WOSM World News

NAIROBI, 28 July 2010 – After many months of preparation, the 13th World Scout Moot officially kicked off in Nairobi, at Rowallan Scout Camp. A colourful ceremony that was graced by the President of the Republic of Kenya, H.E. Mwai Kibaki, signaled the beginning of the 10-day long event.

The Moot will take place at Rowallan Campsite, situated in Ngong forest near the centre of Nairobi. Rowallan campsite is home to both the national office of the Kenya Scouts Association and the Africa Regional Office of the World Scout Bureau.

In the past few years there has been a growing awakening to the need to preserve our environment, our natural habitat. Arguably some of these notions might be attributed to the mainstreaming of climate change and climate-related issues. However, this does not take away from the realization that, as human civilization continues to develop technologically and population growth continues, there is an ever important need to preserve our environment, its resources and ecosystems – if not for the survival of the human species, then for the betterment of the quality of life of those alive today and those yet to come.

UNICEF is looking for contributions to the State of the World Children’s Report (SOWC) and a companion report which will be written and edited by young people under 20 years of age. This report will explore the situation of adolescents from their own perspective, based on their own life experiences. The purpose of the report will be to complement the SOWC report with the unique insight young people have about their own situation – the kind of information that is not easily found in statistical tables.

The first European Region Podcast is online. It is about the Survival strategies for the 21st Century , a philosophy which is used by many different organisations and which we have broken down to make it accessible for Scouting.

Following the national elections that were held on the 10th of May, 2010, Hon. Jejomar Binay was elected as the next Vice President of the Republic of Philippines. Prior to this development, Hon. Binay has held many other positions notably in Scouting but also in his official career.

Scouting is known for its camaraderie and also for its empathetic reactions towards those in difficult situations. We have seen Scouts rush to lend a helping hand in situations such as the tsunami in South East Asia and, in more recent news, in the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti. However, Scouting’s help comes in more ways than just disaster relief aid.

The 3rd Regional Communication Forum took place in the Scout Centre of Krasnokamenka, Ukraine from 3rd to 5th June. Seven, out of the eight countries in the Eurasia region, were present. The goal of this event was to support National Scout Organisations in establishing and implementing their communication strategies as to contribute to the growth of the Movement.

Participants coming from Russia; Ukraine; Kazakhstan; Moldova; Azerbaijan; Georgia and Armenia were trained on various issues concerning communication.

The 3rd Regional Communication Forum took place in the Scout Centre of Krasnokamenka, Ukraine from 3rd to 5th June. Seven, out of the eight countries in the Eurasia region, were present. The goal of this event was to support National Scout Organisations in establishing and implementing their communication strategies as to contribute to the growth of the Movement.

Participants coming from Russia; Ukraine; Kazakhstan; Moldova; Azerbaijan; Georgia and Armenia were trained on various issues concerning communication.

In the Clean up the World Report for 2009, World Scouting receives recognition for its support to Clean up the World (CUW). CUW works in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and in its Global Activity Report, launched to support World Environment Day on 5 June, WOSM is recognised as a key 'Ally'. Scout activities are highlighted in the report.

Activities ranged from cleaning up small villages to national clean up events. Across many regions, communities also implemented recycling programmes, energy conservation, tree planting and awareness raising activities.

As requested by Conference Resolution 10/08, a brief Mid-term Report on the implementation of the "WSC/WSB Triennial Plan for 2008-2011" has been sent to all NSOs via the month of May's ScoutPack. This report was accompanied by a personal message from Luc Panissod, Secretary General of WOSM.

Two events to support the development of the Scouts of the World Award will take place in Kandersteg International Scout Centre from 30 August to 4 September 2010. A Scouts of the World Discovery will be organised for Scouts aged 15-26 years old in the area of environment/sustainable development, and in parallel there will be a seminar for Rover Scout Commissioners and Trainers who are interested in developing Scouts of the World in their Associations. The seminar for Commissioners and Trainers will cover all three aspects of the Scouts of the World Award – peace, environment/sustainable development and community development.

Scouting in the UK is experiencing its biggest growth surge since 1972. Census results released on the 19-04-2010 show that in 2010 there were 16’568 new youth and adult members in the UK since January 2009. This is a 3.35% rise in membership since the last Census in 2009 (482’442), taking the total membership in UK Scouting to 499’323.

Today, many households play video games. Video games are a source of family entertainment with parents, children, and even grandparents all vying for their entertainment systems. Today’s parents increasingly view video games as a positive and often educational way to interact with their children.

MANZINI - From 20 to 23 May 2010, the second in a series of communication forums was held in the Kingdom of Swaziland. This training that targeted anglophone National Scout Organizations (NSOs) brought together all NSOs of the southern region of Africa but Lesotho and Angola. In addition NSOs from other sub-regions were represented. They include, Kenya, Madagascar and Ghana. The Chairperson of the Africa Scout Committee, Ms. Jemima Nartey, was in attendance.

MANZINI - From 21 – 22 May 2010, the Swaziland Scout Association hosted a workshop on HIV and child abuse. Participants were drawn from the Southern Zone of the Africa Scout Region. Delegates started by seeking a common understanding to the question “Who is a child?” to which they agreed that a child is a person below the age of 18 -- who have their own rights and responsibilities -- true to the assertion that “a right comes with responsibilities”.

Towards the end of 2008 the Hungarian Scout Association (HSA) launched and experimental Scout Leader Training programme, that has finally come to an end in May of 2010. The Scout Association has seen that the results from this pilot programme are encouraging and will continue to improve its facilities and re-frame its training program to achieve even greater results. The HSA states that they are extremely satisfied with the achievements of the programme's candidates.

How have the Alps evolved?

How do seeds develop into a grown up tree?

These are a few questions that were asked to all participants of the SCENES seminar on their eco-adventure tour. However, many of them are already involved in environment education, so they have the answers to these questions and have seen and developed some good examples of how to set up ‘Scout-like’ educational activities. During the hike, there were also a few interesting discussions started about keeping the SCENES Network alive. All of them believe that SCENES is the future network of ‘sustainable Scouting’.

Kandersteg, Wednesday 19th May, the participants focus for the day was on the vision for SCENES centres in the future and ideas from some of the participants are included in the attached presentation. In the next few days, participants will be looking at practical ways to make these visions become a reality. The participants had a tour of Kandersteg International Scout Centre (KISC) to see the practices that are in place which demonstrate good environment management.

Kandersteg, Wednesday 19th May, the participants focus for the day was on the vision for SCENES centres in the future and ideas from some of the participants are included in the attached presentation. In the next few days, participants will be looking at practical ways to make these visions become a reality.The participants had a tour of Kandersteg International Scout Centre (KISC) to see the practices that are in place which demonstrate good environment management.