| The Girl Guides Cook Islands Association | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Country | Cook Islands | ||
| Founded | 1928 | ||
| Membership | 1,111 | ||
| Affiliation | World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts | ||
The Girl Guides Cook Islands Association is the national Guiding organization of the Cook Islands. It served 1,111 members (as of 2003). Founded in 1928, the girls-only organization became an associate member of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts in 1993 and a full member in 2014.
Girl Guides or Girl Scouts is a movement found worldwide, which was originally and still largely designed for girls and women only. This organisation was introduced in 1909, because girls demanded to take part in the then grassroots Boy Scout Movement.
The Cook Islands is a self-governing island country in the South Pacific Ocean in free association with New Zealand. It comprises 15 islands whose total land area is 240 square kilometres (92.7 sq mi). The Cook Islands' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers 1,800,000 square kilometres (690,000 sq mi) of ocean.
The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts is a global association supporting the female-oriented and female-only Guiding and Scouting organizations in 150 countries. It was established in 1928 in Parád, Hungary, and has its headquarters in London, England. It is the counterpart of the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM). WAGGGS is organized into five regions and operates five international Guiding centers. It holds full member status in the European Youth Forum (YFJ), which operates within the Council of Europe and European Union areas and works closely with these bodies.
Guiding began in the Cook Islands in 1928, when the first Guide company began in the capital, Avarua on Rarotonga, and the islands were regarded as a province of the Girl Guide Association of New Zealand. Ranger patrols were first set up in 1935 and the first brownie pack was registered in 1937. The first outer island company was started in Aitutaki in 1948. The 1950s were an era of growth, with the foundation of new companies both on Rarotonga and on the outer islands. The Cook Islands became a branch association of the GGANZ, membership increased, and leaders attended overseas training and other events. UNESCO funded a full-time trainer from 1956 to 1958. With good administration and a more active program, Guiding became fully accepted by the community and supported by the churches. In 1986 the association fulfilled a longstanding ambition by obtaining its own headquarters. Membership continued to grow and in 1992 a Deed of Transfer was signed making the Branch Association of the Cook Islands independent of the GGANZ.
Avarua is a town and district in the north of the island of Rarotonga, and is the national capital of the Cook Islands.
Rarotonga is the most populous island of the Cook Islands, with a population of 10,572, out of the country's total resident population of 14,974. Captain John Dibbs, master of the colonial brig Endeavour, is credited as the European discoverer on 25 July 1823, while transporting the missionary Rev. John Williams.
An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island in a river or a lake island may be called an eyot or ait, and a small island off the coast may be called a holm. A grouping of geographically or geologically related islands is called an archipelago, such as the Philippines.
