Scouting for Boys

Cover of first part of Scouting For Boys, January 1908
Author	Robert Baden-Powell
Illustrator	Robert Baden-Powell
Cover artist	John Hassall
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Subject	Scouting
Genre	Boy's handbook
Published	24 January 1908 Horace Cox
OCLC	492503066

Scouting for Boys: A handbook for instruction in good citizenship is a book on Boy Scout training, published in various editions since 1908. Early editions were written and illustrated by Robert Baden-Powell with later editions being extensively rewritten by others. The book was originally a manual for self-instruction in observation, tracking and woodcraft skills as well as self-discipline and self-improvement, about the Empire and duty as citizens with an eclectic mix of anecdotes and unabashed personal observations and recollections. It is pervaded by a degree of moral proselytizing and references to the author's own exploits. It is based on his boyhood experiences, his experience with the Mafeking Cadet Corps during the Second Boer War at the Siege of Mafeking, and on his experimental camp on Brownsea Island, England.

History

Scouting for Boys (1908) was Baden-Powell's rewrite of his earlier book Aids to Scouting (1899) with many youth training ideas openly taken from The Birch Bark Roll of the Woodcraft Indians (1906) written by Ernest Thompson Seton, who later became the Chief Scout of the Boy Scouts of America. Aids to Scouting was mostly a written explanation of the military scouting and self-reliance skills lessons Baden-Powell had learned from Frederick Russell Burnham, the British Army Chief of Scouts, but following the siege of Mafeking this military handbook unexpectedly became popular with many youth groups and educators, like Charlotte Mason, in Britain. At Mafeking, Baden-Powell's adjutant had recruited and trained boys aged 12–15 as cadets and during the siege they acted as postmen, messengers, and later to carry the wounded, to free men for fighting. Upon his return to England, following the Second Boer War, Baden-Powell learned some British schools had been using Aids to Scouting to teach observation and deduction. In 1906, Seton discussed youth training ideas with Baden-Powell and shared with him a copy of The Birch Bark Roll of the Woodcraft Indians.Soon after, Baden-Powell decided to revise Aids to Scouting into a book for boys. Several friends supported Baden-Powell, including Sir William Alexander Smith, founder of the Boys' Brigade, and Cyril Arthur Pearson, who owned newspapers and printing presses. Baden-Powell wrote a draft, then called Boy Patrols, which he used and tested with 22 boys for one week at camp on Brownsea Island in the summer of 1907, where Pearson's literary editor Percy Everett assisted.
Scouting for Boys was published in six fortnightly instalments of approximately 70 pages each, from January to March 1908. They were produced by Pearson's printer, Horace Cox. These six publications were a success and, as planned, were issued in book form on 1 May 1908. Although Aids to Scouting strongly influenced the book, Scouting for Boys presents Scouting from the perspective of outdoorsmen and explorers rather than military men, and it adds the Scout Oath, Scout Law, honours and games for youth. The book was revised and an enormous variety of editions were published. Many of these editions were edited by others and, far beyond mere editing, whole sections were written by authors other than Baden-Powell. The book was a best seller upon release, and, in its various editions, is claimed to have become one of the best-selling books in history. Scouting for Boys has been translated into many languages. In 1948, editions of the book were still selling 50,000 copies annually. Only in 1967 was a decline noted by the publisher and in the last decades of the 20th century the book came to be seen as a period curiosity even by the Scout Movement. It is claimed to be the fourth bestselling book of the 20th century. A realistic estimate is that approximately 4 million copies of the UK edition have been sold. Extrapolating this to 87 different language editions worldwide, historic world sales of Scouting for Boys can be estimated at 100 to 150 million copies since 1908.
In her introduction to the 2005 edition, Elleke Boehmer criticises the book saying "the text was deeply scored through with a contemporary class prejudice which would have been off-putting to non-middle-class readers, as captured in the sharp aphorism that bees form a 'model community, for they respect their Queen and kill their unemployed' (p.117) Character observation in many ways meant reading for the signs of working-class poverty."

