World Post Day will be observed on October 9th across the world including Pakistan in an effort to create and maintain a structure for the free flow of international mail around the world. In many countries and international organisations, high-ranking officials or ministers make speeches or issue proclamations on the history or achievements of national and international postal services.
Postal services may issue special postage stamps to commemorate the ideals, history or achievements of the national postal service on or around World Post Day.
In addition, special lessons on these topics may be arranged for school children and the postal services and their employees may receive extra training or recognition and attention in the media. The Universal Postal Union in cooperation with United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has, for the past 35 years, organised an international letter-writing competition for young people. From the earliest times in history, “postal services” existed in the form of messengers who travelled large distances on foot or horseback.
In the 1600s and 1700s, many countries set up national postage systems and entered into bilateral agreements for the exchange of mail between countries. By the late 1800s there was a large web of bilateral agreements that made the distribution of international mail complicated, nontransparent and inefficient. In 1863, Montgomery Blair, Postmaster General in the United States of America, organised a conference of representatives from 15 European and American countries. During this conference, the delegates laid down a number of general principles for mutual agreements on international postal services but did not create an international postal agreement.
On September 15, 1874, Heinrich von Stephan, a senior postal official in the North German Confederation (an area that now forms parts of Germany, Poland and Russia), opened a conference in Berne, Switzerland, with delegates from 22 countries. On October 9, 1874, these delegates signed the Treaty of Berne and established the General Postal Union.
The purpose of World Post Day is to create awareness of the role of the postal sector in people’s and businesses’ everyday lives and its contribution to the social and economic development of countries. Every year, more than 150 countries celebrate World Post Day in a variety of ways. In certain countries, World Post Day is observed as a working holiday. Many Posts use the event to introduce or promote new postal products and services. Some Postal Services also use World Post Day to reward their employees for good service.