The Catholic University of Leuven or Louvain was founded in 1834 in Mechelen as the Catholic University of Belgium, and moved its seat to the town of Leuven in 1835, changing its name to Catholic University of Leuven. In 1968, it was split into two universities, the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and the Université catholique de Louvain, following tensions between the Dutch and French-speaking student bodies.
The Scout movement in France consists of about 80 different associations and federations with about 180,000 Scouts and Girl Guides. Next to Germany, France is the country with the most fragmented Scout movement.
Gidsen- en Scoutsbeweging in België (Dutch) or Guidisme et Scoutisme en Belgique (French) (GSB) is the national Guiding and Scouting federation in Belgium. Scouting in Belgium started in 1911, and Guiding followed in 1915. The Belgian Scouts were among the charter members of the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM) in 1922, and the Guides were one of the founding members of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) in 1928. The federation counts 96,837 Scouts and 59,268 Guides.
The Fédération Ivoirienne du Scoutisme is the national federation of three Scouting organizations of the Côte d'Ivoire. The coeducational Fédération Ivoirienne du Scoutisme has 23,213 members as of 2011.
The Scouting and Guiding movement in Belgium consists of 15 to 20 separate organizations serving about 160,000 members. Nearly all organizations are grouped by languages and confessions. The Crown Scout rank is the highest a Boy Scout can achieve.
Lone Guides or Lones are Girl Guides and Girl Scouts who do not attend group meetings for a variety of reasons. They are organised into groups that keep in touch, for example, by letter or email. Members carry out their organisation's normal programme on their own as much as they are able. The first official Lone Guides started in 1912 in the UK. Many countries have Lone Guides.
Religion in Scouting and Guiding is an aspect of the Scout method that has been practiced differently and given different interpretations in different parts of the world over the years.
National Scouting and Guiding organisations are divided into different age groups in order to deliver the Scouting and Guiding programmes for a full range of youth.
The Fédération Ivoirienne du Scoutisme Féminin is the national Guiding organization of Côte d'Ivoire. It serves 1,900 members. Founded in 1937, the girls-only organization became a full member of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts in 1963.
Shoqata e Guidave dhe Skoutëve në Shqipëri is one of Albania's Scouting and Guiding organizations. The coeducational organization was founded in 1998 and recognised by the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts as a country working towards membership. The association served about 350 members in 2006.
The Scout and Guide movement in Albania is served by
Scouts en Gidsen Vlaanderen is a coeducational, Flemish Scout and Guide organisation in Belgium and is a member of the Guidisme et Scoutisme en Belgique/Gidsen- en Scoutsbeweging in België.
The International Catholic Conference of Scouting (ICCS) is an autonomous, international body committed to promoting and supporting Catholic Scout associations and to be a link between the Scout movement and the Catholic Church. Its headquarters is located in Rome, Italy.
FOS Open Scouting or FOS is a pluralistic, internationally oriented, coeducational, Flemish Scout and Guide organisation in Belgium and is a member of the Guidisme et Scoutisme en Belgique/Gidsen- en Scoutsbeweging in België. FOS is a federation of 58 Scout Groups.
Les Scouts – Fédération des Scouts Baden-Powell de Belgique or simply Les Scouts, formerly known as Fédération des Scouts Catholiques (FSC) and Fédération catholique des Scouts Baden-Powell de Belgique, is the largest Scout association in Belgium, both francophone and germanophone. It is open to all-its last name change, dated 1 September 2008, intends to best reflect its commitment to spiritual development open to all. It was created in 1912 and is part of the Guidisme et scoutisme en Belgique. It is recognized by the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM) and the Ministry of Youth of the French Community of Belgium.
Les Scouts et Guides Pluralistes de Belgique is a coeducational, nonreligious Scouting movement in French-speaking Belgium. This movement, known until 1992 as Fédération des Éclaireuses et Éclaireurs is the francophone branch after the split of the Boy-Scouts et Girl-Guides de Belgique (BSB-GGB) in 1966. Pluralist Scouts are officially recognized by the French Community in Wallonia-Brussels and are active members of the Council of the Conseil de la Jeunesse d’Expression française and the Confédération des Organisations de Jeunesse indépendantes et pluralistes (COJ).
Jo Deman, from Leuven, Belgium is one of the 12 elected members of the World Scout Committee, the main executive body of the World Organization of the Scout Movement. He was elected to the Committee at the 41st World Scout Conference in Baku, Azerbaijan in 2017.
Vajzat Udhëheqëse të Shqipërisë is one of Albania's Scouting and Guiding organizations. In January 2017, VUSh chose board members and in April, a World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts evaluation delegation visited Albania to assess VUSh's potential to become an associate member. The organization was recognized as an associate member by the WAGGGS at the 36th WAGGGS World Conference held in New Delhi in September 2017, in tandem with Niger and at the same time Syria, Aruba, Azerbaijan and Palestine became full members. As of September 2017, over 200 6-16-year-old girls have joined the movement in 10 cities including Berat, Vlora, Librazhd, Peqini, Fier, and Rrëshen.
Madeleine De Meulemeester was a Belgian lawyer, scouts functionary and rescuer of Jewish children during the Second World War.
