World Post Day 2021: Significance and history of day; theme this year is ‘Innovate to recover’

Every year on 9 October, World Post Day is celebrated across the globe. The day is observed to create awareness about the significant role of the postal sector in our everyday lives as well as businesses. The day also aims to focus on the contribution of postal services towards the economic development and social growth of countries. In more than 150 countries, World Post Day is marked and celebrated as a working holiday. Moreover, many post offices use this event to introduce new postal products and services while others use it to reward their employees for good service. Theme: Theme of this year is “Innovate to recover”. The message behind this theme is to recognise and acknowledge the role postal services played in connecting people during lockdowns that were imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On the occasion of World Post Day, Universal Postal Union (UPU) Director General informed that the day is being celebrated as the postal sector connects our societies as well as communities all over the world. “When COVID-19 affected all the countries of the world, including the established supply chain infrastructure, the Post still found a way to continue offering services to communities. It is this innovativeness of Posts, and their resilience in serving communities, that we are celebrating on the occasion of World Post Day,” the UPU director said in a  statement. History and Significance: World Post Day also marks the anniversary of the Universal Postal Union (UPU), which got recognized across the world. The UPU was set up in Switzerland’s capital city Bern in 1874. Later in 1969, the UPU Congress held in Japan’s Tokyo city declared 9 October to be marked as World Post Day. Among the many countries, India has an important role to play in the inception of this day. The UPU is the second oldest worldwide international organization that has been established. Every year, around 192 members of the UPU across the nation encourage others to participate in events that create a broader awareness of their postal role among the media and the public.