''World postal network: staying connected'' is the theme chosen by the Director-General of the Universal Postal Union (UPU), Edouard Dayan, to mark World Post Day 2007, which commemorates the date of the UPU's creation.
Therefore, on 9 October, as in previous years, a commemorative ceremony will be held at the Portuguese Communications Foundation.
The event includes a range of initiative: the launch of a philactic issue ''Correio Escolar'' and of the book ''Herança das Américas'' and the inauguration and visit to the exhibition ''Art and Philately - a view of Portuguese stamps''.
Prizes will also be awarded for the 2007 letter-writing competition and the 2008 competition will be launched, on the theme ''Write a letter to someone to tell them why the world needs tolerance.''
These competitions are promoted worldwide by the UPU, a specialist organisation of the United Nations, and publicised in Portugal by ANACOM and CTT - Correios de Portugal, who are UPU members.
The national letter-writing competition this year, on the subject ''Imagine you are a wild animal whose habitat is threatened by environmental or climate change. Write a letter to the people of the world, explaining to them what they can do to help you survive'' was won in the 9 - 11 age group by Filipe Pedro Guerra Magalhães, de Pavia, Mora; and in the 12 - 15 age group by Marina da Silva Ramos da Costa, de Mozelos, Santa Maria da Feira who represented Portugal in the international competition. Honourable mentions were also given to the compositions of Pedro Miguel Pereira de Melo, Hugo Alexandre Pedro Pires and Inês Coimbra Ribeiro. Meanwhile the international competition was won by Sze Ee Lee, 14 years, an entrant from Malaysia, with second place shared by Margaret Ayieko Grace of Kenya, and Wara Sofia Facio Flores of Bolivia. Finally third place went to Mariana Köster of Estonia.
Further information:
- World Post Day 2007 - 9 October http://www.upu.int/world_post_day/en/dg_message_world_post_day_2007_en.pdf
- Winning entry to the UPU international letter-writing competition http://www.upu.int/letter_writing/en/lwc-2007_1st_prize_letter_en.pdf
- Fundação Portuguesa das Comunicações https://www.fpc.pt/pt/
- Universal Postal Union http://www.upu.int/world_post_day/en/index.shtml
Related information on ANACOM's website:
- Postal services https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?categoryId=4611
- UPU - Universal Postal Union https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?categoryId=66802
