Scouts from three different Brazilian states travelled great distances to assist a ShelterBox Response Team (SRT) in setting up camps, providing emergency shelter to families made homeless by recent floods and mudslides in eastern Brazil.
For the third time in two years, Brazilian scouts were prepared to help ShelterBox deliver aid to displaced people in need of shelter, even if it meant travelling long distances through the night. Thirty scouts from Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Minas Gerais joined forces with the SRT and local volunteers to help put up ShelterBox tents in the devastated areas of Japamapará and Além Paraíba. In two swelteringly hot days, tents became homes for around 70 families.

WOSM has been invited to participate in the latest UN Violence Studies’ global survey. This survey was launched in the end of last year and at the conclusion of the survey, a report will be presented to the UN General Assembly later this year.

The United Nations launched their Study on Violence Against Children in 2006. At that time WOSM was involved in preparing the activity guides for children to understand and appreciate issues surrounding Violence Against Children, which was published as part of the study. World Scouting also contributed to the case studies featuring Scout projects from Egypt, Namibia and El Salvador. Further in the same year, WOSM participated in the writing and field-testing of the child friendly versions of the Study, which is since being widely used.

Two prominent personalities – His Majesty the King of Sweden and the President of the Republic of Indonesia are meeting in Jakarta, for the benefit of young people in Indonesia. Both personalities are strong advocates of Scouting.

On January 21st Chairman Michael Bradshaw, two Vicechairmen Fernando Brodeschi and Kent Clayburn and members of the Interamerican Scout Committee Rafe Lucado, Gilberto Mendoza and Steve Kent visited the Regional Office for the first meeting with the new team of Directors.

From 12th- 21st January 2012, Scouts from Ethiopia and Kenya joined by Korean Scouts, had the experience of a lifetime by taking part in the 2nd World Scout Parliamentary Union’s (WSPU) Youth Exchange Programme (YEP). This aim was to give the opportunity to Scouts from member countries of WSPU/WOSM to travel to a different country (often for the first time), meet Scouts from other countries and have the chance to share their culture and traditions including their Scout activities and experiences. The programme also included group discussions on youth participation in decision-making and debating on the role of young people in today’s society in the context of the challenges that they face everyday.

“It is high time for NSOs to develop a risk management policy to strengthen public confidence in what we do and how we do it.”

A significant element of Scouting is peace, but for many years in Sri Lanka, this has been denied. Sri Lanka Scout Association is seeking to renew this hope by joining the Messengers of Peace project, to help young people overcome the longer effects of conflict, like prejudice, through a post-war integration camp among Singhalese and Tamil Scouts.

As part of its strategy of supporting the growth and development of Scouting in Timor Leste, Scouts Australia continues to assist in various ways including sponsorship of young people from that country to international events.

Rabi Samser JB Rana, former Chief Commissioner and considered to be the prime mover of Community Scouting in Nepal Scouts died on Friday, 13th January 2012 in Kathmandu.

Training Commissioners, 40 of them from 20 countries and 23 national Scout and Guide associations met for the third time from 13 to 15 January 2011. The aim of the Meeting was to offer a motivating and informative opportunity for experts in the field of volunteering and youth leaders training to share experiences and learn from each other.

From 17-22 April 2012, the former European Rover Scout gathering ‘Agora’ goes global by extending participation to Rovers from all other Scout Regions of WOSM. The 1st Inter-Regional Agora will be held at the picturesque Kandersteg International Scout Centre (KISC) in Switzerland.

The educational programme for the Agora event uses the Scout Method to reach the educational objectives for the Rover age section with a special emphasis on youth empowerment. What makes an Agora special is that it is an event run for Rover Scouts, by Rover Scouts.

3-8 января 2012 в городе Павловске, на родине российского Скаутинга прошел 12 Всероссийский рождественский фестиваль.
В фестивале, по приглашение организаторов фестиваля - ОРЮР, приняли участие скауты Санкт-Петербурга, Егорьевска, Павловска, Москвы, Чувашии, Воронежа, Курска, Ногинска. Около трети участников представляли Российскую Ассоциацию Навигаторов/Скаутов (РАН/С).
Программа фестиваля была наполнена множеством интересных мероприятий, которые не оставили никого равнодушным.

2-4 декабря 2011 года в курортном поселке Агавнадзор, Армения состоялся последний тренинг из серии программ «Школа лидерства» НСО Армении.

East Timor President José Ramos-Horta was invested as the Patron of Uniao Nacional dos Escuteiros de Timor-Leste (UNE-TL) on 12th January 2012 at the President Palacio in Nicolau Lobato, Timor Leste. Ramos-Horta is the second President of East Timor since independence and was a co-recipient of the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize.

In the period in between 9 and 11 December 2011, in the headquarters of the Moldova Scout office from Chisinau took place the first activity in the framework of the project “Messengers of Peace”.

In one rare opportunity, Oliver Lim, a Young Adult Member Group of APR, visited Manila and spent time with Scouts under the Ticket to Life troop discover about the unique things in their way of life.

Manila, 11 January 2012 –- The global team of Messengers of Peace (MoP) is meeting with the executives and MoP regional team in Manila to strengthen coordination between the central and regional office work in implementing the MoP projects. The team consists of Patrik Hedljung, Abir Koubaa and Ray Saunders. Director of Global Projects Peter Illig could not join because of unavoidable circumstances. The team has earlier visited Africa, Eurasia and Europe regional offices.

HRH The Duchess of Cambridge, Catherine Elizabeth (Kate Middleton) was a Brownie as a child and has now decided to volunteer with the Scout Association (of the United Kingdom), especially at the local level, close to her home in northern Wales (UK). She has also expressed the willingness to volunteer in other areas of Scouting when opportunity arises.

The once dilapidated Scout headquarters of Matale District is again operational after the ribbon-cutting ceremony on 20th November 2011. Matale is a town in the hill country of Sri Lanka which was the birthplace of Sri Lankan Scouting.

The year 2011 was institutionally a crucial year for WOSM with many global events and initiatives. During the year, World Scouting managed to successfully organize three large World Scout Events, the World Scout Youth Forum and the World Scout Conference in Brazil, and the World Scout Jamboree in Sweden. World Scouting also launched its flagship initiative, ‘Messengers of Peace’.

Here is a summary of the key events and developments at WOSM from the year that passed by.