Eurofax 47 (August 1996)
Ray Saunders (rsaunders@EUROSCOUT.KNOOPPUNT.BE)
Wed, 31 Jul 1996 18:49:54 GMT
Eurofax is the monthly newsletter of the European Region. It is produced by
the European Scout Office and is distributed by fax to all member
associations in the European Scout Region and the Europe Region WAGGGS, and
others. This text-only version is distributed as an additional service to
members. Reproduction of articles without alteration is encouraged but
Eurofax should be acknowledged as the source of the information.
Looking Wider - 34th World Scout Conference
A total of 108 countries participated in the World Scout Conference, held
in Oslo, 8-12 July, compared with 99 countries at the 1993 Conference in
Bangkok. The number of official delegates in Oslo reached 409 and the total
number of participants was 1,026, including more than 100 under the age of
26 years.
The Conference unanimously accepted the Palestinian Scout Association as
the newest member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement. In an
emotional and colourful ceremony, all of the new members of the World
Organization since the 33rd World Scout Conference in Bangkok were
welcomed: Latvia, Slovenia, Mongolia, Yugoslavia, Poland, Niger, Estonia,
Czech Republic and the Palestinian Scout Association. The membership of the
World Organization is currently 142 national Scout organizations.
Two special commissions at the Conference, each lasting one full day,
examined the mission-related questions of Scouting for what? and Scouting
for whom? This report is adapted from the summaries presented to the
conference by Soren Lundsberg-Nielsen and John Ravenhall, members of the
World Adult Resources Committee:
'A clear trend in the reports from the working groups considering Scouting
for what? is that Scouting needs a better, clearer and more visible image.
At the same time it is also clearly stated that there is a general
acceptance and support of the values and methods of the Movement as they
appear today. Several directions are open for the future development of a
mission statement. One direction is an in-depth development of the
underlying values in order to ensure a firmer foundation for our Movement.
This is based on the reasoning that a house may look good and sound but it
will never survive if it doesn't have a firm and solid foundations. Another
direction is to take our purpose, values and method as they are at present
and then develop a new and clearer presentation, easier to understand for
and to communicate to non-Scouts. We must be able to convey to others
outside Scouting what, why and how Scouting works, giving the community
around us a clear understanding and appreciation of how Scouting
contributes to society. This is based on the reasoning that a house can be
as good and sound as it can be but you will not be able to sell it a fair
price until you can convince others of its true value.
'In our World Constitution, we state that Scouting is open to all young
people. But how does the reality compare with this ideal? What conditions
must exist to bring today's reality closer to our ideals? The Commission on
Scouting for Whom? raised many possibilities, suggesting that we also share
many responsibilities. Whether we have the will, the time, the flexibility
and the resources to tackle some or most of these challenges, the future
will tell. ("The Future is Now" the last World Jamboree told us!)
Primarily, we need to review and reaffirm Scouting's mission, so that there
is clear understanding of what we have to offer, before we ask, "to whom?"
On the other hand, the needs are those of people - the "whom" - and their
needs may encourage us to modify what we offer. So while the "whom" could
indeed affect the "what", is this not simply a case of "tailoring our
programme to the needs of individuals or groups? The overall conclusion is
that we all share the vision that Scouting should be for all. This implies
that, at present, Scouting is not for all! The question is therefore how to
get from the present situation to the situation we wish for the future.
Beforehand, we have to confront ourselves with a question of honour. Do we
truly wish for this development or could our expression of it partly be a
reflection of our moral codes telling us that we have to state this
opinion?
'Within the limited time available, the contributions received from the
commissions have been very enriching. Following the Conference, all the
reports of the working groups will be examined in more depth in order to
provide working material to the Strategy working group of the World
Organization when it next meets in October.'
The 6th World Youth Forum took place in Moss, Norway. Linked for the first
time to the World Scout Conference, both in time and in focus, its agenda
had followed the framework of the 34th World Scout Conference, examining
the key-topics Scouting for What? and Scouting for Whom? H=E5kon Lund, Chair
of the Forum, told the Conference that the Forum had been "able to look
wider and deeper on important aspects of the World Organization=8A Through
the discussions in international teams, the international patrols groups
and the Regional Commissions, the participants were able to build bridges
over cultural differences and truly create the spirit of a global
community. The participants at the 6th World Youth Forum not only discussed
Scouting: they lived Scouting, they were Scouting!"
New World Scout Committee
H.W. Garnet de la Hunt (South Africa), Stein L=F8vold (Norway), Patrick Lyon
d'Andrimont (Chile), W. Garth Morrison (United Kingdom), Dr. Abdullah Omar
Nasseef (Saudia Arabia) and Constantinos Tsantilis (Greece) were elected to
the World Scout Committee. The Committee elected Francisco Roman
(Philippines) as its new Chairman; John Donnell, Jr. (USA) continues as
Vice-chairman for finance and support, and Jocelyne Gendrin (France) was
appointed Vice-chairman for educational methods. The remaining elected
members of the committee are Cham-Son Chau (Hong Kong), Ivo Stern Becka
(Mexico) and Abdourahmane Sow (Senegal).
