Thank you for your support in 2022!
Our generous donors are at the heart of everything we do, providing their time, opening doors to new networks and contributing generously to the Foundation to bring our vision to life. In a year of uncertainty, you rallied around us and contributed an incredible USD 5.2 million for World Scouting — thank you!
Meaningful collaborations bring us together, and last year we were finally able to meet in person to celebrate World Scouting’s incredible impact at our 74th World Baden Powell Fellowship Event in Dublin, Ireland. We learned how Scouts are contributing to the SDGs, scaling innovative projects in reforestation and leading humanitarian action in Ukraine and neighbouring countries.
In 2022, we also grew our global network and financial support to Scouting initiatives around the world by welcoming 61 new Baden-Powell Fellows and 11 new Members of our Honours Programme, including 3 Regal Circle Members!
We also welcomed thousands of new donors in support of World Scouting. We are so grateful for the incredible support. Your contributions exemplify the power of Scouting, an incredible global force for good.
We came together in Dublin, Ireland at the 74th BP Fellowship Event in April. Our Board and Committees also met in September, in Luxembourg, and took the opportunity to engage with local BP Fellows to share updates on the impact of Scouting worldwide. Enjoy looking back at our event photos!
Mr. Masaya Arao, in Honour of Service
On 22 September 2023, esteemed Board Member, BP Fellow and Honours Programme Member Masaya Arao “went home”. Arao-san was a warm, passionate Scout who held many key national and global roles in Scouting over the years. He was a recipient of the Sliver Hawk Award, the highest honour of the Scout Association of Japan.
Arao-san was the Secretary-General of the Scout Association of Japan from 1987 to 1995, followed by appointments as Advisor and Counsellor. He joined the World Baden-Powell Fellowship in 1989 and was elected to the Board of the World Scout Foundation in October 2002. He was subsequently appointed Chair of the Japan Chapter of BP Fellows, for which he organised at least two Baden-Powell Fellowship Events in Japan, with the participation of the Imperial Royal Household, which welcomed BP Fellows from all over the world to share in his passion for World Scouting. Arao-san’s dedication to the Foundation made him an exemplary ambassador, which he leveraged to significantly broaden our network of BP Fellows and Honours Programme Members over the years.
Our thoughts remain with his family and loved ones. His warm, kindred spirit and love of Scouting will live on in the memory of his unwavering support and his generous gift to the Founders Heritage Programme of the World Scout Foundation.
A beloved Scout has Gone Home.
Our Partners
In 2022, Scouts continued to build on the strong foundations of the Messengers of Peace global initiative, underway since 2010, leading projects and service actions in their local communities to build a lasting culture of peace and contribute to sustainable development.
To date, Messengers of Peace has involved Scouts in nearly all 173 National Scout Organisations worldwide and has inspired over 16 million projects and actions to tackle local issues, respond to natural disasters, lead peace-building activities, stand up for gender equality, work hard to make refugees feel welcome, and so much more! Work continued in 2022 with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to secure renewed funding for Messengers of Peace, led by Members of the World Scout Foundation Board and Special Advisor, John Geoghegan, and supported by the World Organisation of the Scout Movement (WOSM) and the Saudi Scout Association.
2022 saw Scouts worldwide continuing to drive awareness around and take action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), spurred on by Scouts for SDGs, made possible with the generous support of long-standing partner Alwaleed Philanthropies. Whilst Scouts for SDGs funding continued to boost capacity development and drive community development initiatives in the Africa and Arab Scout Regions — such as the featured Algeria Changemakers project — Scouts worldwide continued to log local projects project on the Scouts for SDGs Hub, inspiring even more action by their global peers. By the end of 2022, over 2.7 billion hours of community service had been delivered by Scouts towards the SDGs since 2013, via millions of projects across the globe.
Through the power of our partnership, we have brought sustainable development to local communities in 224 countries and territories addressing some of the world’s most pressing social, economic and environmental issues. We are also excited by the continued progress to develop Scouting for women in universities in the Kingdom, driven forward by Alwaleed Philanthropies together with the Saudi National Scout Organization’s Girl Scout Committee, headed by World Scout Foundation Board Member, Her Highness Princess Sama Bint Faisal Al Saud.
As we work to increase funding for World Scouting through our ambitious Strategy 2022–2030, we seek to strengthen our existing partnerships and also engage other actors, that share our common vision to equip youth with the skills and values to drive sustainable change, and to demonstrate how young people can play a key role in improving the sustainability of our planet, promoting peace, and tackling inequality.
I support the World Scout Foundation with a monthly recurring gift because I have personally experienced how powerful the Scout programme is in transforming the lives of young people. I want more young people of today and of the future generations to benefit from Scouting to become responsible citizens of the world.
I believe World Scouting provides the best way I can help “Create A Better World! Scouting provides youth with the values to be engaged global citizens and the skills to create the change they wish to see in the world. By investing in World Scouting, I believe I am making the best possible contribution to our planet and future generations.
Teaching children independence, team spirit, love and respect for nature is the Scout approach, which we heartily support — especially in challenging times. The reliable control and execution mechanisms of the World Scout Foundation, proven from the very beginning, give us the confidence of effective implementation. May our honest , humble presence be understood as an expression of our deepest respect and appreciation for the efforts of the Foundation to establish a more humane world.
I strongly believe that Scouting offers the best possible way for young people to develop their skills and personality and with their enthusiasm, ideas and activities Scouts all over the world make a difference to society. So, if you want to see positive impact, there is no better way than to support Scouting.
