WOSM World News

From July 26th to 30th 2010, 10,000 Scouts from 14 to 17 years old, Pioneers and Caravelles, met in Cussac-Fort-Medoc, for a unique event in France: Cité Cap.

They came from all over France, but also from Belgium, Egypt, Finland, Italy, Ireland, Lebanon, Morocco, Romania and Tunisia ... by bicycle, train, boat and even by canoe. Everyone accepted the challenge, launched in the context of this event, of using an ecological way of transportation.

Rowallan’s closest neighbour, Kibera, is the second largest slum in Africa, only exceeded by Soweto in South Africa.

To outsiders it is perceived as a dangerous place but Grishon Onyango and Ralph Musindi, two Kibera rover Scouts, give me a different picture of their home estate. To them Kibera is home. It’s safe and they have many friends and the feeling of community is strong.

One of the most amazing stories so far told by moot participants is from three Ugandan Rovers, Daniel Nanghaka, Isaac Mubiru and Asaph Kasuja, who had the most spectacular ride to the Moot.
While other participants used planes, trains or buses, the trio rode bicycles from Kampala to Nairobi, a journey of over 750 kilometres.

Theirs was a mission to kill two birds with one stone – preaching peace and attending the Moot.

As the world went about its daily activities, history was being written at the Rowallan Scout Camp in Nairobi Kenya on July 28th, 2010. It is now official that Kenya is the first African country to host a World Scout Moot.

After a chilly night that prompted the Swedish contingent to sing and dance for the better part of the night, may be in an attempt to keep warm, most of the scouts are up and running by 6.00 a.m in readiness for the big day. You can tell from the radiance in their faces that the anticipation is real and high.

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”.