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InterAmerican Scout Region | |||
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Owner | World Organization of the Scout Movement | ||
Headquarters | Ciudad del Saber, Panama | ||
Website https://www.scout.org/interamerica | |||
The Interamerican Region is the divisional office of the World Scout Bureau of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, headquartered in Ciudad del Saber, Panama. The Interamerican Region services Scouting in the Western Hemisphere, both North and South America. Until the 1960s, the "Inter-American Scout Advisory Committee" serviced only Mexico, Central and South America, with Canada and the United States serviced through the then-named "Boy Scouts International Bureau" in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. [1] Even today, the Interamerican Region exists more for the benefit of countries south of the Rio Grande, as evidenced by the website being only in Spanish until 2011; consequently, the United States and Canada did not participate as vigorously in regional activities as do other national organizations around the world, however this is changing in the 2010s.
The headquarters of the Interamerican Region moved progressively southward from its inception until 2010, starting in Havana, Cuba, from 1946 to 1960; moving briefly to Kingston, Jamaica, in 1960; immediately relocating to Mexico City, Mexico, between 1960 and 1968; then to San José, Costa Rica, between 1968 and 1992; Santiago, Chile, from 1992 to 2010, most recently relocating to Ciudad del Saber, Panama.
The Scouts of the nations in the Caribbean basin host their own subregional jamborees.
The Interamerican Region contains one of the five countries with no Scouting organization, Cuba, due to political constraints within the country.
This region is the counterpart of the Western Hemisphere Region of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS).
The needs of Scout youth in the Region 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. [2]
The Interamerican Scout Committee is the agency that directs and manages the Region based on the objectives, policies and lines of action established by the Interamerican Scout Conference.
The purpose of the committee is:
The committee is composed of eight elected members so that there is no more than one member of the same National Scout Organization. These members serve on a voluntary basis, serve three years in their positions. The Regional Director of the Interamerican Scout Organization is the Executive Secretary of the Committee.
Currently (2022 - 2025 [3] [4] ) the 10 members are:
Position | Name | Country |
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Chairperson | Rubem Tadeu Perlingeiro | Brazil |
1st Vice-Chairperson | Jorge Arturo Leon | Mexico |
2nd Vice-Chairperson | Meghan Pierson | United States |
Member | Raúl Brusco | Uruguay |
Member | Mark Chalouhi | Canada |
Member | Pablo Nieto | Peru |
Member | Lyda Pavón Avilés | Ecuador |
Member | José Vargas | Bahamas |
Youth Advisor | Miguel Ángel Calle Rodriguez | Ecuador |
Youth Advisor | Matheus Vallois Serra | Brazil |
President of the Interamerican Scout Foundation | Steve Kent | Uruguay |
Regional Treasurer | Ajey Chandra | United States |
Regional Director | Diana Carillo | Mexico |
The Region has run or sponsored region-wide jamborees in its member countries. Past Jamborees include:
The Interamerican Scout Conference, the highest body in the Region, is made up of delegates from member National Scout Organizations (NSOs) and meets every three years.
The purpose of the Conference is:
The World Scout authorities and observers from various governmental and non-governmental organizations, national and international, who have common interests with the Scout Movement, are invited to the Conference. Each NSO has the right to vote in the Conference sessions, and if one can not attend, the voting right can be given to another NSO.
