About World Scout Bureau

The World Organization of the Scout Movement is the largest youth organization in the world. Scouting is a grassroots educational youth movement that is truly bottom-up in its structure and approach in engaging young people from all over the world.

 

World Scouting today is a confederation of 162 National Scout Organizations in a network of over 40 million members in more than 1 million local community Scout Groups. Some 7 million are adult volunteers who support the local activities, resulting in a huge multiplier effect.

 

Through peer-to-peer leadership, supported by adults, each local Scout Group embraces the same set of values illustrated in the Scout Promise and Law. Each of our 1 million local Scout Groups follows a similar system of non-formal education suited to the unique aspects of their local community.

The World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM) is an independent, worldwide, non-profit and non-partisan organization which serves the Scout Movement through its NSO members. Its purpose is to promote unity and the understanding of Scouting's purpose and principles, while facilitating its expansion and development.

The World Scout Bureau (WSB) is the Secretariat of the World Organization. The Bureau comprises 120 professional staff, of whom 30 are based in the Central Office and the remainder in the six Regional Offices, led by Regional Directors:

• Central Office: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; and Geneva, Switzerland

• Africa Region: Nairobi, Kenya

• Arab Region: Cairo, Egypt

• Asia-Pacific Region: Manila, Philippines

• Eurasia Region: Kiev, Ukraine

• European Region: Geneva, Switzerland; and Brussels, Belgium

• Interamerica Region: Panama City, Panama

 

The WSB has a number of constitutionally defined functions:

• It provides services for the promotion of Scouting throughout the world.

• It maintains relations with National Scout Organizations (NSOs) and helps them develop Scouting in their country.

• It promotes the development of Scouting in countries where it does not exist.

• It supports the organisation of international and regional Scout events such as World and Regional Jamborees.

• It maintains relations with international organisations whose activities are concerned with youth matters.

• It assists the World and Regional Scout Conferences, and the World and Regional Committees and their subsidiary bodies in the fulfilment of their functions. This includes the preparation of meetings and the provision of the necessary services to implement the decisions of the various bodies.