UNIVERSAL POSTAL UNION
Did you know that ...• The first known postal document, found in Egypt, dates from 255 BC.
• There are 700,000 post offices in the world.
• Mail is handled by 6.2 million postal workers, or the equivalent of the entire Swiss population.
• Postal services carry more than 400 billion letters every year, which, if placed end to end, would cover 200 times the distance from the Earth to the Moon, or a 4-metre-high wall around the globe.
• In many countries, the effective use of technology has resulted in an overall improvement in the quality of postal services and has helped to increase global mail volumes, which should continue to increase by 2.5 per cent per year worldwide until 2005.1,200 tariffs
Olaf Johansen lives in Bergen, Norway. He is dropping letters at his local post office.
"Every year, I send greeting cards to all my friends. Even if we never see one another, it allouws us to keep in touch. As I have traveled quite a bit, I can say that I send some 100 cards to all corners of the world.What I find incredible, is that thirty years ago it used to take me hours to do that. Postage was different for each country. Nowadays, tariffs are the same for virtually all countries in the world."
In the past, some countries had up to 1200 different postal tariffs, which varied not only according to the country but also the city of destination. The UPU has managed to have the number of such tariffs reduced gradually, for the great benefit of users.
Tell me Mummy
Laura Pastor and her son Alfredo, 8, live in Mar de Plata (Argentina). Alfredo is having his breakfast before leaving for school.
"Tell me Mummy, what are stamps used for "?. "Well, you put them on letters, or you can collect them". "Tell me, Mummy, why do you put stamps on letters"? Well, to pay the mailman so that the letter can reach your Uncle Eric in Santiago de Chile". The child thinks for a moment and asks again :" Mummy, do you mean that Uncle Eric pays the mailman in Santiago" ? "Of course not ! Hurry up, anyway, it is time to go to school. You'll be late"! "Tell me, Mummy, who pays the mailman in Santiago"? You can ask your father tonight! Hurry up, I said!".Laura Pastor is right when she says that the stamp which you stick on an envelop serves to pay the mailman, but it also pays for the postal service in your country, the carrier which will take it to its destination and the postal service in the receiving country, incluing the mailman in Santiago. The distribution of postal receipts between the various postal services of the sender country, the country of destination, the countries of transit as well as the carriers.
and the poor, with businessmen, employees, politicians and students. I must say that I am lucky in the sense that they all have shown confidence in me. I have also received thanks through the businessmen who are able to promote their business through the letters I deliver. I know that many people on my delivery route look forward to my arrival because I am responsible for carrying their messages".
Universal Postal Service Tej Bahadur Thapa is a postman in Nepal.
"I have worked for the last 15 years as a postman in the Nepal Postal Services. When I first joined, I was not aware of their mportance of thisjob, but I have come to know better the mission and social responsibility of the post. During my service, I have visited with the rich
The postman is only the most visible part of what remains today the world's largest distribution network. Through the UPU, postal service is provided on a truly universal scale, conveying messages to and from citizens wherever they may be, whether in urban business centers or in the remotest corners of the planet.
The UPU in brief
• UPU was established on 9 October 1874 -a day now celebrated throughout the world as World Post Day. Representatives of 22 countries signed the Treaty of Berne on that date and thereby unified a conflicting maze of postal services and regulations into a single postal territory for the exchange of letter-post items;
• It is committed to promoting and developing communication among people. It aims to ensure accessible, affordable, and reliable postal service to every citizen in the world;
• It is a non-political organization and does not interfere in matters that fall within the domain of national postal services. Among its many tasks, the UPU strives to promote the free flow of international mail, improve the quality of postal service for customers and to provide technical assistance to member countries where needed.Universal Postal Union (UPU)
Weltpoststrasse 4
3000 Berne 15
Switzerland
Tel.: (41-31) 350 3111
Website: http://www.upu.int/
E-mail: ib.info@ib.upu.org