Lady B.P( Olave St Clair Baden-Powell)

Olave Baden-Powell

Born	22 February 1889 Chesterfield, England
Died	25 June 1977 (aged 88) Bramley, Surrey, England
Occupation	Guiding and Scouting
Spouse(s)	Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell (m. 1912; d. 1941)
Children	Peter Baden-Powell, 2nd Baron The Hon. Heather King The Hon. Betty Clay
Parent(s)	Harold Soames Katherine Mary Hill

Olave St Clair Baden-Powell, Baroness Baden-Powell, GBE (22 February 1889 – 25 June 1977) was born Olave St Clair Soames in Chesterfield, England. After the death of her husband, she was known as Olave, Lady Baden-Powell, or The Dowager Lady Baden-Powell. She outlived her husband, Robert Baden-Powell (22 Feb 1857 – 8 Jan 1941), the founder of Scouting and Girl Guides, by over 35 years. He was 32 years older than her.
Olave became Chief Guide for Britain in 1918. Later the same year, at the Swanwick conference for Commissioners in October, she was presented with a gold Silver Fish, one of only two ever made. She was elected World Chief Guide in 1930. As well as making a major contribution to the development of the Guide / Girl Scout movements, she visited 111 countries during her life, attending Jamborees and national Guide and Scout associations.

Ancestry

Olave's father was a brewery owner and artist Harold Soames (13 Aug 1855 – 25 Dec 1918), who descended paternally from a landed gentry family, and maternally from a self-made man, Joseph Gilstrap / Gelthorpe, quondam Mayor of Newark, Nottinghamshire.
Olave's mother was Katharine (née Hill; 4 Dec 1851 – 4 Feb 1932), one of eleven children descended from a line of Russian merchants on her father's (Hill) side. Katharine's mother was Georgina Marian Wilkins (Jul 1827 – 13 Dec 1894), one of fifteen children of George Wilkins and his wife Amelia Auriol Hay-Drummond (11 Sept 1794 – 31 Jan 1871), who was the daughter of Edward Hay-Drummond, with whom (as a Curate) George Wilkins had lodged – and eloped with the daughter to Gretna Green, where they were married on 2 September 1811, ten days before her 17th birthday. The couple then returned to live in the parental home in Hadleigh. Edward Hay-Drummond was a son of Robert Hay Drummond, who was a son of the 8th Earl of Kinnoull (23 Jun 1689 – 1 Sept 1709).

Early life

Olave Soames was the third child and youngest daughter of her parents. She was educated by her parents and by a number of governesses at home. She lived in seventeen homes in the first 23 years of her life. Olave became keen on outdoor sports including tennis, swimming, football, skating and canoeing, and also played the violin.

Marriage and children

Olave Baden-Powell with her husband and their three children in 1917.

In January 1912, Olave met Second Boer War hero and founder of the Scouts, Robert Baden-Powell, on an ocean liner (RMSP Arcadian) on the way via the Caribbean to New York to start a lecture tour. She was 23, he was 55, and they shared the same birthday. They became engaged in September of the same year, causing a media sensation. They married on 30 October 1912 in a very private ceremony, in St. Peter's Church, Parkstone, her Parish Church. She was given away by her father; apart from clergy, the only other people present were his brother and sister and Robert Kekewich, a close friend of his, her mother & brother, her brother-in-law and Miss Sie Bower, a close friend of hers.
The Scouts and Guides of England each donated a penny to buy the Baden-Powells a wedding gift of a car (note that this is not the Rolls-Royce known as "Jam-Roll" that was presented to them in 1929). Olave's father assisted financially with the purchase of Pax Hill near Bentley, Hampshire, as a family home where she lived with her husband from 29 January 1919 until 25 October 1938.
The Baden-Powells had three children — a son and two daughters (who took the courtesy titles of Honourable in 1929; the son later succeeding his father as the 2nd Lord Baden-Powell upon his father's death in 1941)

Growing involvement in Scouting

Olave and Robert moved into Ewhurst Place (see photograph on the right), outside Robertsbridge in Sussex in April 1913. In June of that year, the 1st Ewhurst Scout Troop was inaugurated. Olave was the warranted Scoutmaster of this troop, assisted by the family's housemaid and the gardener. Olave accompanied Robert on many of his Scouting tours and to events. She also typed letters for him. In 1915, the Baden-Powell's bought a small car, and after Robert taught her to drive, Olave often drove him to engagements.
Although most famously connected with the Girl Guides, Olave's first offer to help them in 1914 was turned down. The Girl Guide Movement had started following pressure from girls who wanted to become Scouts; the Movement was set up by Robert Baden-Powell and his sister Agnes Baden-Powell, but was not progressing well. After the reorganisation of the Girl Guides in 1915, Olave again offered to help, this time successfully, and she started organising Guiding in Sussex. She became the County Commissioner for Sussex in March 1916.In October 1916, the first conference for County Commissioners was held and it was here that the Commissioners unanimously requested that Olave take the role of Chief Commissioner – she was just pregnant with her third child. During this period she organised a great number of women in other parts of Britain to take up roles in Guiding. In 1918, Olave was acclaimed Chief Guide, a title she much preferred to Chief Commissioner.

