World Organization of the Scout Movement

In 1920, a conference held during the 1st World Scout Jamboree at Olympia, London agreed to create a Boy Scouts international bureau. An office was established at 25 Buckingham Palace Road, London and The Boy Scouts Association of the United Kingdom International Commissioner, Hubert S. Martin, was appointed as honorary director. The bureau's principal task was to co-ordinate discussions and prepare a second international conference in Paris in 1922. == Member organizations ==

Membership policy WOSM's membership consists of its remaining founding member organizations and organizations recognized by WOSM as national scout organizations. WOSM's rules protect its founding and existing member organizations by permitting only one member organization in each country and locking-out all other Scout organizations from WOSM membership, recognition and participation no matter how worthy or large their membership. The group had over 900 members in 1957 and existed as a directly registered group until the late 60s. The Boy Scouts of the United Nations began in 1945 and for years there was an active Boy Scouts of the United Nations with several troops at Parkway Village in New York City but only 14 members in 1959. Both the International Boy Scouts of the Canal Zone and the Boy Scouts of United Nations have long since disbanded. • Directly registered "mixed-nationality Troops" were registered after discussions concerning such troops took place at WOSM's 3rd conference in 1924 at which WOSM's bureau was authorized to directly register such groups. It seems that the discussion at WOSM's 1924 conference was, at least in part, prompted by a letter to Baden-Powell from the Scoutmaster of one such troop in Yokohama, Japan. Janning's troop became the first troop directly registered by WOSM's bureau. Only a few troops were directly registered and the practice was soon discontinued with new "mixed" groups being encouraged to join the WOSM member organization of their country of residence. In 1955, only two such groups were still active, a troop in Iraq that disbanded that year, and the first group to be so registered, the International Troop 1 in Yokohama. The only remaining directly registered Troop is the International Boy Scouts, Troop 1 located in Yokohama, Japan. • Temporary recognition was extended to Scouts in displaced persons camps after World War II. In 1947, at WOSM's 11th conference the "Displaced Persons Division" of WOSM's bureau was established to register and support Scouts in displaced person camps in Austria, Northern Italy, and Germany. These Scouts did not receive the right of WOSM membership but gained recognition as Scouts under WOSM's bureau until they took up residence in a country that had a recognized national Scout organization, which they could join. The D.P. Division was closed on 30 June 1950. ==Structure==

Conference WOSM's conference is its general meeting of member organizations' representatives which meet every three years, hosted by a member association. Each member organizations may send six delegates. The conference is usually preceded by the World Scout Youth Forum. Committee WOSM's committee is its executive governing body, composed of elected volunteers and its secretary general, which is responsible for the implementation of the resolutions of its conference and governs the organization between meetings of its conference. The committee meets at least twice a year. Its steering committee, consisting of the chairperson, two vice-chairpersons and its youth advisor and secretary general meet as needed. The committee has 21 members. Twelve, each from a different country, are elected for three-year terms by WOSM's conference. The members, elected without regard to their nationality, represent the interests of the movement as a whole, not those of their country. The secretary general, the treasurer of WOSM and a representative member of the board of the World Scout Foundation and the chairpersons of the regional Scout committees are ex-officio members of the committee. From 2008 to 2021 six Youth Advisors to the WSC were elected by the World Scout Youth Forum. The Youth Advisors participated in all of the WSC meetings and were also part of the governing structure between the meetings. There will be no Youth Advisors from 2024. The 2021–2024 committee set up work streams to address the top strategic priorities, as defined by WOSM's conference. Task forces include: • Youth Engagement in Decision-Making • Sustainability Workstream Coordination Group • Project management support • Volunteer management support • Monitoring and evaluation support Standing committees include: • Audit • Budget • Constitutions • Ethics • Honours and Awards • Steering Incumbent committee members : Note: In 2008, WOSM's conference decided that, starting at the conference in 2011, elected committee members will serve for only three years but be eligible for re-election for one additional term. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, WOSM's conference was rescheduled from Aug 2020 to Aug 2021. Bureau WOSM's bureau is its secretariat, which carries out the instructions of its conference and committee. The bureau is administered by the secretary general, supported by a staff of technical resource personnel. A bureau was established in London, England in 1922, moved to Ottawa, Ontario, Canada in 1959, Geneva, Switzerland after 1 May 1968 and Kuala Lumpur after August 2013. Directors/Secretaries General Deputy Secretaries General ==Kandersteg International Scout Centre==

Kandersteg International Scout Centre in Switzerland, operated by The KISC Association, is the only WOSM activity centre. ==Programmes==

The Better World Framework combines the Scouts of the World Award, Messengers of Peace and World Scout Environment Programmes as programme initiatives administered by WOSM's bureau. ==WOSM emblem==

