World Organization of the Scout Movement

Sign of the World Organization of the Scout Movement (with lily ).

The World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM) is a world scout organization that currently has more than 39 million scouts in 160 countries. This makes the WOSM the second largest children and youth organization in the world. She also has a seat on the world committee of ISGF / AISG ( International Scout and Guide Fellowship ), the world association of ancient scouts.

The WOSM emerged from the Boy Scouts International Bureau founded in 1920 .

The silver lily on a purple background is the common symbol of all scouts whose associations belong to the WOSM. The rope surrounding the lily with the weaver's knot symbolizes the cohesion of all scouts around the globe.

Member associations

Member associations in German-speaking countries are:

in Belgium the governing body Guidisme et Scoutisme en Belgique / s Gidsen- Scoutsbeweging in Belgium from
- the French-speaking associations:
  - Les Scouts - Fédération des Scouts Baden-Powell de Belgique (also active in the German-speaking community of Belgium : High Lakes region)
  - Scouts et Guides Pluralistes de Belgique
- the Dutch-speaking associations:
  - Scouts in Gidsen Vlaanderen (SGV)
  - FOS Open Scouting
in Germany the Ring German Scout associations from
in Liechtenstein the boy scouts of Liechtenstein
in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , the association Scouting in Luxembourg from
- Fédération Nationale des Eclaireurs et Eclaireuses du Luxembourg
- Lëtzebuerger Guiden a Scouting
in Austria the scouts of Austria
in Switzerland the Scout Movement Switzerland
in South Tyrol (Italy), the Italian Scout Federation of
- Associazione Guide e Scouts Cattolici Italiani with the
  - South Tyrolean Scouts
- Corpo Nazionale Giovani Esploratori ed Esploratrici Italiania

World regions

Map of the WOSM regions; gray areas like Laos and Cuba have no scouts

The World Organization of the Scout Movement is divided into six regions:

European Region (often translated as Europaregion )

Arab region

Africa region

Asia-Pacific region

Interamerican region

Eurasian region

In the statutes of the WOSM the regions are envisaged as voluntary associations of the scout associations working in the respective region. Although there is no compulsion to work in the respective region, all full members of the WOSM have joined the respective responsible region. In addition, there are associated members in some regions who - for various reasons - cannot achieve full membership. These include, for example, the largely independent overseas groups of French and British scouts.

World center and administration

WOSM maintains a world center in Switzerland : the Kandersteg International Scout Center (KISC), established in 1923 . The headquarters of the administration of the WOSM is the central office of the World Scout Bureau in Geneva .