Παγκόσμιο Προσκοπικό Γραφείο

Feeling like 'going international' this Winter? What about spending one week in Kandersteg International Scout Centre (KISC) for the New Year's International Rover Week 2012!

Although the temperature is going to be cool, the atmosphere is guaranteed to be warm and cosy!

Rarely before has the Scout motto "Be prepared" been so timely. Just one week after the JOTA-JOTI, a 7.2 earthquake struck Eastern Turkey. It was the most powerful earthquake to hit the country in ten years.

One of the themes of this year's JOTA-JOTI was "Natural Disasters". On this occasion, World Scouting partnered with IRESC (International Radio Emergency Support Coalition) and ShelterBox, an international disaster relief charity.

Representatives of the Scout Association of Japan (SAJ) came to Korea to discuss preparations of the 7th General Assembly of the World Scout Parliamentary Union (WSPU), which is due to take place in Japan in 2013. The SAJ representatives met with representatives of Korea Scout Association (KSA), as well as members of its sister organization, the Korea Scout Parliamentary Association (KSPA), which acts as the Secretariat of WSPU.

The main purpose of the meeting was to share information for the organization of the 7th General Assembly, which is expected to gather many Scout parliamentarians from around the world for discussions centered around the topics of Scouting and Youth, such as national youth legislation and youth participation in the decision-making process, among others.

The thirteenth of October is UN International Day for Disaster Reduction. Its theme for this year is “Making Children and Young People Partners for Disaster Risk Reduction”.

From its inception, Scouting around the world has engaged itself in helping people affected by natural disasters or human crisis. Every Scout is asked to "Be prepared!" to intervene to alleviate suffering during great natural or climatic disaster.

During the earthquakes and tsunamis that affected countries in the Asia-Pacific region in December 2004, Haiti last year and more recently Japan, Scouts have shown that they know how to react quickly and efficiently in the face of natural disasters.

If you were at the World Scout Jamboree in Sweden this summer you certainly heard about "Messengers of Peace". During the Jamboree 12.000 Scouts from all over the world signed the initiatives and registered their projects on the Messengers of Peace map. But the Jamboree was just the first step. Now the excitement is about to spread wider...

On 28 September, the next big step will be taken, with the official worldwide launch of the Messengers of Peace Programme in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Messengers of Peace is a simple concept – every Scout doing good deeds and giving services to others will be part of that collective process aiming at changing the world – your single act multiplied by 20 million – that is its real dynamic. So, of course, we want you and all of your friends to be a part of it...

Watch youtube.com/scoutsmessengers on 28 September at 20.20 (local time Jeddah, GMT+3 to adjust for your local time).

Astronaut and scout master Mike Fossum is planning to participate in JOTA from the International Space Station. His schedule is somewhat flexible on the weekends but will not be available for every pass.

The typical crew work periods are 0800-1930 UTC but they are sometimes available a bit later.

Check to see if the ISS will be passing over your area during that time period.

The 54th Jamboree On The Air (JOTA) and the 15th Jamboree On The Internet (JOTI) are taking place 15th and 16th October this year. These are two very special days when Scouts and Guides across the world can talk to each other from an Amateur Radio Station and/or using Internet Relay Chat (IRC).

The theme of the event this year is "Peace, Environment and Natural Disasters".

Some educational activities have been prepared with the aim of helping participants to think, discuss and act on these issues. JOTA-JOTI is also always an opportunity to discover and experience new projects and new programmes, communicate with new partners and make new friends.

15 September, Stockholm. Today the Swedish parliament opened for the year. His Majesty, King Carl Gustaf of Sweden makes his only speech to the parliament this day. This year he talked for seven minutes and of these two and a half minutes were about the World Scout Jamboree 2011.

The following is a translation of an extract of his speech.

Last Thursday 1st September, the Costa Rican government declared the Guides and Scouts Association a Meritorious Institution. This is the highest governmental distinction that can be given to an Institution. The Costa Rican congress based its decision on all the social labour Guides and Scouts Association has done to educate children and teenagers, teaching them the value of life, of life outdoors and on services rendered to the community.

For the Guides and Scouts Association of Costa Rica, this achievement represents a big support from the Costa Rican state, and a compromise to keep working for the children and the youth of our country.

The Scouts Association of Tajikistan ran a training camp «New possibilities» in Varzob Province, 10-24 August.

50 Scouts partnered with 50 children from the needy families participated in the camp, representing all provinces of Tajikistan. Participation in the camp was completely free of charge for all participants.

Gilbert Mussumba is a member of the Regional Committee of the Africa Scout Region and is the Project Manager of Amahoro Amani. He is from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and is currently based in Bujumbura, the capital city of Burundi where the office of Amahoro Amani project is based.

New York, July 25, 2011 – In his opening speech at the UN High Level Meeting Ban Ki-Moon asked all of the youth delegates present directly, “Are we doing enough for you? Can we do more?” The participating organisations of ICMYO joined the chorus of the youth in the General Assembly Hall and shouted, “No!” (you are not doing enough) and “Yes!” (you can do more).

We are pleased to inform you that the World Organization of the Scout Movement has been awarded the Calouste Gulbenkian International Prize by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Portugal ( http://www.gulbenkian.pt). The prize was also awarded this year to the International Yehudi Menuhin Foundation.

We are pleased to inform you that the World Organization of the Scout Movement has been awarded the Calouste Gulbenkian International Prize by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Portugal ( http://www.gulbenkian.pt). The prize was also awarded this year to the International Yehudi Menuhin Foundation.

We are very pleased to announce a new way to access World Scouting information on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch mobile devices.

SCOUTS is our new application available for download from the Apple App Store and is compatible with iOS 4 or later.

Scouts from around the world can install our SCOUTS app for free on their mobile device and get immediate access to selected content directly from our website and related Internet services.