=46uture World Scout Events
Mexico will host the 11th World Scout Moot in 2000. Thailand will host the
20th World Scout Jamboree in 2003. Greece will host the 36th World Scout
Conference in 2002.
New Perspectives - WAGGGS 29th World Conference
"Canadians strongly support the values WAGGGS promote: peace, leadership,
international co-operation and community service. As the world largest
voluntary organisation for women and girls, you are a powerful force for a
positive change," declared Jean Chr=E9tien, Prime Minister of host country
Canada, during his speech at the Opening Ceremony at the 29th WAGGGS World
Conference.
About 500 participants from 121 countries attended the conference to hear
the keynote address of Dr. Roberta Bondar on "New Perspectives". As
Canada's first woman astronaut and one of only 24 women world-wide to have
flown in space, she commented on how her perspectives had changed
throughout life - in ways unimaginable to some. Dr. Bondar grew up with the
motto Be Prepared. She learned to be open to new ideas and understanding of
different perspectives. Thanks to Guiding, she also learned to set and
attain goals and to keep her aims high. Dr. Bondor's inspiring address set
the scene perfectly for the Conference to look into new perspectives.
The Conference welcomed Czech Republic, Fiji, Ivory Coast, Oman, Papua New
Guinea and Brunei Darussalam as Full Members, and Belarus, Congo, Maldives,
Mauritania, Poland, Slovenia, Tunisia and Western Samora as Associate
Members.
The Conference decided that: the Mission of WAGGGS is "to enable girls and
young women to develop their fullest potential as responsible citizens of
the world"; the WAGGGS World Committee is renamed the World Board; WAGGGS
will increase regional responsibility as a method of work with regular
Regional Conferences electing Regional Committees and taking decisions on
regional matters such as budgets, human resources, fund-raising and
regional plans; Regional Chairman will attend World Board meetings; a 5th
World Centre will be established in Africa; the World Board will
reconsider, with the World Organization, the Statement of Relationships, in
order to preserve and protect each national association's right to choose
its own structure consistent with the Mission of WAGGGS.
The Chairman of WAGGGS' Youth Committee, Nicole Abbound, addressed the
Conference: "In 1993 a Youth Committee was formed with ten young women
under the age of 30. It has been a learning and growing experience for all
Youth Committee members. The Youth Committee recommended to the World
Committee, that the Youth Committee be abolished as the parallel structure
distanced us from the decision making process. The Youth Committee would
like to see WAGGGS combine the life experience and wisdom of its best
members, with the experience, energy and new perspectives of some of its
younger, promising members." The World Conference adopted recommendations
that the World Board nominate two young women under the age of 30 to attend
its meetings in a resource capacity, and that there shall be at least one
woman under the age of 30 (at the time of her election) in all
sub-committees. Kirstine S=F8rensen (Denmark) and Danielle B=E9langer (Canad=
a)
were appointed to attend meetings of the new World Board as young women
under 30.
New WAGGGS' World Board
Josephine Diallo (Senegal), LaRae Orullian (USA), Ginny Radford (New
Zealand) and Maria Eugenia Freile de Ponce (Ecuador) were elected to the
World Board. Heather Brandon (South Africa) was elected as Chairman;
Teresita C. Choa (Philippines) and Kgopodiso Mokama (Botswana) as
Vice-chairmen. Other World Board members are: Gunilla Engwall (Sweden),
Marianne van Maarschalkerweerd (Netherlands), Eldrid Midttun (Norway),
Lilyclaire Bellamy (Jamaica) and Maha Salhani (Lebanon).
New European Committee member
The European Scout Committee, at its meeting in June, learnt with regret of
the unexpected decision of Luc Van Cauter to resign from the Committee. It
was decided to co-opt Adina Dabu, International Commissioner of the Scout
Association of Romania, for the remainder of the current triennium. Adina
was warmly welcomed by the region during the European Regional Meeting,
held prior to the World Scout Conference.
Vacancy at Kandersteg
Aidan Jones, Director of Kandersteg International Scout Centre,
Switzerland, has recently announced his resignation and his position will
therefore become vacant from November 1996. The World Scout Bureau will
recruit his successor and a copy of the job description has been circulated
to international commissoners of all national member associations.
Potential candidates should therefore contact their international
commissioner, in the first instance, to obtain a copy of the job
description. Completed applications should be sent to Luc Panissod, Deputy
Secretary General, World Scout Bureau, Box 241, 1211 Geneva 4, Switzerland,
before 15 September 1996. A hand written application letter, detailed CV,
description of responsibilities in the Scout Movement and a list of
references should be included with any application. A short list of
applicants will be invited for interview during October 1996.
Leadership - passing on the tasks
International Commissioners are reminded that registration for the first
phase of this project, in the form of a European Region seminar, closes on
Monday, 2 September. This event, focussing on an analysis of young people
in the decision making structures in associations and developing proposals
for their better involvement, takes place in the village of Ericeira, 50 km
from Lisbon, 2-8 November 1996.
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The above message is from
Ray Saunders <rsaunders@euroscout.knooppunt.be>
Director of Communications, European Scout Office,Tel: (+32.2) 346 16 86
299 Avenue Moliere, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium Fax: (+32.2) 346 00 07
(Member of the Internet Society)
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