australian Postal Corporation, is the government business enterprise that provides postal services in Australia. The head office of Australia Post is located in Bourke Street, Melbourne, which also serves as a post ...
's Dangerous and Prohibited Goods & Packaging Post Guide, including alcoholic beverages. Lottery tickets and promotional materials are likewise proscribed.


Special documentation

In terms of special documentation on imports, Somali Postal Service requires that all incoming commercial goods be identified as commercial. Private packages must also be labeled as private instead of as gift only, personal effects or commercial.


See also

*
Postage stamps and postal history of Somalia The following is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Somalia. From the late 1800s to 1960, northwestern present-day Somalia was administered as British Somaliland, while the northeastern, central and southern part of the country we ...
*
Communications in Somalia Communications in Somalia encompasses the communications services and capacity of Somalia. Telecommunications, internet, radio, print, television and postal services in the nation are largely concentrated in the private sector. Several of the te ...


References


External links


Somali Ministry of Information, Posts and TelecommunicationsAustralia Post - Dangerous and Prohibited Goods and Packaging Post Guide
{{Postal administrations of Africa Communications in Somalia Companies of Somalia Philately of Somalia