![\"Stick](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1779505_highres.jpg\")
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
The sculpture of Pegasus that adorns the UPU building. <\/p>\n
Keystone\/Edi Engeler <\/p>\n
In Bern, a little-known organisation coordinates much of the world\u2019s postal traffic. The Universal Postal Union (UPU), a UN agency, oversees a global infrastructure through which millions of letters and parcels pass every day.\n<\/p>\n
This content was published on <\/p>\n
March 23, 2026 – 10:00\n<\/p>\n
Just a few tram stops from the Federal Palace, the UPU coordinates the operation of a postal network that covers almost every country. From the Swiss capital, the UN agency ensures that letters and parcels circulate between countries.<\/p>\n
Every hour, more than 35,000 dispatch notifications pass through the UPU\u2019s digital infrastructure. Hundreds of thousands of letters and parcels leave one country, pass through another and arrive in a third. The organisation\u2019s technology centre closely monitors this global process.<\/p>\n
\u201cI follow these parcels very closely, to see exactly how they move through the system,\u201d says Lati Matata, director of the Postal Technology Centre at the Universal Postal Union.<\/p>\n
A worldwide system born in the 19th century<\/p>\n
The UPU has carried out this task since 1874. The organisation was created to simplify exchanges between national postal services and guarantee the international routing of mail.<\/p>\n
Originally, the system was dominated by traditional communications such as letters and postcards. But in recent years, the nature of these flows has changed significantly with the rise of online commerce.<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst there was communication \u2013 in other words letters and postcards, the traditional things. But today we are increasingly seeing a rise in commercial exchanges,\u201d says Matata.<\/p>\n
\n More<\/p>\n
![\"post](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/582872494_highres.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
More <\/p>\n
Swiss Post sets out to reinvent the post office <\/p>\n
This content was published on <\/p>\n
May 31, 2024 <\/p>\n
Swiss Post is one of the most lauded institutions in Switzerland, which is why efforts to reinvent it face some scepticism. <\/p>\n