Year | Event | Dates | Location | Participating NSOs |
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1946 | 1st Interamerican Scout Conference [5] | May 27 - June 2 | Bogota | 19 |
1948 | 2nd Interamerican Scout Conference | May 3–8 | Mexico City | 11 |
1953 | 3rd Interamerican Scout Conference | February 20–25 | Havana | 16 |
1957 | 4th Interamerican Scout Conference | February 22–27 | Rio de Janeiro | 17 |
1961 | 5th Interamerican Scout Conference | February 22–27 | Caracas | 15 |
1964 | 6th Interamerican Scout Conference | August 26–29 | Kingston | 18 |
1968 | 7th Interamerican Scout Conference | July 24–29 | San Salvador | 24 |
1972 | 8th Interamerican Scout Conference | August 11 | Lima | 18 |
1974 | 9th Interamerican Scout Conference | August 5–9 | Miami | 25 |
1976 | 10th Interamerican Scout Conference | August 24–28 | Mexico City | 17 |
1978 | 11th Interamerican Scout Conference | June 5–9 | Guatemala City | 23 |
1980 | 12th Interamerican Scout Conference | October 10–19 | Santiago | 24 |
1982 | 13th Interamerican Scout Conference | July 25–31 | Nassau | 21 |
1984 | 14th Interamerican Scout Conference | September 4–8 | Curitiba | 22 |
1986 | 15th Interamerican Scout Conference | July 20–26 | Port of Spain | 22 |
1988 | 16th Interamerican Scout Conference | September 18–23 | Buenos Aires | 22 |
1990 | 17th Interamerican Scout Conference | September 18–23 | Montevideo | 17 |
1992 | 18th Interamerican Scout Conference | July 12–17 | San Jose | 27 |
1995 | 19th Interamerican Scout Conference | September 4–8 | Cartagena | 22 |
1998 | 20th Interamerican Scout Conference | March 22–27 | Guadalajara | 22 |
2001 | 21st Interamerican Scout Conference | September 24–28 | Cochabamba | 33 |
2004 | 22nd Interamerican Scout Conference | July 21 - August 4 | San Salvador | 30 |
2007 | 23rd Interamerican Scout Conference | November 23–28 | Quito | 25 |
2010 | 24th Interamerican Scout Conference | August 14–19 | Panama City | |
2013 | 25th Interamerican Scout Conference | September 14–21 | Buenos Aires | |
2016 | 26th Interamerican Scout Conference | October 24–28 | Houston | 29 |
2018 | 27th Interamerican Scout Conference | November 27–30 | Panama City | 28 |
2022 | 28th Interamerican Scout Conference | November 26 | Ciudad del Este | |
The Interamerican Leadership Training (ILT) is a Leadership Training Course in the Interamerican Region of the World Organization of the Scout Movement. Sponsored by the Messengers of Peace program, the training course goals are to strengthen Scouting in IAR through a collaborative effort of sharing, networking, training, and support. The course is held once a year hosted by one of the National Scout Organizations (NSOs) of the Region. The selected NSO is awarded the rights to host the ILT two years in a row.
Year | Event | Location | Participating NSOs | Dates |
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2013 | Pilot Interamerican Leadership Training | Camp Strake, Texas | 32 | December 26, 2013 - January 1, 2014 |
2014 | 2nd Interamerican Leadership Training | Galveston, Texas | 32 | December 27, 2014 - January 2, 2015 |
2015 | 3rd Interamerican Leadership Training | Guatemala City | 30 | December 28, 2015 - January 3, 2016 |
2016 | 4th Internamerican Leadership Training | Guatemala City | 31 | December 28, 2016 - January 3, 2017 |
2017 | 5th Internamerican Leadership Training | Quito | December 28, 2017 - January 4, 2018 | |
2018 | 6th Internamerican Leadership Training | Quito | December 28, 2018 - January 4, 2019 | |
2019 | 7th Internamerican Leadership Training | Panama City | December 26, 2019 - January 2, 2020 | |
2020 | 8th Internamerican Leadership Training | Panama City |
The Youth of the Americas Award is the only award conferred by the Interamerican Scout Committee. The award is given to persons who have made an impact at the international level. [6]
The World Organization of the Scout Movement is the largest international scout organization and was established in 1922. It has 176 members. These members are national scout organizations that founded WOSM or have subsequently been recognised by WOSM, which collectively have around 43 million participants. Its operational headquarters is in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia while it is legally based in Geneva, Switzerland.
In Scouting, a jamboree is a large gathering of Scouts and/or Girl Guides who rally at a national or international level.
The World Scout Moot is an event for senior branches of Scouting and other young adult Scouts, gathering up to 5,000 people. Moots provide an opportunity for young adults in Scouting to meet, with the objective of improving their international understanding as citizens of the world. Moots are held every four years and are organized by the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM).
The European Scout Region is one of five geographical subdivisions of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, with a satellite office in Brussels, Belgium.
Estonian Scout Association is the primary national Scouting organization of Estonia, became a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement in 1996. The coeducational Eesti Skautide Ühing has 1,337 members as of 2011.
The Scout Association of Japan is the major Scouting organization of Japan. Starting with boys only, the organization was known as Boy Scouts of Japan from 1922 to 1971, and as Boy Scouts of Nippon from 1971 to 1995, when it became coeducational in all sections, leading to neutral naming. Scouting activity decreased radically during World War II but slowly recovered; membership at the end of May 2017 was 99,779.
The Asia-Pacific Scout Region is the divisional office of the World Scout Bureau of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, headquartered in Makati, Philippines, with satellite offices in Australia and Japan. The Asia-Pacific Region services Scouting in the land area of Asia south of Siberia and east of Central Asia, eastern Eurasia including Russia and the bulk of the Pacific Basin, with the exception of the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and Palau, which are under the Interamerican Region by way of the Aloha Council of the Boy Scouts of America.
