Volunteer Zone

Girl Scouting around the globe

Updated 4/22/10

With ten million Girl Guides and Girl Scouts from 145 countries across the world, the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) is the largest voluntary movement dedicated to girls and young women in the world. Girl Guiding/Girl Scouting is open to all girls and young women whatever their religion, ethnic group or background. A Girl Guide or Girl Scout accepts the Promise and the Law based on spiritual values, personal development and commitment to helping others.

The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) is the official umbrella organization for all national Girl Guide and Girl Scout organizations in the world.  It comprises 145 Member Organizations, which are organized into five regions – Africa, Arab, Asia Pacific, Europe and Western Hemisphere. The World Trefoil (left) is the unifying symbol of WAGGGS; Girl Scouts in the USA wear the World Trefoil pin above their Girl Scout pin.

The World Association offers girls and young women in Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting an international family, joined by common bonds of understanding, friendship, the Promise and Law and their aspirations to make the world a better place. WAGGGS provides projects and programs at an international level that enable Girl Guides and Girl Scouts to be responsible world citizens through teamwork, service and action in the community. Discover more at www.wagggsworld.org.

Design a poster and say no to violence against women

The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) calls all members to participate in the poster competition ‘girls worldwide say no to violence against women and girls’ sponsored by the United Nation’s Development Fund for Women. The competition will end on August 1, International Youth Day, so there is plenty of time to include a special meeting of your troop or group, encourage your friends and family to join, and check out all the other actions you can take to end violence against women and girls on the WAGGGS action page.

You just need to create a poster that includes the slogan ‘girls worldwide say no to violence against women and girls,’ as well as the WAGGGS logo and the UNIFEM campaign logo.  If you want to, you can also include  facts and figures about violence against women and girls around the world. Then think of a good place to display your poster so lots of people can see it and are encouraged to take action to stop violence against women and girls.

Submit a copy/scan/photo of your picture and information of the display location as both are taken into consideration by the judges when deciding the winners
Please read the terms and conditions for more information.

The posters of the three winners will be on display at the UNIFEM headquarters in New York and will also be published online on the Say No campaign page and the UNIFEM homepage. The winners will also receive a goodie bag with UNIFEM gift items and a certificate.  

The WAGGGS action page gives you a whole range of ideas for how you can take further action to end to violence against women and girls. You can find big and small actions for younger and older members as well as some actions especially suitable for co-educative settings. It is important for mixed groups to contribute to the campaign because an attitude change in boys and men is just as important as empowering girls and women to combat violence against women and girls.  All you need to do is go to the website, decide on an action, do that action and then register so that your action counts!

Read comments from Guides and Girl Scouts around the worlds and to add your own.

Girl Guides and Girl Scouts celebrate 100 years of changing lives 10 April 2010

Visit http://www.wagggsworld.org/en/news/20266

April 10 was the 100th day of the 100th year of Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting. Thousands of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts around the world celebrated 100 years of changing lives around the world. Check out WAGGGS Centenary pages to find out what’s going on around the world and sign up to your own activities.

Leave your centenary messages on the  centenary message board and tell other Girl Scouts and Guides how you think Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting has changed lives.

2010 Centenary video messages for Girl Guides and Girl Scouts

Chairman, Margaret Treloar, is joined by members of the World Board and volunteers at Pax Lodge, to give her own centenary message for 2010. Margaret is joined by volunteers from the World Board and from Pax Lodge in an extended version of the message. The Hon. Kay Patterson, Australian politician who has held many positions in the Federal Government and keen supporter of Girl Guiding has also produced a special filmed centenary message for our members.

It was a group of girls who first planted the idea of Girl Guiding in the mind of founder, Robert Baden-Powell, more than 100 years ago, in 1909, when they demanded a place for girls at the Crystal Palace Boy Scout Rally. 

These girls were, in fact, the very first advocates for the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts - speaking out and challenging the norms and gender conventions of the time.

The Guide Movement formally began in the UK in 1910. Since then Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting has been planted in the lives of millions of girls and young women.

For 100 years,
we have planted Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting in diverse communities around the world …
we have planted the seeds of change in the world…
we have planted opportunities for girls and young women to grow as responsible global citizens.

Why three years of celebration?