B.P

Baden Powell

 

Birth name	Robert Stephenson Smith Baden Powell
Nickname(s)	B.P, Steffi(was known at the time of childhood).
Born	22 February 1857 Paddington, London, England
Died	8 January 1941 (aged 83) Nyeri, Kenya
Buried	St. Peter's Cemetery, Nyeri, Kenya
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1876–1910
Rank	Lieutenant General
Commands held	Chief of Staff, Second Matabele War (1896–97) 5th Dragoon Guards (1897) Inspector General of Cavalry (1903)
Battles/wars	Anglo-Ashanti Wars Second Matabele War Siege of Mafeking Second Boer War
Awards	Ashanti Star (1895) Matabele Campaign, British South Africa Company Medal (1896) Queen's South Africa Medal (1899) King's South Africa Medal ( 1902) The Boy Scouts Association Silver Wolf Boy Scouts of America Silver Buffalo Award (1926) Boy Scouts International Committee Bronze Wolf (1935) Grand Cross of the Order of Dannebrog, Denmark (1921) Großes Dankabzeichen des ÖPB (1927) Großes Ehrenzeichen der Republik am Bande (1931) Goldene Gemse (1931) Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau (1932) Member of the Order of Merit (1937) Wateler Peace Prize (1937) Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath
Other work	Founder of the international Scouting Movement; writer; artist, Scouting for Boys.
Signature

Lieutenant General Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, OM, GCMG, GCVO, KCB, DL (22 February 1857 – 8 January 1941) was a British Army officer, writer, author of Scouting for Boys which was an inspiration for the Scout Movement, founder and first Chief Scout of The Boy Scouts Association and founder of the Girl Guides.

After having been educated at Charterhouse School in Surrey, Baden-Powell served in the British Army from 1876 until 1910 in India and Africa. In 1899, during the Second Boer War in South Africa, Baden-Powell successfully defended the town in the Siege of Mafeking. Several of his military books, written for military reconnaissance and scout training in his African years, were also read by boys. In 1907, he held a demonstration camp, the Brownsea Island Scout camp, which is now seen as the beginning of Scouting. Based on his earlier books, he wrote Scouting for Boys, published in 1908 by Sir Arthur Pearson, for boy readership. In 1910 Baden-Powell retired from the army and formed The Boy Scouts Association.

The first Scout Rally was held at The Crystal Palace in 1909, at which appeared a number of girls dressed in Scout uniform, who told B-P that they were the "Girl Scouts", following which, in 1910, B-P and his sister Agnes Baden-Powell formed the Girl Guides from which the Girl Guides Movement grew. In 1912 he married Olave St Clair Soames. He gave guidance to the Scouting and Girl Guiding Movements until retiring in 1937. Baden-Powell lived his last years in Nyeri, Kenya, where he died and was buried in 1941.

KISC

Kandersteg International Scout Center

Kandersteg International Scout Center
Owner	The KISC Association
Location	Kandersteg
Country	Switzerland
Coordinates	46°29′0.18″N 7°39′50.1″E
Founded	12 February 1923
Founder	Walther von Bonstetten
Attendance	>11,000 annually
Website http://www.kisc.ch/
Scouting portal

The Kandersteg International Scout Center (KISC) is an international Scout center in Kandersteg, Switzerland. The centre provides lodges, chalets and campsites covering 17 hectares of land. It is open to Scouts year round, as well as to non-Scouts for most of the year. More than 11,000 young people from over 50 different countries visit the centre every year
KISC is the World Organization of the Scout Movement's (WOSM) World Scout Center.

History

Picture of the campsite in the 1920s

In 1921 the Chief Scout of Switzerland, Walther von Bonstetten, visited Kandersteg on holiday and found an old empty chalet. It was built in 1908 to house the construction workers for the Lötschberg Tunnel. In 1913, when the tunnel was finished, the chalet was left unused by the railway company. Von Bonstetten felt that this location could be the permanent international meeting place that Robert Baden-Powell had in mind where Scouts from all over the world could meet. Von Bonstetten wrote to him to let him know what he had found. The response was positive and on 12 February 1923 the Scouts International Home Association was set up; on 12 April 1923 the chalet and adjacent land were bought for CHF 15,100, and the International Scout Center came into existence. In 1930 Baden-Powell visited the site himself.

Flyer and map of Kandersteg distributed to the participants of the 4th International Scout Conference 1926.

