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.

According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), around 2.7 billion people – one-third of the global population – remained unconnected to the Internet in 2022.

This persistent digital divide disproportionately affects women and girls, especially in rural areas and developing communities, leaving them outside of the rapidly growing digital economy.

The ITU, a sister agency with which the UPU shares a long history of connecting people and a common goal of advancing universal digital inclusion, strives to use ICTs and technological innovations to transform people’s lives, including those of women.

According to UN Women, over the past decade, women’s exclusion from the digital sphere has cost low- and middle-income countries $1 trillion of potential GDP.

As a traditional provider of postal social and digital services that accelerate national development, the Post can help and support women, especially in developing and least developed communities, to take full advantage of digital transformation.

On the occasion of International Women’s Day 2023 celebrated under the global theme of innovation for gender equality, Ian Kerr spoke to Marjan Osvald, UPU Deputy Director General and the first UPU Gender Equality Champion. They discussed ways that Posts can lead change towards a more equal world, how the UPU and partners work to promote this leadership, and how small steps can make a big difference.

Illicit trade is hardly a new phenomenon. What is new, however, is its recent unprecedented growth spurred by globalization and the internationalization of trade.

Counterfeits, smuggled tobacco and alcohol, unauthorized pharmaceuticals, pesticides, petroleum, and wildlife – the scope of illicit trade is enormous and, although each region experiences it differently, there are common vulnerabilities that make supply chains prone to such illegal exploitation.

Identifying commonalities to develop a more holistic approach to eliminating illicit trade is the main goal of the Transnational Alliance to Combat Illicit Trade (TRACIT), an independent, business-led initiative to secure the global supply chain and a new UPU postal security partner.

In this episode of Voice Mail, recorded just one week before formalizing this new collaboration, Ian Kerr spoke to Jeffrey Hardy, TRACIT’s Director General, 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.

COP27, the major global climate change forum convened annually by the United Nations, ended on 18 November 2022, leaving a mixed feeling of satisfaction and disappointment among its diverse participants. An immense challenge for negotiators, for international climate finance bodies like the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Conference is a unique opportunity to network and secure the vital funds needed to save livelihoods and advance a carbon-neutral, climate-resilient future.

Africa is the continent most in need of such support. With only 3.5-4% of total global climate finance coming to Africa – most of which is reserved for mitigation activities – there is more to be done to help African communities adapt to climate disruptions quickly and efficiently. From improving energy access, switching to renewables, managing waste and increasing recycling to establishing carbon-neutral infrastructure and building awareness of climate-friendly options and technologies, successful climate adaptation and mitigation require contributions from a wide network of actors, including the Post.

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

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

• Launching publications in the postal, technology, and transport sectors

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:

• UNCTAD's mandate and how it carries out its role

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. We discuss:

• Impact of remittances and migrant investments on the socioeconomic development of nations