1910 saw the first Girl Guide groups started in the UK by Robert and Agnes Baden-Powell. By 1912, Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting had been introduced in many countries around the world. We will celebrate the birth of our Movement over three years - from 2010 to 2012.
Many countries founded Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting between 1910 and 1912:

• Founded in 1910: Canada, Denmark, Finland, New Zealand, Poland, South Africa, Sweden, United Kingdom
• Founded in 1911: Australia, Bangladesh (then part of India), India, Ireland, Netherlands, Pakistan (then part of India)
• Founded in 1912: Cyprus, Italy, Norway, United States of America, Zimbabwe

Read more about the History of Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting.

Special centenary edition of “Our World News”

Subscribe now for the special centenary edition of Our World News. Inside you can read about 10 April activities which have taken place all over the world, read about the Young Women’s World Forum 2010, read up on the history of Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting and find out more about how you can get involved in the Movement. Our World News is available by paid subscription for individuals and other interested organizations. Subscriptions are available at £12.50 (US $22.50). Email: wagggs@wagggsworld.org.

Girl Scouts Around the Globe Focuses On:

Surprise your service unit’s event coordinator when your troop requests the Cook Islands for World Thinking Day 2011!  The Cook Islands consist of 15 islands scattered over some 2 million square km of the Pacific Ocean. In 2003 there were about 1100 registered Girl Guides.

The Cook Islands enjoy a pleasant warm and sunny climate year round. They lie in the South Pacific Polynesian Triangle, flanked to the west by the Kingdom of Tonga and the Samoa's and to the east by Tahiti and the islands of French Polynesia. The Cook Islands are in the same time zone as Hawaii and are the same distance South of the equator as Hawaii is north.  Cook Islands Maori is the local language, but English is widely spoken.

Coconut, fish, cassava, taro and tropical fruits form the basis of most meals in Cook Islands. Traditional foods may be cooked slowly in ground ovens.

In the towns western style homes have replaced the bush materials village homes for the extended family.

1928 marked the beginning of Girl Guiding in the Cook Islands. The first Guide company opened in the capital, Avarua, on the island of Rarotonga, and the Islands were registered as a province of the Girl Guides Association New Zealand (Inc). Ranger Patrols were set up in 1935 and the first Brownie pack was registered in 1937. In 1986 the Association fulfilled a long-standing ambition by obtaining its own headquarters. Membership continued to grow and in 1992 a Deed of Transfer was signed making the Branch Association of the Cook Islands independent of the Girl Guides Association New Zealand (Inc).

Ranger 15-20
Guide 11-15
Brownie 7-11
Pepe 3-6

Koreromotu a te Guide
Te taputou nei au e ka rave au ma te maroiroi tikai.
I te atingaanga iaku ki te Atua
Ma te rave i te akaueanga a te Ariki Vaine Ngateitei, toku Basileia
Ma te akono i te au ture a te Guide.

Guide Law

1 E tu tiratiratu e te irinaki ia to te Guide.
2 E turanga tauturu to te Guide.
3 E tu maru e te akono to te Guide.
4 E tu oaoa to te Guide e te taeake tikai no tona au oa Guide.
5 Kia takinga meitaki te Guide i te au manu aaere e te au apinga natura.
6 Ka kauraro te Guide i te au akaueanga ravarai.
7 E tu toa ma te mata katakata to te Guide i te au tuatau manamanata.
8 Ka taangaanga meitaki te Guide i tona au taime.
9 Ka akono te Guide i tona uaorai apinga e pera to tetai ke.
10 Kia akatano te Guide i tona uaorai manako, tana ka tuatua e tana ka rave.

Girl Guide Law (English Translation)
1 A Guide is loyal and can be trusted.
2 A Guide is helpful.
3 A Guide is polite and considerate.
4 A Guide is friendly and a sister to all Guides.
5 A Guide is kind to animals and respects all living things.
6 A Guide is obedient.
7 A Guide has courage and is cheerful in all difficulties.
8 A Guide makes use of her time.
9 A Guide takes care of her own possessions and those of other people.
10 A Guide is self-controlled in all she thinks, says and does.

Girl Guide Motto - Be Prepared
Brownie Motto - Lend a Hand

If you’d like an extended version of “Cook Islands Girl Guides Association,” please contact Margaret Paschal at mpaschal@gsgatl.org or at (770)-702-9610; or toll-free at (1-800) 771-4046).