World Organization of the Scout Movement

World Organization of the Scout Movement
World Organization of the Scout Movement
Headquarters	Geneva, Switzerland
Country	worldwide
Founded	1920
Founder	Robert Baden-Powell
Membership	28 million
Secretary General	Luc Panissod
WSC Chairman	William F. “Rick” Cronk
Website	World Organization of the Scout Movement

The World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM) is the Non-governmental international organization which governs most national Scout Organizations, with 28 million members. WOSM was established in 1920, and has its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. It is the counterpart of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS).

The mission of WOSM 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.

World Scout Conference

The World Scout Conference (WSC) is the governing body and meets every three years, preceded by the World Scout Youth Forum. The World Scout Conference is the general assembly of Scouting and is composed of six delegates from each of the member Scout associations. If a country has more than one association, the associations form a federation for coordination and world representation. The basis for recognition and membership in the World Scout Conference includes adherence to the aims and principles of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, and independence from political involvement on the part of each member association.

The Conference meets every three years and is hosted by a member association. At the World Scout Conference basic cooperative efforts are agreed upon and a plan of mutual coordination is adopted. The Conference directed the move of the World Scout Bureau from Ottawa, Canada to Geneva on May 1, 1968.

Date	Number	Location		Member Countries
1920	First World Scout Conference	London		33
1922	Second World Scout Conference	Paris		32
1924	Third World Scout Conference	Copenhagen		34
1926	Fourth World Scout Conference	Kandersteg		29
1929	Fifth World Scout Conference	Birkenhead		33
1931	Sixth World Scout Conference	Baden bei Wien		44
1933	Seventh World Scout Conference	Gödöllő		31
1935	Eighth World Scout Conference	Stockholm		28
1937	Ninth World Scout Conference	The Hague		34
1939	10th World Scout Conference	Edinburgh		27
1947	11th World Scout Conference	Château de Rosny-sur-Seine		27
1949	12th World Scout Conference	Elvesaeter		25
1951	13th World Scout Conference	Salzburg		34
1953	14th World Scout Conference	Vaduz		35
1955	15th World Scout Conference	Niagara Falls, Ontario		44
1957	16th World Scout Conference	Cambridge		52
1959	17th World Scout Conference	New Delhi		35
1961	18th World Scout Conference	Lisbon		50
1963	19th World Scout Conference	Rhodes		52
1965	20th World Scout Conference	Mexico City		59
1967	21st World Scout Conference	Seattle		70
1969	22nd World Scout Conference	Otaniemi		64
1971	23rd World Scout Conference	Tokyo		71
1973	24th World Scout Conference	Nairobi		77
1975	25th World Scout Conference	Lundtoft		87
1977	26th World Scout Conference	Montreal		81
1979	27th World Scout Conference	Birmingham		81
1981	28th World Scout Conference	Dakar		74
1983	29th World Scout Conference	Dearborn		90
1985	30th World Scout Conference	Munich		93
1988	31st World Scout Conference	Melbourne		77
1990	32nd World Scout Conference	Paris
1993	33rd World Scout Conference	Sattahip
1996	34th World Scout Conference	Oslo		108
1999	35th World Scout Conference	Durban		116
2002	36th World Scout Conference	Thessaloniki		126
2005	37th World Scout Conference	Hammamet		122
2008	38th World Scout Conference	Jeju-do		150
2011	39th World Scout Conference	Curitiba

World Scout Committee

1939-1955 version of the World Scout Emblem, used by the World Scout Committee

The World Scout Committee is the chief executive body of the World Scout Conference and is composed of elected volunteers. The World Scout Committee represents World Scout Conference between the meetings of the full conference. The World Scout Committee is responsible for the implementation of the resolutions of the World Scout Conference and for acting on its behalf between its meetings. The Committee meets twice a year, usually in Geneva, Switzerland. Its Steering Committee, consisting of the Chairman, two Vice-Chairmen and the Secretary General, meet as needed.

The Committee is composed of 14 members. Twelve, each from a different country, are elected for six-year terms by the World Scout Conference. The members, elected without regard to their nationality, do not represent their country but the interests of the Movement as a whole. The Secretary General and the Treasurer of WOSM are ex-officio members of the Committee. The chairmen of the regional Scout committees participate in the World Scout Committee meetings in a consultative capacity.

