WAGGGS Conferences

Each triennium, WAGGGS holds a number of conferences at which the WAGGGS Member Organizations gather to provide input and make decisions on the operation of WAGGGS for the following triennium. GSUSA regularly participates in two of the triennial conferences: the Western Hemisphere Regional Conference and the World Conference.

Report of the 32nd WAGGGS World Conference

The 32nd WAGGGS World Conference took place in Amman, Jordan, June 20-24, 2005, bringing together delegations from 120 WAGGGS Member Organizations, the largest attendance at any WAGGGS World Conference. This was the first WAGGGS World Conference in the Arab Region, and the hosting organization, the Jordanian Association of Boy Scouts and Girl Guides, pulled out all the stops to make it a memorable week. GSUSA's delegation was made up of three young adults, five members of the National Board of Directors, and two GSUSA staff members. It was an exciting and historic meeting, with new plans to increase advocacy on behalf of girls around the world. Highlights of the Conference follow.

Membership in WAGGGS

The number of Member Organizations in the World Association grew to 145, with the admission of Mongolia to Associate Membership. Five organizations – Qatar, Benin, Central African Republic, Romania, and Togo – moved from Associate Membership to Full Membership, while three organizations – France, Norway, and Lebanon – had changes within their confederations that were ratified. While the island nation of Tuvalu was expected to lose its membership, the Conference voted not to revoke that organization's membership. Later, however, Tuvalu resigned as a member of WAGGGS.

Strategic Plan and Budget

Member Organizations voted to accept the Strategic Plan and proposed Financial Budget for 2006-2008.

The Strategic Goals of the triennium are:

• Goal One: Leadership Development – Capacity Building
• Goal Two: Strong and Growing Member Organizations - Revitalizing the Movement
• Goal Three: The Voice of Girls and Young Women – Building a Better World

Allocation of financial resources within the budget was linked to the Goals. The projected total expenditure for the triennium is 13.291 million GBP, and projected total income 13.591 million GBP.

Launch of New Tag Line: 'girls worldwide say'

WAGGGS launched a new image and tag line at the conference, seeking to project an image that is strong, modern, dynamic and inspirational. By proclaiming "10 million girls, 1 voice," WAGGGS seeks to reinforce its authority as the global voice for girls and young women and to reposition itself as the leading organization helping millions of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts to discover their potential. It is anticipated that by allowing Member Organizations to utilize the new tag line and messages that the Member Organizations will gain additional credibility and that WAGGGS will gain new visibility.

Seven key messages have been put forward as part of the launch, having been derived from the results of the global survey on adolescent health issues conducted by WAGGGS earlier this year. (Some 6,000 girls from 100 countries took part in the survey, providing their input on which adolescent health issues were of concern to them.) The seven key messages derived from those results are:

• Girls worldwide say, "fight AIDS"
• Girls worldwide say "make healthy food choices"
• Girls worldwide say, "prevent adolescent pregnancy"
• Girls worldwide say, "it is important to talk about sex"
• Girls worldwide say, "let's talk about the dangers of drugs"
  Girls worldwide say "ban smoking in public places"
• Girls worldwide say, "discover your potential"

Linking the new tag line to the ongoing Triennial Theme, "Our Rights, Our Responsibilities," additional key messages were introduced as follows:

• Girls worldwide say, "we have the right to work together"
• Girls worldwide say, "we have the right to live in peace"
• Girls worldwide say, "we have the right to be heard"
• Girls worldwide say, "we have the right to be happy"
• Girls worldwide say, "I have the right to be me"
• Girls worldwide say, "we have the right to learn"

Building on the areas identified for special emphasis – Adolescent Health, Prevention of Trafficking of girls and young women, and Access to Education – WAGGGS is calling upon its Member Organizations to raise awareness and encourage active and positive responsibility. Adolescent Health is the primary focus, and includes HIV/AIDS, adolescent pregnancy, healthy eating, and drug/alcohol/tobacco use issues.

