João Bento, CEO of CTT – Correios de Portugal, reflects on how one of the world’s oldest postal institutions continues to reinvent itself while staying true to its public-service mission.

Siva Somasundram, Director of Policy, Regulation and Markets at the UPU, offers a clear look at how the highest decision-making body of the UPU is being prepared, from shaping the agenda and proposals to supporting member states in the lead-up to key decisions.

Tariq Al Wahedi, 7X Group CEO, shares his perspectives on what it means to host and prepare to chair the 28th Universal Postal Congress.

Marine biologist and ocean climate advocate Carissa Cabrera joins us to talk about ocean conservation, youth engagement, and the importance of storytelling in driving global action.

Marie Austenaa, Head of Digital Identity at Visa, explains how Visa supports initiatives aimed at advancing women in the digital financial space – because empowering women benefits not only them, but also their families and communities.

Vidar Helgesen, Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO, explains why it is vital for us to ”face the Ocean” and how strengthening Ocean literacy across all countries is essential for the future of our planet.

André Majeres, Head of E-Commerce and Cargo Operations at IATA, explores how air cargo underpins cross-border e-commerce

Jagjit Pavadia, Board Member and former President of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), discusses how global cooperation can outpace criminal ingenuity.

Rebeca Grynspan, UNCTAD’s Secretary-General, discusses how the organization is supporting developing countries in navigating the complexities of the digital economy and ensuring no one is left behind.

How can the art of writing be kept alive in an era when all communication is done digitally? Once indispensable for distance communication, letter writing used to serve as an important educational tool that developed children’s cognitive and creative capacities, teaching them how to organize and articulate their thoughts. As a more humane and empathetic means of exchange, letters also used to facilitate international connections in spite of differences – something the world increasingly needs today and which is harder to attain through digital messaging only. Ahead of the UN Summit of the Future in September 2024, the UPU partnered with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to ask children from around the world about their vision of and hopes for the future through the UPU’s flagship International Letter-Writing Competition. Just a few weeks ahead of the deadline for submissions, the UPU sat with June Kunugi, Director of Public Partnerships at UNICEF, a professional journalist, and one of the competition’s jury members, to discuss how the initiative supports UNICEF’s mission to advocate for children’s rights. In this latest episode of Voice Mail, Kunugi highlights how UNICEF’s engagement in the competition will help increase opportunities for children in the most disadvantaged and remote communities, how to turn the risks of technology into new opportunities for youth’s engagement and empowerment, and how we should all work together to ensure that the voice of every child is pronounced and listened to.

For its annual International Women’s Day special, Voice Mail has invited Stephanie Copus Campbell, Australia’s Ambassador for Gender Equality, to talk about her wide-ranging portfolio and how the postal sector plays into it.

Dr Léonard Laborie, Historian at the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), UMR SIRICE, discusses how and why the UPU emerged as a forerunner of global connectivity, how it shaped and was shaped by international politics, and why cooperation among postal operators will remain the key to the organisation’s lasting vitality.

Technology and integration are redefining the postal market. In quest of ways to diversify their services and remain competitive, posts, big and small, are forging new partnerships and adopting unconventional, high-tech solutions which help them generate new revenue streams and improve customer experience. In October 2023, the UPU brought together seasoned postal experts and senior executives within a new format of its World Leaders Forum to get a first-hand account of this new postal reality, the solutions that work and the challenges that remain. On the sidelines of the Forum, UPU Voice Mail host, Ian Kerr, spoke to postal CEOs and UPU Consultative Committee members about the future of logistics and how public-private collaboration can make it brighter for everyone. On this special podcast edition, Tawnee Steinke, Head of Global Strategic Partnerships at Zonos, identifies three main trends that are going to change cross-border logistics; Charles Brewer, CEO of Pos Malaysia, shares his experience of pioneering green technologies in the country and driving change in the broader market; and Mariella Buisson, CEO of Seychelles Postal Services, explains how small postal operators can use technology to become a one-stop shop for citizens.

Patricia Lieberman, Head of Philately at Austrian Post, and Michael Dorner, CEO of a crypto stamp manufacturer and UPU Consultative Committee member, Stampfinity, recount the story behind the production of Austrian Post’s famous unicorn crypto stamp.

H.E. Anef Abanomi, President of Saudi Post, explains how the postal operator is turning into a touchpoint between government agencies, businesses and their customers, what digitalization has to do with it, and what hosting the global postal community means to the country.

The World Customs Organization (WCO) represents 185 Customs administrations that collectively process approximately 98% of world trade. In the era of digitalization, these border authorities find themselves in the epicentre of global e-commerce, influencing the country’s economic competitiveness, defining the ability of its small businesses to reach global markets, and protecting its citizens from illicit trade. With the level of national Customs development becoming the touchstone of overall socioeconomic performance, it is imperative to ensure that this development is speedy, harmonized and coordinated. This is where the WCO, with its mandate to build capacities and promote cooperation, comes in to fill in the gaps. A few days ahead of the WCO-UPU Global Conference 2023, dedicated to cross-border e-commerce, Ian Kerr spoke to Dr Kunio Mikuriya, WCO Secretary-General, about the evolving role of Customs, the challenges and opportunities they have in common with the postal sector, the importance of trust for the smooth movement of goods across borders, and why cooperation, specifically with the Post, is in Customs’ DNA. 

Doreen Bogdan-Martin, ITU Secretary-General, discusses how meaningful connectivity can help bridge the digital divide.

Marjan Osvald, UPU Deputy Director General and the first UPU Gender Equality Champion, discusses ways that Posts can lead change towards a more equal world.

Jeffrey Hardy, TRACIT’s Director General, talks about the dangers illicit trade presents to postal customers and employees, the costs it incurs on postal infrastructure and the ways to avoid these risks through public-private partnerships and capacity building.

Road safety is crucial to postal organisations. With millions of postal workers using the roads daily, raising awareness of road traffic rules and ensuring the safety of equipment and infrastructure is vital for Posts if they are to operate smoothly and efficiently. However, the quality of broader road traffic infrastructure and policies is highly dependent on the level of socioeconomic development and varies drastically across regions. While 1.3 million people perish on the roads every year, the majority of them being youth, road safety remains a largely underinvested area in more and less developed communities alike. Established in 2018, the United Nations Road Safety Fund (UNRSF) helps bridge these gaps in road safety finance by working with different actors to mobilise the resources needed to support high-impact projects. In this episode of Voice Mail, Nneka Henry, Head of the Fund’s Secretariat, explains why investing in road safety is crucial, what the main challenges of securing road safety finance are, why partnerships are key to make a difference, and where Posts can step in to help meet the ambitious Vision Zero to end traffic-related fatalities. Finally, in the run-up to the International Day of Education on January 24, we talk about the importance of protecting the most vulnerable road users, children.