The World Scout Committee has set up work streams to address the top strategic priorities, as defined by the World Scout Conference, which at present include:
* Youth involvement
* Volunteers in Scouting
* Scouting's profile (communications, partnerships, resources)

Standing committees include:
* Audit
* Budget
* Constitutions
* Honours and Awards
*Working With Others- a consultative committee of the WOSM and the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS), composed of members of the World Committee/World Board of both organizations
* 2007 Task Force for the 100th Anniversary of Scouting, composed of members of the World Scout Committee, World Scout Bureau, World Scout Foundation, and The Scout Association of the United Kingdom

Current members of the World Scout Committee

Name	Country	Term to
William F. "Rick" Cronk	Chairman, USA	2011
Dr. Mario Díaz Martínez	Vice-Chairman, Spain	2011
Simon Hang-Bock Rhee	Vice-Chairman, Korea	2014
Mrs. Thérèse Bermingham	Ireland	2011
Eric Khoo Heng-Pheng	Malaysia	2014
Georges El Ghorayeb	Lebanon	2011
Wahid Labidi	Tunisia	2014
John C.C. May	United Kingdom	2014
John Neysmith	Canada	2014
Nkwenkwe Nkomo	South Africa	2011
Oscar Palmquist	Brazil	2014
Gualtiero Zanolini	Italy	2011
Luc Panissod	Secretary General, WOSM
Maurice Machenbaum	Treasurer, Switzerland

Bronze Wolf

The Bronze Wolf is the only distinction awarded by WOSM, awarded by the World Scout Committee for exceptional services to world Scouting. It was first awarded to Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell by a unanimous decision of the then-International Committee on the day of the institution of the Bronze Wolf in Stockholm in 1935.

World Scout Bureau

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

The World Organization of the Scout Movement is associated with the 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 17-26 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 Scouting programs throughout the world.

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 Economic and Social Council ECOSOC of the United Nations.

World Scout Centres

World Scout Centre is a brand of the WOSM and actually used by three Scouting facilities in different countries. These facilities are operated by the corresponding regional divisions or by independent bodies:
* 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

Badge

The WOSM membership badge, called the World Crest, is a purple, circular badge with a fleur-de-lis in the center, surrounded by a piece of rope tied with a reef knot (also called a square knot). The fleur-de-lis is an ancient symbol, originally used by Baden-Powell for the enlisted scouts of the British Army and subsequently adopted and modified 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 duties, to God, self and others. The two five-point stars stand for truth and knowledge, with the ten points representing the ten points of the Scout Law (see below). The bond at the base of the fleur-de-lis shows the family of Scouting. The encircling rope symbolizes the unity and family of the World Scout Movement.

History

As a result of the first World Scout Jamboree at Olympia, London in 1920, leaders there created the Boy Scouts' International Conference. All 31 nations represented at Olympia were the charter members. A Bureau was established at 25, Buckingham Palace Road, London, and the then United Kingdom International Commissioner, Hubert S. Martin, was appointed as Honorary Director. The Boy Scouts' International Conference was later superseded by the World Scout Conference.

The needs of Scout youth in unusual situations has created some interesting permutations, answerable directly to the World Scout Bureau. For years there was an active Boy Scouts of the United Nations with several troops at Parkway Village in New York City, with but 14 members in 1959. Also directly registered to the World Bureau were the 900 member International Boy Scouts of the Canal Zone, as well as 84 Scouts of the European Coal and Steel Community, an early precursor to the European Union.

Publication: Scouting 'round the World, 1977 edition

Publications

Publications of WOSM include:
* Scouting 'Round the World: a book updated every three years with details on all WOSM member organizations;
* WorldInfo: a monthly circular distributed in electronic format with the help of Scoutnet.

See also

* List of World Organization of the Scout Movement members
* J. S. Wilson
* László Nagy
* Scouts of the World Award

References

Bibliography

• Facts on World Scouting, Boy Scouts International Bureau, Ottawa, Canada, 1961

• Laszlo Nagy, 250 Million Scouts, The World Scout Foundation and Dartnell Publishers, 1985

External links

* World Scout Conference
* World Scout Committee
* World Scout Bureau
* Secretary General of the World Organisation of the Scout Movement