WOSM

The Secretary General of WOSM, Eduardo Missoni, attended the meeting. A number of examples of collaboration with WOSM were mentioned, including the planned joint training in Iraq and help in resolving issues where WOSM members were behaving unfairly towards WAGGGS organizations at the local or national levels.

A substitute resolution was drafted modifying the language previously put forward by Finland . GSUSA's delegation noted that we applauded the efforts of WAGGGS to strengthen itself and the Member Organizations, but explained that any resolution calling for close collaboration with WOSM was something which we would not support. The substitute resolution, passed by the voting body 65-32 with five abstentions, read as follows:

That the Conference affirms the work of the Consultative Committee and acknowledges the objective within the strategic plan that contacts with WOSM continue and are strengthened. The conference will receive a progress report on WAGGGS/WOSM relationship during the triennium 2005-2008 at the 33rd World Conference.

WAGGGS Quota

A new system for calculating the quota was adopted, which is expected to provide relief to many of the Member Organizations hard hit by the current system. Additionally, a lifting of the cap on the amount that any one Member Organization can pay, from 50% to 55%, was passed, which will increase GSUSA's quota payment beginning in 2006. A resolution to shift to an automatic cost of living mechanism based on inflation rates in the United Kingdom was amended so that any such increase would need to be approved at each World Conference. A resolution to shift the fiscal year to a calendar year was approved.

Centenary Celebration

With the hundredth anniversary of Girl Guiding/Girl Scouting on the horizon, WAGGGS will begin the celebration in 2010 and continue until 2012. This will be a great opportunity to bring visibility and support to the Movement.

Fund Development

Two primary areas that will be explored in greater depth in the new Triennium are the development of a strategy to seek new trust, foundation, corporate, and individual gifts and to better maximize World Thinking Day. Focus groups were held with Member Organizations regarding World Thinking Day planning.

New Members of the World Board and Naming of the New Officers

Six new members of the World Board were elected:

• Lucia Piñeiro Gastañeta of Peru
• Rehana Banoo of Bangladesh
• Linden Edgell of Australia
• Liesbeth Lijnzaad of the Netherlands
• Della Salway of the UK
• Margaret Treloar of Canada

Two alternates were also named: Lida Jacob of India and Thérèse Tohouegnon Hode of Benin.

The World Board elected Elspeth Henderson of Ireland as its new chairman, and GSUSA's own Mary Lynn Myers as its new deputy chairman.

Ninety-four nominations were received for possible deployment of individuals on Task Groups, which will be determined in future.

Fifth World Center in Africa

The World Board, having studied the possibility of establishing a fifth World Center in Africa for more than 10 years, had proposed a resolution to bring any further consideration to a close. However, requests by several African delegations led to the passage of Resolution 12.6 calling for the issue to be an agenda item at the 34th World Conference in 2011 and an element of the Strategic Plan to be considered at that time.

Keynote Address

Kumi Naidoo of CIVICUS gave the conference's Keynote Address.

Presentation of the WAGGGS Bronze Medal

The WAGGGS Bronze Medal was presented to two individuals:

• Doris Riehm of the USA, whose long service to WAGGGS culminated in her serving as Chairman of the World Committee (the predecessor of the World Board) from 1993-1996; and
• Mona Torbey of Lebanon, whose leadership in her association and in the region was significant.

Presentation of the Olave Award

The Olave Award was presented to Kenya Girl Guides Association, Egyptian Girl Guides Association, and the Association of Girl Guides of Chad. Certificates of Recognition were presented to Guatemala, Kuwait, Switzerland, Brazil, Mauritius, the United Kingdom, and Thailand .

Presentation of the WAGGGS World Citizenship Award

The WAGGGS World Citizenship Award was presented to Her Royal Highness Princess Basma bint Talal of Jordan.

Venue for the Next World Conference

Conference participants voted to accept the bid of South Africa to host the 33rd WAGGGS World Conference in 2008.