Up to current times, the site has continuously been augmented, with the first national room, 'the Dutch room' in 1927, and the purchase of additional land in 1929. During World War II, the centre was used to house French soldiers interned for the war. In the 1950s more property was purchased, including the woods by the river Kander, and the center began to open also in the wintertime. The center was renamed Kandersteg International Scout Center in 1977. In the 1980s, new campsites were created, together with extra toilet facilities, although the center went through a difficult time financially. In 1994, the International Scout Center Foundation, Kandersteg was established, and work started on the chalet extension project which opened on 1 June 1996. On December 2002, the top floor of the New Chalet was finished, completing the chalet extension, followed by new bathroom renovations two years later. In 2009, the center opened a new accommodation building named Kander-Lodge, purchased the neighbouring building, Sunneblick, and fully renovated the ground floor of the Old Chalet.

Location

The small, traditional Swiss village of Kandersteg (inhabitants approximately 1,200) is situated at 1,200 metres above sea level, 65 kilometres south of Bern, in the canton of Bern, near the Lötschenpass and the Gemmipass. The village is known for sightseeing and exploring the Swiss Alps. Kandersteg can be reached by road and rail: it is situated on the main railway line from the north to Italy, and the station is served by fast trains.
The Scout Center is at the southern end of the village. During high season, a regular bus runs from the local railway station.

Campsite

Campsite entrance

The campsite can accommodate up to 1,400 persons on more than 60 different sites. On average during the summer, the site has around 750 guests at a time. While close to other groups, each group can be sure of their own campsite, ensuring both an international atmosphere and privacy. The sites have running water nearby and there are toilets and showers with hot water close at hand, which the visiting groups help to look after during their stay. There is a shop open on the campsite during the summer and a campsite office that is open most of the time. There is also a drying room and multiple picnic and barbecue facilities.
The campsite was originally wasteland from the construction of the tunnel, so several sites are rocky. The railway runs close to some of the sites, so it can be noisy at times.

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.

WAGGGS

World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts

World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts
Headquarters	Pax Lodge, London
Country	145 countries worldwide
Founded	1928
Founder	Robert Baden-Powell
Membership	10 million
Website www.wagggs.org
Scouting portal

The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS ) is a global association supporting the female-oriented and female-only Guiding and Scouting organizations in 145 countries. It was established in 1928 in Parád, Hungary, and has its headquarters in London, England. It is the counterpart of the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM). WAGGGS is organized into five regions and operates four international Guiding centers. It holds full member status in the European Youth Forum (YFJ), which operates within the Council of Europe and European Union areas and works closely with these bodies.

Mission

            The mission of the WAGGGS is to enable girls and young women to develop their fullest potential as responsible citizens of the world. WAGGGS provides a non-formal educational program that provides training in life skills, leadership and decision making. It also offers projects and programs at an international level that enable Girl Guides and Girl Scouts to be responsible world citizens through action and activity in the community.

WAGGGS is run by women for girls and young women. Girl Guides and Girl Scouts are trained in leadership and decision-making, and are encouraged to participate in the governance and leadership of WAGGGS. Each individual unit is democratically run with Girl Guides and Girl Scouts actively involved in leadership and in decision making.

Girl Guiding/Girl Scouting is open to all girls and young women without distinction of creed, race, nationality, or any other circumstance. WAGGGS believes that the education of girls, and the education of boys, includes education for equal partnership. Young men and young women are taught to recognize their differences and their similarities, and to respect each other as individuals.

Girl Guiding/Girl Scouting is a voluntary organisation that relies on over 100,000 volunteers around the world to implement programs for Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, and to give girls and young women support and leadership. There are over 10 million Girl Guides and Girl Scouts in 145 countries. Girl Guides and Girl Scouts from around the world can meet each other at international events at one of the four World Centers.

There are many opportunities to attend international events run by the United Nations or other non-governmental organizations on behalf of the Association. The WOSM is the non-governmental organization (NGO), that represents the Scouting movement at the United Nations.The WOSM and WAGGGS both have General Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council.

History

Girl Guides were formed in 1910 by Robert Baden-Powell, with the assistance of his sister Agnes Baden-Powell. After his marriage in 1912, his wife Olave Baden-Powell took a leading role in the development of Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting.

