Voice Mail

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.

AfDB Climate and Environment Finance Manager Gareth Phillips discusses the state of climate finance in Africa and means of building the continent’s resilience to climate shocks, highlighting the widest gaps and the most promising solutions.

The UPU Consultative Committee is open to the private sector. In this episode, we discuss why this has happened, and we speak with some of the new private sector members of the Consultative Committee: Alexander Thern-Svanberg (Secretary, UPU Consultative Committee) discusses the reasoning behind opening the UPU Consultative Committee to the private sector How the Consultative Committee is organised Embracing a private sector perspective Egon Veermae, COO at Eurora Group, talks about technology and cross-border Solving the pain points of cross-border e-commerce How private sector members can contribute to the Consultative Committee and the postal world Andrii Shapovalov, co-founder at Stampsdaq, talks about Stampsdaq's evolving relationship with the UPU Capitalising on stamps' heritage with new technology, creating new revenue lines for postal operators Yuichiro Ishibashi, Deputy Vice President, International Business Development, Security and Automation Systems Division, Toshiba Understanding international standards for letters and parcels

Tony Robinson, UKi CEO and founder of global postal event Parcel+Post Expo, discusses the role and importance of technology in the postal world.

Dr Shamika N. Sirimanne, Director of the Division on Technology and Logistics (UNCTAD) discusses logistics, supply chain, and the role of the post in enabling cross-border trade.

Pedro de Vasconcelos, Manager of the Financing Facility for Remittances at the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD), discusses the importance of international remittances to the global economy, as well as opportunities for the postal network.

Rodney Taylor, Secretary General of the Caribbean Telecommunications Union, discusses digital transformation and the potential role of the post.

Anja Klug, Head of the Office for Switzerland and Liechtenstein at the UNHCR - the UN refugee agency, discusses the UNHCR’s role and how postal networks can help assist refugees.

Pierangela Sierra, founder and CEO of online shopping and delivery platform Tipti, and an e-trade women's advocate, joins us to discuss e-commerce, growth and opportunities, and encouraging women entrepreneurs:  Using the mail to keep in touch What Tipti is, and how it was created Mobile and internet adoption in Ecuador The pandemic's impact on online grocery Future growth in e-commerce in Ecuador and Latin America The role of the post in encouraging e-commerce Environmental impact of e-commerce delivery Gender equality and forging a career in Latin America Startups and women Female representation in Tipti, and empowering women How UNCTAD helps women and entrepreneurs

Dr Armani Abou-Zeid, African Union Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy, on the importance of the post in creating infrastructure. We cover: The importance of postal services in Africa, including access to financial services, government services, and e-commerce The ubiquity of the post office network Access to electricity and the internet, and the challenges of postal development COVID's boost for digitalisation and e-commerce in Africa The role posts can play in achieving AU Agenda 20643 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development African Continental Free Trade Area Cybersecurity and trust, including data protection and child online safety Achieving zero emissions - the opportunities and challenges present in African nations Future of the postal sector in Africa, and conversations with national postal regulators Representation and participation of women in the postal and logistics sectors

Sophie Gligorievic, Head of Logistics Division at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), joins us to talk about humanitarian logistics and supply chain. Are there differences between the humanitarian supply chain and the commercial supply chain? Increased pressure on supply chain, including supply chain transparency and diversity ERP and supply chain Posts collaborating with the ICRC

Outgoing UPU Depute Director General Pascal Clivaz reflects on his time at the UPU and shares some pointers for the future of the postal sector: Corporatisation of Swiss Post How the UPU can add value to the postal sector Index for Postal Development How the index can help developing nations formulate their postal strategy Banking and financial services and logistics How key stakeholders can build postal strategy Advice for the next generation of postal leaders

USPIS Chief Postal Inspector Gary Barksdale discusses the unique role of the US Postal Inspection Service and the contribution it makes to the postal world: How the USPIS fits in with other US law enforcement agencies, such as the FBI and DEA, as well as international agencies such as Europol How the USPIS‘s relationship with the US Postal Service makes it unique The importance of postal security to the USPS, its customers, and the general public The world‘s dependence on the postal network Protecting postal people and facilities USPIS‘s various functional groups Major trends in postal-related crimes and threats, including employee safety, suspicious items in the mail, illegal substances in the mail, and mail fraud Borderless crime and cyber security - and the digitalisation of postal services The importance of educating the public about fraud The UPU Postal Security Group‘s role and mission How postal operators can advance their levels of security How citizens can help maintain the security of the mail system.

In this special edition of Voice Mail, we have three perspectives on digital transformation, data, and the postal world, featuring interviews with UPU Deputy Director General Pascal Clivaz, UPU Consultative Committee Chair Walter Trezek, and David Avsec from the UPU Postal Technology Centre.

Stephan Sicars, Managing Director at the Directorate for Environment and Energy, United Nations Industrial Development Organisation, joins us in this episode for an expert analysis of the circular economy.

Isaac Gnamba-Yao, CEO of La Poste Côte d'Ivoire, joins us in this episode of Voice Mail to discuss preparations for the 27th Universal Postal Congress, and the major challenges facing La Poste Côte d'Ivoire and other postal operators in the region.

Dr Cheryl Ganz, former curator of Philately at the Smithsonian and member of the USPS Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee, joins us in this episode of Voice Mail to discuss her time at the Smithsonian and the future of the postage stamp.

Thomas Ellmann, VP Life Sciences and Healthcare at DHL, is our guest for the first episode of Voice Mail. We discuss how DHL is supporting distribution of the COVID vaccine around the world. What DHL's Customer Solutions and Innovations Group does Sourcing and distributing PPE (personal protective equipment) material, including masks and gloves, for governments and other customers Distributing vaccines as well as other products needed to administer vaccines to patients Technology and infrastructure developed specifically for distributing the coronavirus vaccine, including temperature control at very low temperatures Safety issues of carrying vaccines at very low temperature, including air cargo transport of dry ice Air freight capacity Working with other air cargo carriers as well as using DHL's own aircraft fleet Understanding the magnitude of the logistics effort in distributing COVID vaccine doses around the world Monitoring temperature during transit Distributing the vaccine to remote areas and countries with less developed infrastructure DHL and COVAX DHL partnering with other non-profits Local storage and distribution of vaccines Lessons learned from the vaccine roll-out