{{Infobox WorldScouting WOSM's emblem and trademark is a purple circular logo with a white fleur-de-lis in the centre with a purple five-point star in each outer lobe, surrounded by a circle of white rope tied with a reef or square knot at the base. Symbolism The fleur-de-lis, commonly with a five-point star in each of outer lobe, is a more widely used symbol of the Scout Movement. The fleur-de-lis represents the north point on a map or compass and is intended to point Scouts on the path to service. The three lobes on the fleur-de-lis represent the three parts of the Scout Promise: duty to God, service to others and obedience to the Scout Law. A "bond", tying the three lobes of the fleur-de-lis together, symbolizes the family of Scouts. The two five-point stars stand for truth and knowledge, with the ten points representing the ten points of the Scout Law. The WOSM emblem adds an encircling rope, tied with a knot at the base, which symbolises the unity and bond of the Scout Movement and uses purple and white colours. In heraldry, the white of the fleur-de-lis and rope denotes purity and the royal purple denotes leadership and service. In August 2024, WOSM introduced a minor redesign of its emblem. Use by WOSM member organisations WOSM's emblem is worn by Scouts and Scouters of several of its member organisations, which determine the manner in which WOSM's emblem is worn. The Scout Association (United Kingdom) The Scout Association refers to WOSM's emblem as its "Membership Award" Scouting America Scouting America refers to WOSM's emblem as the World Crest. It may be worn on Scouting America uniforms as an emblem of the worldwide Scout Movement. Scouting America first used the badge as an award for Scouts and Scouters who participated in an international Scouting event from early 1956 through 1991 with requirements devised by each council. In 1991, Scouting America made it part of the uniform for all Scouts and its International Activity Patch replaced the World Scout Crest as an award. Scouts South Africa Scouts South Africa uses the WOSM emblem badge when new members join as a Cub, a Scout or an Adult Leader. The badge is worn on the left front pocket of the uniform, over the heart. Further reading about WOSM emblem • ==Awards==

Bronze Wolf Award WOSM's Bronze Wolf Award is given for exceptional services to the international Scout Movement. It was first awarded to Robert Baden-Powell by a unanimous decision of the committee on the day the award was instituted in 1935. Scouts of the World Award See article: Scouts of the World Award ==Inter-religious forum==

WOSM's Inter-religious Forum serves as a working-group for eight main religious groups: • CPGS – Council of Protestants in Guiding and Scouting • DESMOS – International Link of Orthodox Christian Scouts • ICCS – International Catholic Conference of Scouting • IFJS – International Forum of Jewish Scouts • IUMS – International Union of Muslim Scouts • WBSB – World Buddhist Scout Brotherhood • The Church of the Latter Day Saints ==Publications==

Publications of WOSM include: • ''Scouting 'Round the World'': a book updated every three years with details on all WOSM member organizations; • WorldInfo : a monthly circular distributed in electronic format with the help of Scoutnet. == Countries and territories with Scouts run by overseas branches of WOSM member organisations ==

Ten of these overseas branches of accredited National Scout Organizations are considered "potential members" by the WOSM (marked by *). Sovereign countries Served by Scouting America • Federated States of Micronesia - Scouting in the Federated States of Micronesia* - Aloha Council of the Boy Scouts of America • Marshall Islands - Scouting in the Marshall Islands* - Aloha Council of the Boy Scouts of America • Palau - Scouting in Palau* - Aloha Council of the Boy Scouts of America Served by The Scout Association (UK)' • Saint Kitts and Nevis - The Scout Association of Saint Kitts and Nevis* • Tonga - Tonga branch of The Scout Association* • Tuvalu - Tuvalu Scout Association* • Vanuatu - Vanuatu branch of The Scout Association* Served by Scouts Australia • Nauru - Scouting in Nauru* Non-sovereign territories Australia • Christmas Island - Scouts Australia • Cocos (Keeling) Islands - Scouts Australia • Norfolk Island - Scouts Australia Denmark • Faroe Islands - Føroya Skótaráð • Greenland - Grønlands Spejderkorps France • French Guiana - Scouting in French Guiana • Guadeloupe and Saint Martin - Scouting in Guadeloupe et Saint Martin • Martinique - Scouts et Guides de Martinique • Mayotte - Scouting in Mayotte • New Caledonia - Scouting in New Caledonia • Réunion - Scouting on Réunion • Saint Pierre and Miquelon - Scouting in Saint Pierre and Miquelon • Wallis and Futuna - Scouting in Wallis and Futuna New Zealand • Cook Islands - Cook Islands Boy Scout Association • Niue - Scouting and Guiding on Niue • Tokelau - Scouting and Guiding in Tokelau United Kingdom • Anguilla - The Scout Association of Anguilla • Bermuda - Bermuda Scout Association • Cayman Islands - The Scout Association of the Cayman Islands • Falkland Islands - Scouting and Guiding in the Falkland Islands • Gibraltar - The Scout Association of Gibraltar • Montserrat - The Scout Association of Montserrat • Saint Helena and Ascension Island - Scouting and Guiding on Saint Helena and Ascension Island • Turks and Caicos Islands - The Scout Association of the Turks and Caicos • British Virgin Islands - The Scout Association of the British Virgin Islands United States • American Samoa - Scouting in American Samoa - Aloha Council of the Boy Scouts of America • Guam - Scouting in Guam - Aloha Council of the Boy Scouts of America • Northern Marianas Islands - Scouting in the Northern Mariana Islands - Aloha Council of the Boy Scouts of America • Puerto Rico - Puerto Rico Council of the Boy Scouts of America • United States Virgin Islands - Scouting in the United States Virgin Islands is the responsibility of National Capital Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America Antarctica • Antarctica - Scouting in the Antarctic ==See also==