As the movement spread, independent national Guiding associations were set up; however, a need for international cooperation was felt. Lady Baden-Powell founded an informal International Council in London in February 1918. At the fourth World Conference held at Camp Edith Macy in 1926, representatives from several countries suggested the formation of a World Association to take the place of the informal International Council. After the 1926 International Conference the Baden-Powells were approached about setting up a formal association and in 1928 the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts was founded at the 5th International Conference held in Parád, Hungary. Rose Kerr was Vice Chairman, later Commissioner for Tenderfoot Countries. From 1930 to 1939 WAGGGS occupied a room at the headquarters of the British Girl Guide Association, until it moved to 9 Palace Street, next door to Our Ark.

In 1920, two leaders from each known Guide country were invited to the British County Commissioners Conference held at Saint Hugh's College, Oxford. This became known as the First International Conference. The 13th World Conference was held in the same college in 1950. The member organizations continue to meet every three years (initially every two years) at World Conferences.

List of Chief Executives

• 1928–1928: Rose Kerr
• 1929–1929: Esther Welmoet Wijnaendts Francken-Dyserinck
• 1930–1934: Helen Storrow
• 1935–1936: Marie Dillner
• 1936–1946: Marie Thérèse de Kerraoul
• 1946–1948: Nadine Corbett
• 1948–1950: Ethel J. Newton
• 1950–1952: Sylvi Visapää
• 1952–1957: Helen Means
• 1957–1960: Estelle Romaine Bernadotte
• 1960–1966: Dora Lykiardopoulo
• 1966–1969: Mary Nesbitt
• 1969–1972: Marjorie M. Culmer
• 1972–1975: Beryl Cozens-Hardy
• 1975–1981: Joyce Price
• 1981–1984: Helen M. Laird
• 1984–1987: Doris Stockmann
• 1987–1990: Odile Bonte
• 1990–1993: Barbara Hayes
• 1993–1996: Doris Riehm
• 1996–1999: Heather Brandon
• 1999–2002: Ginny Radford
• 2002–2005: Kirsty Gray
• 2005–2008: Elspeth Henderson
• 2008–2011: Margaret Treloar
• 2011–2014: Nadine El Achy
• since 2014: Nicola Grinstead

  World regions

  
  
  The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts has offices in five regional divisions:
  

    WAGGGS-Europe Region

    WAGGGS-Arab Region

    WAGGGS-Africa Region

    WAGGGS-Asia Pacific Region

    WAGGGS-Western Hemisphere Region

    There is no WAGGGS Region corresponding to the World Organization of the Scout Movement Eurasian Region; post-Soviet nations are divided between the WAGGGS-Europe Region and the WAGGGS-Asia Pacific Region

    grey areas such as Laos and Cuba have no Scouting
  The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts has five regions: Europe, Arab, Africa, Asia and Western Hemisphere.

  World Centres

  WAGGGS operates four World Centres that offer training programmes, activities and lodging for girls and leaders, as well as members of some other groups and independent travellers. Activities are primarily focused on international friendship and cooperation, personal development and leadership training, enjoyment and service. The Friends of the Four World Centres organisation supports and promotes the centres.
  The four World Centres are:
• Our Chalet, in Adelboden, Switzerland; opened in 1932.
• Pax Lodge, in Hampstead, London, England; current location opened in 1990. It is actually London's third World Centre; the first was Our Ark, opened in 1937, which was renamed Olave House on its 25th anniversary.
• Our Cabaña, in Cuernavaca, Mexico; opened in 1957.
• Sangam, in Pune, Maharashtra, India; opened in 1966.

A new centre, Kusafiri, meaning “to journey” in Swahili, was announced in 2015. Unlike the other centres it will be a roving centre and exist for a fixed period of time in different places with a particular theme in Africa. While testing the idea, starting in 2012, the country organizations involved include Ghana, South Africa, Rwanda, Kenya, Nigeria, and Benin. Focuses so far have included “Stopping the Violence” training in Rwanda and developing entrepreneurial leaders among others.

World Trefoil

WAGGGS membership badge

          Miss Kari Aas designed the World Trefoil emblem that was adopted at the World Conference in 1930, a gold trefoil on a blue background.

The three leaves represent the three duties and the three parts of the promise, the two five point-stars stand for the promise and the law and the vein in the centre represents the compass needle showing the right way. The base of the trefoil stands for the flame of the love of humanity and the colours blue and gold represent the sun shining over all children in the world.

The World Badge, incorporating the trefoil, was first adopted at the 11th World Conference in Evian, France in 1946.

The World Association Badge, similar in design to the World Badge, was first adopted at the 7th World Conference in Bucze, near Górki Wielkie in Poland, in 1932. It is worn by members of the World Board, its Committees, World Bureau and World Centre staff.