International Letter-Writing Competition for Young People

Since 1971, the UPU has encouraged young writers aged 9-15 to write letters on a given theme to win exciting prizes. The competition is an excellent way of making young people aware of the important role postal services play in our societies. It develops their skills in composition and their ability to express thoughts clearly. It also fosters enjoyment of letter writing and helps strengthen the bonds of international friendship. 

The UPU's secretariat, the International Bureau, chooses a theme annually and publicises it. Participating countries then organize the competition at the national level through the Post, often with the support of the educational authorities and media. 

All entries must be submitted through the national Post. Each country chooses a national winner and submits them as the country entry to the UPU international competition no later than 5 May of the year in question. An international jury complied by the International Bureau judges the letters and selects the overall winners and candidates that merit a special mention.  

2022 Competition

The theme is "Write a letter to an influential person about why and how to take action on climate change”


This year, 2022, the UPU is running its 51st International Letter-Writing Competition.  All of our participating member countries have consistently encouraged youth to develop their literacy skills and to focus on a particular subject. The competition is an excellent means of promoting literacy among youth and contributes to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Readiness to take action on the climate disaster has never been more critical to save the planet and the livelihoods of the world’s population today. Rise to this occasion and voice your opinions on why and how to take action on the climate crisis. COP27 will be held in Egypt and could be a good chance for your voice to be heard.

Communication Support Material

To launch and promote the competition in your country, we have produced a set of communication support material. This includes a poster that can be adapted accordingly to reflect your competition and a flyer for schools as an aid to enroll their students to participate. The material is available to download in the following languages: Arabic, English, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. 

For member-counties whose language falls outside of the seven UN languages, please use these open source files.




2021 Winners

  • Miss Nubaysha Islam, fourteen year old from Bangladesh won this year's 50th International Letter Writing Competition for her letter to her baby sister about her experience of COVID.
  • Bruno Ivanovski, a 14-year-old from North Macedonia received the second prize for his letter to his grandma about how he hasn’t seen her for a year and misses her greatly. (In French)
  • Dao Anh Thu,14-years-old, from Viet Nam received the third prize for her letter to her younger sister.

Special mentions

There were also special mentions for the letters of these young people from: 

  • Belarus, Gleb Klimovich, 14 years-old
  • Brazil, Luisa Tejo Salgado Catâo, 14 years-old
  • Turkey, Adnan Yigit AIkan, 13 years-old
  • Indonesia, Nur Eka Syahrina Ramadhani Basyar 11 years-old
  • Libya, Elaf Abdel Hakim Al-Ajil

Best of the Best 

  • Read the first-prize letters from 50 years of the UPU's International Letter-Writing Competition. 
  • Mi-kyong Ryu – 11, Korea (Rep.)
    Theme for 7th International Letter Writing Competition for Young People «The postman, my best friend»