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10% rule for World Jamborees
Bruce McCrea (Bruce_Mccrea@LANSING.CC.MI.US)
Thu, 5 Nov 1998 12:57:15 -0500
I have received a few questions about my statement yesterday that there is
a WOSM rule that a maximum of 10% of the participants in a World Jamboree
can come from one country. My information on this rule is purely
ancedotal, and I would like to see an official statement . The rule was
explained to me by the leader of the UK troop that was across the path from
my troop at the 1995 World Jamboree in The Netherlands. He said that the
way this rule is currently administered is that the World Jamboree's host
country determines the number of expected participants and, once that
number is determined, no more than 10% of that total can come from one
country. The number that the organizers of the 1995 World Jamboree planned
for was 30,000, so the limit was 3000 for any one country. There were more
than 3000 from the UK who wanted to participate, so they had to limit their
contingent to 3000. Even though the jamboree ended up having less than
30,000 participants, the limit remained 10% of the number the organizers
originally planned for.
I imagine that these limits were administered differently and perhaps the
percentage was different at earlier jamborees. I remember an Australian
leader at the 1987-88 World Jamboree saying that the Australians kept
hoping the Americans would send more Scouts, as that would allow more
Australians to participate. That would indicate that the limit then was a
% of the actual participants, not a % of the number of participants the
organizing committee originally planned for.
When I have talked about this limit with people at International Division
BSA, I don't think we have discussed the exact number. They did express a
concern, however, that, if a World Jamboree were held at Fort A.P. Hill,
there would be many very well qualified U.S. Scouts and leaders who be
excited by the opportunity to participate in a World Jamboree close to home
but would be unable to participate because of this rule.
Bruce McCrea
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