Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpacking, and sports. Another widely recognized movement characteristic is the Scout uniform, by intent hiding all differences of social standing in a country and making for equality, with neckerchief and campaign hat or comparable headwear. Distinctive uniform insignia include the fleur-de-lis and the trefoil, as well as merit badges and other patches.
The World Organization of the Scout Movement is the largest international Scouting organization. WOSM has 172 members. These members are recognized national Scout organizations, which collectively have around 43 million participants. WOSM was established in 1922, and has its operational headquarters at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and its legal seat in Geneva, Switzerland. It is the counterpart of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS).
Juliette Gordon Low was the American founder of Girl Scouts of the USA. Inspired by the work of Lord Baden-Powell, founder of Boy Scouts, she joined the Girl Guide movement in England, forming her own group of Girl Guides there in 1911.
Girl Scouts of the United States of America (GSUSA), commonly referred to as simply Girl Scouts, is a youth organization for girls in the United States and American girls living abroad. Founded by Juliette Gordon Low in 1912, it was organized after Low met Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting, in 1911. Upon returning to Savannah, Georgia, she telephoned a distant cousin, saying, "I've got something for the girls of Savannah, and all of America, and all the world, and we're going to start it tonight!"
The Commonwealth Fund is a private U.S. foundation whose stated purpose is to "promote a high-performing health care system that achieves better access, improved quality, and greater efficiency, particularly for society's most vulnerable, including low-income people, the uninsured, and people of color." It is active in a number of areas related to health care and health policy. It is led by David Blumenthal, M.D.
Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gather money for non-profit organizations, it is sometimes used to refer to the identification and solicitation of investors or other sources of capital for for-profit enterprises.
The Afghanistan Scout Association was officially founded in 1931 in Afghanistan by a royal decree. The site of Robert Baden-Powell's second posting in 1880, Afghanistan was a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement from 1932 until the Afghan government dissolved the Scout Association in 1947. Afghan Scouting was formed again from 1964 to 1978 and recognized by the World Organization of the Scout Movement.
Scouting in Uzbekistan was founded in 1995, and is working toward World Organization of the Scout Movement recognition. In 1998, Scouting was limited to two Scout troops with a total of 15 members. Since the increasing presence of the United States military in the region after the September 11, 2001 attacks, Scouting is beginning to develop more thoroughly, and the fledgling organization, Kidirib Topubchi O'zbekiston, the Uzbekistan Union of Scout-Explorers, has issued insignia, considered to be a large step for nascent Scout organizations.
Pfadfinder und Pfadfinderinnen Liechtensteins is the national Scouting and Guiding association of Liechtenstein. Scouting in Liechtenstein started in 1931, and Guiding followed in 1932. The Boy Scouts became a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement in 1933, and the Guides joined the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts in 1952. In 1989 both organizations merged and formed the present Pfadfinder und Pfadfinderinnen Liechtensteins. The PPL has about 1,100 members of both sexes and is organised in ten troops.
Scouts' Day or Guides' Day is a generic term for special days observed by members of the Scouting movement throughout the year. Some of these days have religious significance, while others may be a simple celebration of Scouting. Typically, it is a day when all members of Scouting will re-affirm the Scout Promise.
Scouting in the United States is dominated by the 1.2 million-member Boy Scouts of America and the Girl Scouts of the USA and other associations that are recognized by one of the international Scouting organizations. There are also a few smaller, independent groups that are considered to be "Scout-like" or otherwise Scouting related.
World Thinking Day, formerly Thinking Day, is celebrated annually on 22 February by all Girl Guides and Girl Scouts. It is also celebrated by Scout and Guide organizations around the world. It is a day when they think about their "sisters" in all the countries of the world, the meaning of Guiding, and its global impact.
The World Scout Foundation (WSF) is an international, non-profit institution based in Geneva, Switzerland. Its mission is to develop World Scouting by the provision of financial and other support through the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM). Scouting is a pastime for young people, typically organized in local units, that emphasizes outdoor activities, self-discipline, and civic engagement.
The Boy Scouts of the United Nations existed from 1945 through perhaps the early 1980s as the Scouting association serving the families of diplomats and staff of the United Nations, active in both Geneva and at Parkway Village in New York. The organization sponsored groups in India, Lebanon and Cyprus and had ties to the International Boy Scouts of the Canal Zone.
Our Chalet is an international Girl Guide/Girl Scout centre and one of five World Centres of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS). The others are Our Cabaña, Sangam, Kusafiri and Pax Lodge. Our Chalet is just outside Adelboden, in the Bernese Oberland of Switzerland. Located in the Bernese Alps, it is 1,350 metres (4,430 ft) above sea level.
Scouting and Guiding has been popular in Panama since the 1920s. Today, it is still a tradition practiced around the country. As of 2010, Panama has 1,775 Scouts.
Our Cabaña is an international Girl Guide centre of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) located in Cuernavaca, Mexico, It opened in July 1957 as a Baden-Powell centennial memorial. The centre can house over 100 guests.
Edith Macy Conference Center is a conference and training facility owned by the Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) and is located in Briarcliff Manor, New York. The facility lies just outside Briarcliff Manor's boundaries, in the town of Mount Pleasant. The site has had four names: Camp Edith Macy (C.E.M.) - University In The Woods, Edith Macy Training School, Edith Macy Girl Scout National Center and since 1982, Edith Macy Conference Center. However, it is often simply referred to as Macy. The John J. Creedon Education Center and Camp Andrée Clark are part of the complex. In 1926, Macy hosted the Girl Guides and Girl Scouts Fourth International Conference.
Juliette Gordon Low Historic District consists of three buildings—the Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace (also known as Wayne-Gordon House, First Girl Scout Headquarters, which was the carriage house for the Andrew Low House, converted for use by the Girl Scouts in May–June 1912, and said Andrew Low Carriage House, is a site in Savannah, Georgia, significant for its association with Juliette Gordon Low and the founding of the Girl Scouts of the USA.
Girl Guides is a movement found worldwide, which was originally and still largely designed for girls and women only. The movement began in 1909 because girls demanded to take part in the then grassroots Boy Scout Movement.
