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.
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.
The first Scout Troop was founded in Brussels in 1909. Englishman Harold Parfitt founded the first Scout Troop for British boys, belonging to the British colony in that city. Belgians (notably Henri, son of Antoine Depage) observing the troop's activities also took an interest in Scouting and soon Belgian Scouting began.
Boy Scouts of Belgium (BSB) was founded on December 23, 1910. The first all-Belgian troop was founded in Brussels. They used the British badges, rules and uniforms. This association was open to all boys.
As early as 1911 the BSB founded a Girl Guide or Girl Scout troop but World War I and the German occupation hampered their development, so the founding of GGB was not until December 17, 1919. They also used British badges, rules and uniforms.
Belgium was again occupied by the Germans during World War II, and the Nazis tried to unite all youth-organisations in one national socialist youth movement. Scouting meetings and camps were banned, however some underground activities were conducted. Scouting resumed after the liberation. BSB and GGB merged into one organization in July 1945. Each section remained separate, and there were no mixed groups until well into the 1980s.
The Sea Scouts of Belgium (SSB), was founded in April 1914. SSB is an open movement concentrating on Sea Scouting only and founded along the North Sea Coast in the Flemish speaking part of Belgium only. SSB did not have any connection with BSB. They also used British badges, uniforms and rules.
Active on national or regional level are:
There are also a number of local organizations including:
Thanks to the many international institutions in Belgium there are some international Scout organizations active in the country. Among them are the British Scouts Western Europe (part of The Scout Association UK), Girlguiding BGIFC, the Transatlantic Council of the Boy Scouts of America and the Girl Scouts of the USA, as well as Danish, Finnish, Swedish, Italian, Spanish, Hungarian, and Czech units. [5]
The Fédération du Scoutisme Français is an umbrella organization that combines the efforts of the several Scouting and Guiding associations in France and also represents the Scouting movement in French Guiana, Martinique, Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, New Caledonia, Réunion, Wallis and Futuna and Guadeloupe. Until 2012 the Muslim Scouts of France were presiding the Federation with Dr. Younès F. Aberkane as president.
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.
The Republican Scout Association of Belarus is one of several nationwide Scouting associations in Belarus. It is the body recognized by the World Organization of the Scout Movement from 1998 to 2004 and again from September 5, 2010.
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 Fédération Gabonaise du Scoutisme, the national federation of several Scouting organizations of Gabon, was founded under French Equatorial Africa in 1936, although Scouting appeared years before brought by colonists, and became a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement in 1971. The coeducational Fédération Gabonaise du Scoutisme has 3,809 members as of 2008.
The Central African Republic 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. Scouting was founded in French Equatorial Africa in 1941, and was first recognized in 1969. The Fédération du scoutisme centrafricain, or FESCA, is the national federation of seven Scouting organizations. While FESCA was still recognized in 1990, there were 7,000 Scouts, and total membership at the end of 1998 was reported as being the same number.
The Firaisan'ny Skotisma eto Madagasikara, the national federation of three Scouting organizations of Madagascar. Scouting in Madagascar was started in 1921 under the auspices of the respective French organizations. The federation was founded in 1959 and became a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement in 1960. The coeducational Firaisan'ny Skotisma eto Madagasikara has 14,905 members as of 2011.
The Éclaireurs Neutres de France is a non-aligned French Scouting association, founded in 1947 by Marcel Lepage and serving 3,000 to 4,000 members of both genders.
The Conférence Française de Scoutisme is a French Scouting federation, founded in 2000 and serving about 35,000 members of both genders. The CFS is not a member of either the World Organization of the Scout Movement or the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts.
Éclaireuses et Éclaireurs de France is an interreligious and coeducational Scouting and Guiding association in France. The first interreligious Scouting groups in France were founded in 1911, and interreligious Guiding started in 1914; both movements merged in 1964 forming the EEdF. The association serves today about 17,000 members of both sexes.
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 Scout and Guide movement in the Republic of the Congo is served by at least thirteen associations. Five of them form the Conseil du Scoutisme congolais :
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.
The Éclaireuses et Éclaireurs israélites de France is a Jewish Scouting and Guiding organization in France. It was founded in 1923 and serves about 4,000 members. The EEIF is a member of the Fédération du Scoutisme Français and of the International Forum of Jewish Scouts.
Guides Catholiques de Belgique (GCB) is the French speaking Catholic Girl Guiding movement in Belgium, open to all from age five since 1979. In most sections it is girls-only, and it is active mainly in the Walloon region and Brussels.
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.
