International Human Rights Days

Adobe Stock/Andrey

The World Post Day is celebrated every year on October 9th, which celebrated the anniversary of the establishment of the Universal Postal Union in 1874 in Bern. This day was declared the World Post Day in 1969 and has been celebrated since then. Here, the importance of this day can by summarized the UN Secretary-General’s message “Postal workers form a network that delivers more than mail. It delivers essential services, opportunity, and trust, reaching remote areas, connecting villages and cities, bridging the rural-urban divide, and creating a world that is within everyone’s reach” (UN, n.d.).

This day, even though it seems unrelated, is important to relevant to achieving part of the Sustainable Development Goals, specifically SDG 9 to  “build resilient infrastructure”. The reason for this is as postal workers often reach the more remote areas but also provide around 28% of the global adult population access to basic financial services. The World Post Day also brings awareness how postal systems support businesses, enable communication between families and friends and contribute to economic growth. This day also safeguards the Human right to communication as well as with the Universal Postal Union’s declaration to safeguarding privacy and data protection it also reflects the human right to privacy. 

However, with the digitalization and government regulation postal services around the world are under threat, for example in Denmark’s regulations on postal services, ended nationwide letter delivery services by PostNord Denmark, except for small islands, visually impaired individuals and international mail. While these regulations don’t seem like they would affect a variety of people, this sector employs 4.9 million people worldwide, and 7.3 billion people rely on these services worldwide. As well rural and remote communities, and already marginalized people depend relatively speaking more on postal services, so without this inequality would just grow deeper.