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 publicizes it each year. Participating countries then organize the competition at the national level through the Post, often with the support of the educational authorities and media.
In 2024, participants will be encouraged to reflect on the future of the world under the theme: "At 150 years old, the UPU has served people around the world for more than eight generations. The world has changed enormously since then. Write a letter to future generations about the world you hope they inherit."
For this special edition, the UPU is organizing the 53rd International Letter-Writing Competition in partnership with UNICEF and with the participation of UNESCO to empower children and youth worldwide by encouraging literacy and creativity through the art of letter writing. This campaign aims to raise the voices of children and youth and provide them a platform, in the lead up to the Summit of the Future and the 35th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to share their perspectives of the world and the legacy they wish the future generations to inherit. This campaign is an opportunity for children and young people not only to influence and be heard by a global audience including people in power but also to be valued and respected while promoting literacy and creativity.
The chosen theme encourages young people to articulate their thoughts on current global challenges and propose innovative solutions. Aligning with the United Nations system's Common Agenda to deepen solidarity between generations and ensure a liveable planet for the future, the theme allows youths to draw upon the principles of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, providing a framework for their visions of a better world.
An international jury compiled by the International Bureau judges the letters and selects the overall winners and candidates that merit a special mention.
If you are an individual interested in entering the competition, please be sure to contact your national postal operator for more information about participating.
2024 Competition
How to write a good letter?
Together with UNICEF, we are proud to share a selection of inspirational links including:
- Our-Future-Pledge-toolkit-2023: https://www.unicef.org/globalinsight/media/3016/file/%20UNICEF-Innocenti-YFF-Our-Future-Pledge-toolkit-2023.pdf
- https://www.unicef.org/senegal/en/stories/letter-my-future-self-20-children-20-dreams-and-20-life-stories
- https://www.unicef.org/child-rights-convention/open-letter-to-worlds-children
- https://www.unicef.org/romania/stories/letter-future
- https://www.unicef.org/eca/stories/letter-my-younger-self
- https://www.unicef.org/blog/my-15-year-old-self
Interested in participating?
To ensure your participation in the competition, we cordially invite you to consult the Participants Guide 2024 and kindly request that you contact your national postal operator for further guidance.
For Member Countries
Please follow the link provided below for access to all communication materials related to the competition event, including posters, logos and social media cards in all of the five official languages of the UPU. On this link, you will also find relevant information on the competition rules and entry forms.
Meet the 2024 jury members
Rawan Elbendary
UNICEF Youth Foresight Fellow, Egypt
“I think what makes this competition valuable is the fact that it captures the voices of children, who are our beacon of hope and light. Looking at the global landscape, I believe we are in dire need of someone to remind us of the fundamental reasons why we exist on this planet, and no one can do it like children.”
Ms Elbendary is a UNICEF Youth Foresight Fellow currently exploring the future of employment in Egypt with the support of the UNICEF Egypt Country Office. She is an ex-fellow at Al-Sharq Forum and a recent graduate of the University of London International Programmes, with a BSc in Economics and Management. Ms Mahmoud is passionate about social change and what makes us humans.
June Kunugi
Director of Public Partnerships Division, UNICEF
"This is a wonderful opportunity to increase opportunities for children, particularly in disadvantaged and hard-to-reach communities. It’s also a feedback loop, because children will have their suggestions, they will reflect on realities in their homes and communities. It’s wonderful to have the opportunity for diverse parts of the global population to share their thoughts, opinions and suggestions, particularly with regard to policymakers. The educational contribution that the UPU will be making by galvanizing action, and eliciting ideas and suggestions from children themselves, is tremendous. I very much hope that it will continue." © UNICEF/UN0465879/McIlwaine
Ms Kunugi became the Director of UNICEF’s Public Partnerships Division in April 2021. She oversees the organization’s resource mobilization from the public sector, its engagement with permanent missions and governments on multilateral affairs in the inter-governmental space, and its UN partnerships. Ms Kunugi has worked for UNICEF for over 29 years, both in-country and at headquarters. From September 2017 to April 2021, Ms Kunugi served as the UNICEF Representative in Myanmar, where she oversaw child rights-based development programmes, humanitarian responses, advocacy, partnerships and operations, with responsibility for over 220 staff in nine offices across the country. Prior to that, she headed UNICEF country and area offices in the State of Palestine, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
Ms Kunugi has served three times at UNICEF’s New York Headquarters - in the Division of Public Affairs, the Office of the Executive Director, and as Deputy Director and then acting Director of UNICEF’s Public-Sector Alliances and Resource Mobilization. She has also been the Director of UNICEF’s Tokyo office, overseeing public sector partnerships and resource mobilization in Japan and the Republic of Korea. She started her career in UNICEF working in communications, including in Viet Nam as a Junior Professional Officer sponsored by the Government of Japan, and later in Bangladesh, first as Communications Officer, then as Chief of the section.