The Arab Scout Region also known as the Arab Scout Organization is the regional support centre of the World Scout Bureau of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, headquartered in Cairo, Egypt. By 1954, Scouting had become so popular in Arab countries that WOSM established the Arab Scout Region in Damascus.
The Africa Scout Region is the divisional office of the World Scout Bureau of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, with satellite offices in Cape Town, South Africa, and Dakar, Senegal. The Africa Region services Scouting in Sub-Saharan Africa and neighboring islands that are recognized members of the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM). Currently, the region has 39 member National Scout Associations/Organizations and 11 potential members. There are about one million registered Scouts in Africa, though it is suspected that there are about twice that number in the region. The large nations of Guinea-Bissau and the Central African Republic, and several smaller nations, are not yet WOSM members, for various reasons.
Iran Scout Organization was founded in 1925 under the rule of Reza Shah Pahlavi. Currently Iran is one of 29 countries where Scouting exists but where there is no National Scout Organization which is a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement at the present time.
The Vietnamese Scout Association is a youth organization that was established in Vietnam and active between 1930 and 1975. The association was recognized by the World Organization of the Scout Movement from 1957 to 1975.
The National Association of Cambodian Scouts is the national Scouting organization in Cambodia. It was founded in September 2005 through the merger of the Scout Organization of Cambodia and the Cambodian Scouts and became a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM) on 1 July 2008. The coeducational association serves 59,275 members as of 2021.
Scouts of Syria is the national Scout and Guide organization of Syria. Scouting in Syria was founded in 1912; Guiding started in the 1950s. The coeducational association serves 9,358 members and is a member of both the World Organization of the Scout Movement and the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts.
The Asociación de Scouts de México, Asociación Civil (ASMAC) is a Scouting association in Mexico. ASMAC was formed in 1920 and became a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement on August 26, 1926. It was registered as a Civil Association by the Mexican government on 24 February 1943. ASMAC claimed 33,509 members. The ASMAC headquarters are located in Mexico City.
The Asociación de Scouts de Venezuela is the national Scouting association of Venezuela. Scouting was founded in Venezuela in 1913. Venezuela became a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement in 1937. The ASV has 14,801 members as of 2011.
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.
The Boy Scouts of the Panama Canal Zone were founded in 1947, recognized by the World Organization of the Scout Movement in 1955, and had 970 members in 1957. The organization had ties to the Boy Scouts of the United Nations, and existed at least through the 1960s, directly registered to the World Scout Bureau. A delegation from the IBSCZ attended the 14th World Scout Jamboree in Norway in 1975.
Oscar Victor Palmquist Arias of Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil was one of 12 elected volunteer members of the World Scout Committee, the main executive body of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, Vice Chairman of the World Scout Conference "Curitiba-Brazil 2011" Organizing Committee and member of the International Relations Committee. He was elected at the 38th World Scout Conference in South Korea for a six-year term. Palmquist has acquired a wide experience covering 101 countries and five continents. In his job, Palmquist visits an average of 11 countries per year on several continents. As Member of the World Scout Committee and was the chairman of the MTF Membership review task force which allowed the World Scout Committee to recommend Palestine, Macao, Aruba and Curacao as WOSM members, and as Chairman of the Global Support Priority Area he created the Global Support concept and the GSAT Global Support Assessment Tool.
Leonard Frank Jarrett was a British-Canadian who served as Director of Administration of the World Scout Bureau in London, Ottawa, and Geneva, from 1955–81, and as a consultant for the World Scout Bureau from 1981–86. Jarrett was the World Organizer of Jamboree on the Air (JOTA) for 30 years, from 1958–88.
Daniel Gil Ownby is an American energy professional. In 2020, Ownby was elected to a two-year term as National Chair for the Boy Scouts of America, the highest volunteer position in the Scout Organization. Previously, he served as International Commissioner for the Boy Scouts of America. He also was a member of the Executive Committee of the Boy Scouts of America and headed the United States Fund for International Scouting (USFIS). He is known as an advocate for youth leadership and a life-long volunteer with the Boy Scouts of America.
At Balboa we met up with Gunnar Berg and Ray Wyland of the B.S.A., also on their way to Bogota, and had a conference about the question of coloured Scouts in the Canal Zone, who claim British and not Panamanian nationality. It was agreed that they should be taken under the wing of the Canal Zone Council of the Boy Scouts of America, but ten years later they were transferred directly under the International Bureau as the International Boy Scouts of the Canal Zone.