inbox@apr
June
2003
Monthly e-Newsletter of World Scout Bureau
Asia Pacific Region
inbox@apr is published monthly by the Asia Pacific Region of the World Scout
Bureau in Manila.
For free subscription, simply send an email to publications@apr.scout.org
The Scout Association of Japan’s (SAJ) Annual
General Meeting (AGM) was held on 17th May at the beautiful city of
Maibashi in Gunma prefecture. It was a meeting where Regional Director Abdullah
Rasheed sought to maintain good relations with the upcoming leadership of SAJ.
Remarkable changes were affirmed at the AGM, including a farewell to notable
and respected leaders like Chief Scout of Japan, Mr Akira Watanabe, who has
inspired SAJ leadership for over three decades. Current Chairman of the Board
of Governors Mr Shoichi Saba has accepted to be the Acting Chief Scout. Mr
Yoritake Matsudaira retired from the post of the International Commissioner, on
reaching the retirement age of 65, and Mr Kuniichi Komachi was welcomed to this
new post. Mr Yuji Wakayama, who comes not from the scout profession but from
the business sector, is the new National Secretary.
A long range plan (2002-2013) was adopted by the Board
of Governors now made effective in May 2003. Among other things, the plan
envisages to raise membership in 2013 by 24%. Organization restructuring,
finance, facilities, youth programme, adult resources, PR and legal matters are
the key priority areas. The 2003 Japan Invitation Programme is postponed most
likely to February 2004 due to the recent outbreak of SARS. The Agonooree 2003
scheduled for August will be totally a national event, although previously it
has always being a major international event. Holding of an APR regional
workshop on 7-11 February 2004 is being planned with the Asia-Pacific Regional
office.
KOREA • Scouting in all Sizes and Ranges
It was a festive period to visit Korea with
the Hi-Seoul season commemorating the successful 2002 World Cup, during which
time the Regional Director met all the key leaders of Korea Scout Association
(KSA) including its President, Mr Lee Won Hee and a sort of reunion with former
Regional Director Kim Kyu Young.
As part of the Hi-Seoul Festival, KSA
joined the Seoul Metropolitan Council in organizing the World Youth Cultural
Village at the Nanji Camp along Han River that runs through the dynamic city of
Seoul. Over 160 young people from 12 countries participated in the 5-day youth
camp organized by KSA. During the festival, KSA organized a Family Scout Camp
– a weekend camp where one to two families join together as a single
patrol and do patrol activities. This is organized by the HQ Troop which is run
by the NHQ staff as mandated for all NHQ staff to run their own Scout troops
for an on-the-spot application of back to the troop. This not only gives the opportunity for
all staff to experience the realities of the youth situation, it is also a
place to experiment on new programme tools and other materials before these are
formally launched. The entire professional staff indeed played a splendid role
as leaders.
KSA has introduced its long range plan
using the title Vision 2013 published in Korean and released in December 2002. The APR workshop on
PR-IT-Marketing will take place on 4-9 November in Seoul, integrated with a
fundraising activity for the APR Scout Foundation. KSA is all set to organize
the 24th Asia-Pacific Jamboree in August 2004 in a historic place
where world Scouting has etched its name in 1991 - at the heights of Mt Sorak.
With WOSM’s thrust for resource mobilization,
the Asia-Pacific Region joined 100 organizations from 30 countries at the 4th
International Workshop on Resource Mobilization (IWRM) organized by the Resource Alliance in
partnership with the Development Support Consortium in Bangkok, Thailand on
05-08 May 2003. The theme of the workshop was “Strengthening the Voluntary
Sectors”. The workshop provided a unique opportunity to the delegates to
network and share information on international scale. During the 4 days
workshop, a wide range of information, techniques and best practices on
fundraising and related topics were shared. Mr S Prassanna Shrivastava,
Director of Administration & Resources Development, represented the
Asia-Pacific Regional office.
How can we mobilize resources? The workshop suggests a number of tips
– be more PR oriented; improve visibility in society and peer
organizations; improve personnel capabilities; develop relationships and
collaboration with other organizations; market our best practices (promising
practices) for resources development; fundraising is an art and we need to
improve our skills in this area.
Bracing together to cope with critical
organizational issues, especially membership decline (over 1.5 million loss),
over 100 Directors and Council Scout Executives of Boy Scouts of the
Philippines devoted their Annual National Scout Executives Conference to
explore solutions and address varied issues related to membership and
organizational development. Opening up to radical changes is a big challenge
that the new and young Secretary General, Mr Jose Rizal Pangilinan, now faces
and unite efforts to steer back the strong influence of Scouting in the lives
of young Filipinos. World Scout
Bureau Directors Mr Prassanna Shrivastava and Ms Luz Taray took part in the
conference and shared their thoughts on how to become a learning
organization and in managing relationships within such a
large organization of almost 1.8 million young members, over 166,000 volunteers
and lay people, and 186 executives around the country.
