WOSM

World Organization of the Scout Movement

World Organization of the Scout Movement
Headquarters	World Scout Bureau: Geneva, Switzerland Secretary General’s Office: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Country	worldwide
Founded	1922
Membership	169 organizations over 40 million participants (2017)
Website http://www.scout.org
Scouting portal

The World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM ) is the largest international Scouting organization. WOSM has 169 members.These members are recognized national Scout organizations, which collectively have over 40 million participants.WOSM was established in 1922,and has its operational headquarters at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and its legal seat in Geneva, Switzerland. It is the counterpart of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS).
The WOSM's current stated mission is "to contribute to the education of young people, through a value system based on the Scout Promise and Scout Law, to help build a better world where people are self-fulfilled as individuals and play a constructive role in society". WOSM is organized into regions and operates with a conference, committee and bureau.
The WOSM is associated with three World Scout Centres. The World Scout Jamboree is held roughly every four years under the auspices of the WOSM, with members of WAGGGS also invited. WOSM also organises the World Scout Moot, a Jamboree for 17- to 26-year-olds, and has organised the World Scout Indaba, a gathering for Scout leaders. The World Scout Foundation is a perpetual fund governed by a separate Board of Governors and supported by donations for the development of WOSM associated Scouting programs throughout the world.
WOSM is a non-governmental organization with General Consultative Status to the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

History

As a result of an international conference held during the first World Scout Jamboree at Olympia, London in 1920, leaders there agreed to create a Boy Scouts International Bureau (BSIB). An office was established at 25, Buckingham Palace Road, London, and the then International Commissioner of The Boy Scouts Association of the United Kingdom, Hubert S. Martin, was appointed as Honorary Director. The first task of the bureau was to co-ordinate the discussions and to prepare a second international conference in Paris in 1922.At the 1922 Paris conference The International Conference of the Boy Scout Movement, its committee and BSIB were constituted by the founding member organizations. In 1961 The International Conference of the Boy Scout Movement reconstituted the organization introducing the name World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM). The International Conference of the Boy Scout Movement became the WOSM's World Scout Conference, its International Committee became the World Scout Committee and the Boy Scouts International Bureau became the WOSM's World Scout Bureau.

World Scout Bureau

The World Scout Bureau is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland and has offices in six regional divisions:

  European Region: Geneva, Switzerland; Brussels, Belgium and Belgrade, Serbia

  Arab Region: Cairo, Egypt

  Africa Region: Nairobi, Kenya; Cape Town, South Africa; and Dakar, Senegal

  Asia-Pacific Region: Makati City, Philippines; Australia; Nepal; and Tokyo, Japan

  Interamerican Region: Ciudad del Saber, Panama

  Eurasian Region: Kiev, Ukraine

  grey areas such as Laos and Cuba have no Scouting

The World Scout Bureau (WSB, formerly the International Bureau) is the secretariat that carries out the instructions of the World Scout Conference and the World Scout Committee. The WSB is administered by the secretary general, who is supported by a small staff of technical resource personnel. The bureau staff helps associations improve and broaden their Scouting by training professionals and volunteers, establishing finance policies and money-raising techniques, improving community facilities and procedures, and assisting in marshaling the national resources of each country behind Scouting.
The staff also helps arrange global events such as the World Scout Jamborees, encourages regional events, and acts as a liaison between the Scouting Movement and other international organizations. A major effort in the emerging nations is the extension of the universal Good Turn into an organization-wide effort for community development.

Bureau location

The Bureau was first established in London, England in 1920 and moved to Ottawa, Canada in 1959. The International Conference directed the move of the Bureau from Ottawa, Canada to Geneva on 1 May 1968. In August 2013, WOSM announced the relocation of the World Scout Bureau Central Office (WSB-CO) to Kuala Lumpur where it is now located.

Bureau leadership

This list includes Secretaries General and their deputies from the World Organization of the Scout Movement and members of the World Scout Bureau. From 1920 to 1968, this function was called Director.

• Director 1920-1938: Hubert S. Martin
• Director 1938-1951: John Skinner Wilson
  • Deputy Secretary General: Daniel Spry
• Director 1951-1965: Daniel Spry
• Director 1965-1968: Richard T. Lund
• Secretary General 1968-1988: László Nagy
• Secretary General 1988-2004: Jacques Moreillon
  • Deputy Secretary General 1991-2004: Malek Gabr
  • Deputy Secretary General 1991-2004: Luc Panissod
• Secretary General 2004-2007: Eduardo Missoni
  • Deputy Secretary General 2004-2007: Dominique Bénard
  • Deputy Secretary General 2004-2007: Luc Panissod
• Secretary General 2007-2012: Luc Panissod
• Secretary General 2013-2016: Scott Teare
• Secretary General (appointed) from March 2017: Ahmad Alhendawi

World Scout Centres

World Scout Centre is a brand of the WOSM but the three World Scout Centres are operated by regional divisions of WOSM and an independent body:

• Kandersteg International Scout Centre in Switzerland, operated by the Scouts International Home association.
• Cairo International Scout Centre in Egypt, operated by the Arab Region.
• Picarquín World Scout Centre in Chile, operated by the Interamerican Region.

World Scout programmes

The Better World Framework combines the Scouts of the World Award, Messengers of Peace and World Scout Environment Programmes as programme initiatives administered by the World Scout Bureau.

World Scout Emblem

1939-1955 version of the World Scout Emblem, used by the Boy Scouts International Bureau and International Committee members

The WOSM emblem and membership badge is the World Scout Emblem, a purple, circular logo with a fleur-de-lis in the center, surrounded by a length of rope tied with a reef knot (also called a square knot). Baden-Powell used a fleur-de-lis badge awarded to British Army scouts and subsequently adopted and modified the badge for Scouting. The arrowhead represents the North point on a compass, and is intended to point Scouts on the path to service and unity. The three points on the fleur-de-lis represent the three parts of the Scout Promise: - service to others, duty to God and obedience to the Scout Law. The two five-point stars stand for truth and knowledge, with the ten points representing the ten points of the Scout Law. The bond at the base of the fleur-de-lis symbolizes the family of Scouting. The encircling rope symbolizes the unity and family of the World Scout Movement.