Voice Mail

Digital identity is far more than a practical tool – it is a crucial factor for financial inclusion and access to digital services. For people without an ID, those in remote areas, and many women, digital identity is key to accessing essential digital services. People without official identification are often invisible to systems, digital identity offers a path to recognition.

Visa has made it its mission to develop solutions that enable accessible, secure, and inclusive digital financial systems. Through its partnership with the UPU, Visa can further amplify its efforts to empower underserved communities.

In this episode of Voice Mail, 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. In this context, post offices play a crucial role as trusted partners in verifying digital identity. It becomes clear that digital identity is about much more than safely verifying one’s identity online - it is a tool that enables access to healthcare, education, and economic participation.

With 80% of cross-border e-commerce transported by air, air cargo is a cornerstone of global trade. Beyond enabling these economically vital exchanges, air transport fosters development, creates jobs, improves infrastructure, and drives global connectivity.

Since its founding in 1945, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has played a key role in shaping the air transport industry. Representing 320 airlines and 83% of global air traffic, IATA focuses on setting global standards, improving operational efficiency, and addressing the evolving challenges of the aviation sector.

Its partnership with the UPU is nearly as old as IATA itself. For seven decades, the two organizations have worked together to align postal and aviation processes, address safety and security concerns, and enhance the seamless exchange of data across the supply chain.

In this episode of Voice Mail, André Majeres, Head of E-Commerce and Cargo Operations at IATA, explores how air cargo underpins cross-border e-commerce, a market projected to account for one in three parcels globally by 2027. He discusses IATA’s key priorities – safety, security, digitalization, and sustainability – and emphasizes that open collaboration among all supply chain stakeholders, innovation, and seamless integration are essential to the persistent vitality and relevance of post-airline cooperation.

Illicit drug trafficking is a shadowy industry with devastating impacts: depleting socioeconomic resources, disrupting trade, fuelling corruption, and eroding social cohesion. Its ripple effects extend across health systems, public infrastructure, and even the environment – deforestation and soil degradation are just some of its hidden casualties. In 2024, nearly 300 million people worldwide were reported to use drugs (UNODC), underscoring the urgent need for coordinated action.

This transnational challenge evolves rapidly, with traffickers exploiting ever-changing routes, methods, and substances – most alarmingly, synthetic opioids. These potent drugs, traded in minute quantities, are hardly detectable, presenting unprecedented challenges for enforcement agencies.

In this episode of Voice Mail, Ian Kerr speaks with Jagjit Pavadia, Board Member and former President of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), to uncover how global cooperation can outpace criminal ingenuity. Pavadia shares insights into international partnerships, innovative technologies, and the critical role of the postal network in combatting illicit trafficking. From risk profiling and real-time intelligence sharing to training postal operators to detect illegal substances – even hidden in the heels of stiletto shoes – this episode explores actionable solutions to a pressing global crisis.

In an era defined by technological transformation and shifting economic landscapes, the challenge of ensuring equitable global development has never been greater. Trade, when facilitated effectively, can be a powerful tool to bridge divides and foster sustainable growth, but only if all countries – especially developing ones – can participate fully.

Ahead of its 60th anniversary, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is leading the charge to make global trade more inclusive. In this episode of Voice Mail, we sit down with Rebeca Grynspan, UNCTAD’s Secretary-General, to explore how the organization is supporting developing countries in navigating the complexities of the digital economy and ensuring no one is left behind. Grynspan discusses how UNCTAD’s collaboration with partners like the UPU is helping to reduce barriers for small businesses and empower women entrepreneurs through initiatives like eTrade for Women. Grynspan is certain: even in the rapidly changing world, trade can remain a force for good, if we ensure that the weakest can also have a seat at the table.

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.

According to the Global Gender Gap Report 2023 (World Economic Forum), not a single country has yet achieved gender equality. While some countries approach it, sharp disparities persist at the global level, making it imperative not only to accelerate overall progress, but also to help those lagging behind catch up. More than a decade ago, Australia took an important and exceptional step in this direction by creating a dedicated foreign service position to advocate for gender equality outside its borders.

Considering gender equality as a crosscutting issue, Australia also takes an active stance in advancing the women’s empowerment agenda in various international fora, including the UPU. By putting forward a number of initiatives and innovations, including nominating a UPU Gender Equality Champion, the country is demonstrating its interest in discussing gender equality in the post, as well as its readiness to take the lead in making it happen.

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. In a conversation with Ian Kerr, she explains why, despite setbacks and challenges, fighting for gender equality will benefit all.