Who can forget the booklet of
Asia-Pacific songs, games and recipes distributed for free to all participants
of the World Jamboree in Thailand? Thousands of copies are now available, not
absolutely free this time, but with a token amount of US$1.00 per copy,
exclusive of mailing or shipment cost. For bulk or individual orders, send your
request to the A-P regional office at wsb@apr.scout.org.
REGIONWIDE • Honorary Correspondents
Newly designed press cards with WOSM corporate identity
are released to Honorary Correspondents (HC) who have been appointed/
reappointed as the focal NSO persons in bringing news and information about
their countries to the regional stage of information. The tradition of appointing
HCs has been practiced for many years and revved up recently to activate
information exchange amongst Scout Organizations.
What’s ON!
JUNE
2003
Fiji is a country that has a pivotal role in
converging Scout associations in the South Pacific. A visit by the Regional Director in June seeks to
reinvigorate a more active involvement of Fiji to regional and world Scouting
activities. Fiji had setbacks in
its membership as an adverse effect of ethnic conflicts in the past couple of
years. A national strategic
planning workshop is being proposed to bring the dynamism of Scouting back on
track.
brunei • Preparatory Meeting for the 21st APR
Scout Conference and postponement of other events
Follow-up on the progress of the upcoming regional
conference in 2004 will take place between the Host Committee spearheaded by
Chief Commissioner Zainal Abedin and Asia-Pacific executives this 12-13 July in
Begawan.
Due to government restrictions on travel to Brunei, two planned events –
Course for Assistant Leader Trainers and the National Strategic Planning
Workshop – are postponed.
New dates will be announced soon.
malaysia • National AIS Seminar
For the same familiar reason (SARS), Persekutuan
Pengakap Malaysia announces
the postponement of the Adults in Scouting seminar supposed to be held this
mid-June in Kuala Lumpur, to a more comfortable period that will be announced
soon.
JULY 2003
Scouting in Afghanistan has always been a part of WOSM history since 1931. A former WOSM member located in the Asia Pacific Region, Scouting in Afghanistan was disbanded by the World Scout Conference in 1981 when the country was deprived of democratic processes that was necessary for Scouting to continue and flourish. Recent political and social changes in the country have become favourable for the rebirth of Scouting. As a first formal initiative, the World Scout Bureau is organizing a meeting in Geneva this early July to plan the rebuilding process. Asia-Pacific Region has prepared a Plan of Action for the re-establishment of Scouting where it will take the lead role in coordinating the network of support already indicated by several Scout associations in Asia-Pacific and Europe.
INDONESIA
• Indonesian Rover Moot 2003
Yogyakarta is the place to be for Rover Scouts aged
16-25 years old attending the Moot on 8-17 July 2003. The Moot is all about adventure, broadcasting, cultural
performances, entrepreneurship, outdoor management training and many more. For information, email kwarnas@jakarta.wasantara.net.id.
KOREA • 12th International Rover Moot
Seoul Land in
Gwa-Cheon awaits Rovers from Korea and from other countries for the Moot on
14-19 July 2003. Challenging activities on-site and off-site and water sports
will test the limitless potential and creativity of Rovers. For information and application, email scoutshq@scout.or.kr.
Asia-Pacific
Region is organizing the 44th APR Management Course for Scout
Executives to be held on 21 July to 3 August 2003. Around 40 participants are expected to this course,
particularly those in the professional service who intend to upgrade their
competence in managing a Scout association. The course will be held at the Pakistan Scout Cadet College
in Jungle Mungal at the Northwest Frontier province of Pakistan. Danish Scout
Council (Denmark) will send trainers/resource persons to support the workshop.
BHUTAN • Strategy Review Workshop
A year and a
half after Bhutan Scouts Association developed its strategic plan, a planning
review workshop will take place on 25-27 July in Thimpu. Evaluation will be made on each
priority area, i.e. Youth Programme, Material Resources, Image of
Scouting. Inputs on WOSM and APR
strategies will be shared to enrich the discussions.
AUGUST 2003
MONGOLIA • 2nd
Mongolian Rover Moot
“My Camp”, located at the foot of pine
mountains 110 kms from Ulaanbaatar, will be the place where Rovers will gather
on 1-8 August 2003 for the Rover Moot.
More details on the Moot can be found at www.apr.scout.or.jp under circular no. 7. For information, email
scout@mongol.net.
SRI LANKA • Kandy JIM and Strategic Planning Workshop
Two back-to-back events are taking place in
August in Sri Lanka – one for adult leaders which is a National Strategic
Planning Workshop on 10-14 August 2003, immediately followed by an
international Scout event called RAJANS JIM at the Lakeview Park International
Scout Centre in Kandy. Both events
are supported by the Asia-Pacific Regional office.
Good Scouting images inspire us all. After a modest but good beginning of
the regional photo contest held in early 2003, the Asia-Pacific Region invites
Scouts and Leaders to join its next photo contest for 2004. For details, see circular No. 16 at www.apr.scout.or.jp. For inquiries, email wsb@apr.scout.org
•
Ideas
for celebrating the centennial of Scouting are still welcome. See circular no. 12 at www.apr.scout.or.jp
llt, 30/5/03