Ms Kunugi is a national of Japan. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) degree with a double major in East Asian Studies and Romance Languages and Literatures from Wesleyan University in the United States of America, and a Master of Science in Journalism from Columbia University.
Listen to the UPU #VoiceMail podcast episode with June Kunugi here.
Min Jeong Kim
Director of the Division for Education 2030, UNESCO
“Ensuring children’s voices are heard in international fora is vital for fostering inclusivity, innovative solutions, and a sustainable future. The UPU’s competition supports this by providing a global platform for young people to express their views, enhancing their literacy and creativity and empowering them to influence global agendas. This initiative strengthens intergenerational solidarity and nurtures a sense of global citizenship among youth, driving meaningful change for achieving the SDGs.”
Ms Kim brings more than 25 years of experience in educational development, global advocacy, media and communication. Prior to her current position as Director of Education 2030 Division, she was UNESCO Head of Office and Representative in Jordan and also spent several years as the Head of UNESCO Office in Myanmar. She was Head of the UN Secretary-General’s Global Education First Initiative (GEFI) Secretariat at the UNESCO Liaison Office in New York and was on secondment to the One UN Secretariat on Post 2015 Development Planning as a policy advisor. She had previously worked in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, as Chief of UNESCO Education Section for the Indian Ocean countries; and in Beirut, Lebanon, as the UNESCO Regional Programme Coordinator for Education in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. She also worked in the Executive Office of the Assistant Director-General for Education and the Associated Schools Project Network at UNESCO Headquarters. Before joining UNESCO, she was a journalist in her home country, Republic of Korea.
Ms Kim holds an Executive Master’s in International Relations and Management from the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands; a Master’s in Political Science from Yonsei University, Republic of Korea; and a Bachelor’s in English Language and Literature from Seoul National University, Republic of Korea.
Édouard Dayan
Former Director General of the UPU International Bureau (2005–2012) and Officer of the Order of the Legion of Honour, France
“Children are vulnerable, and that vulnerability can leave them exposed to violence and exploitation. So let us encourage everybody to look at life through the eyes of a child, as Henri Matisse put it, and, since we cannot know how the world will change, let us teach them to adapt. The UPU can help to ensure that children’s voices are heard in the implementation of its projects, just as it does in the context of major global issues such as the fight against drugs, natural disasters, migrant money and bridging the digital divide.”
Before assuming the role of Director General of the UPU International Bureau in January 2005, Mr Dayan held a variety of positions with the French postal service. Following a spell as Head of the Air Transport Bureau from 1984 to 1986, he led the “International Mail Management and International Accounting” and “International Partnership Strategy” departments. He served as Deputy Director of European and International Affairs from 1993 to 1997, and was appointed Director of European and International Affairs in April 1998. As an expert at the European Commission (in 1992 and 1993) and Chairman of the European Social Dialogue Committee for the postal sector (from 1994 to 2004), he was involved in establishing the regulatory framework for the postal sector in Europe and, in particular, in defining the universal postal service and its content.
During his tenure as Director General of the UPU International Bureau, Mr Dayan made significant progress in the development of the global postal sector. The progress made at the UPU under his leadership – in quality of service, financial inclusion and expanding electronic services – put the postal sector in prime position to address global challenges such as climate change. Mr Dayan’s efforts to strengthen partnerships within the United Nations system, in which he frequently highlighted the UPU’s role in promoting international cooperation, clearly demonstrated his commitment to collaboration.
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