It is a pleasure to announce the WOSM membership of four National Scout Organizations as from today, 1 July 2008: National Association of Cambodian Scouts (NACS); Association of Scouts of Montenegro; Scouts of Syria; National Organization of Scouts of Ukraine (NOSU). This brings the total number of Member Organizations of WOSM to 160.

A warm welcome into the World Scouting family is extended to all the youth and adult members of these four NSOs. We look forward to their participation at the World Scout Conference in Korea in the coming weeks, where they will receive their membership certificates.

Every three years, the governing body of World Scouting meets to evaluate the recent past and consider the future. Since 1922, this sequence of meetings has mapped out the destiny of a unique movement for young people. The projection of the Scout Movement towards the future depends on a universal vision, the legacy of Baden-Powell: to create a better world. One year after the Centenary of Scouting, the World Scout Conference can look towards the horizon with a pioneering spirit and people who know where they are starting from and are moving forward fearlessly to prepare new ground.

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The World Scouting family is deeply saddened by the horrific impact of the devastating storms that tore through western Iowa this last week. The World Scout Committee, the World Scout Bureau and World Scouting at large extend their deepest condolences to the Boy Scouts of America and to the parents and families of Scouts Josh Fennen, Sam Thomsen, Ben Petrzilka and Aaron Eilerts who lost their lives while learning how to better serve others. They also extend their sincerest gratitude to the leaders, Scouts, and emergency personnel who responded so quickly and effectively and their moral support to the young people and adults injured and to their families.

May the souls of these four young Scouts who died rest in peace.

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The ILO has estimated that some 165 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 are involved in child labour. Many of these children work long hours, often in dangerous conditions. This year the World Day against Child Labour will be marked around the world with activities to raise awareness that Education is the right response to child labour. World Scouting, as the largest global youth movement which prides itself on its strong history of non-formal education, is encouraged to get involved and draw attention to the key issues related to Child Labour.

The Scout Association of Maldives has received the “Green Leaf” award, the most prestigious award in recognition to the outstanding work undertaken towards protection and preservation of environment on the celebration of the World Environment Day this year.

The Sudan Boy Scout Association (SBSA) launched their new brand this week which is based on the World Scouting brand logo. The event coincided with the National Scout Conference which took place in Khartoum from June 5-8, 2008 under the motto "Education for Peace".

The launching of new brand was attended by the Sudanese Minister of Youth and Sports, Mr. Mohamed Abuzaid Mustapha; Regional Director, Dr.Atif Abdelmageed; The Chairman of SBSA, Mr. Saeed Ibrahim; Board of Directors Members and a number of the Partners’ Representatives. Mr. Saeed Ibrahim expressed his thanks to the Communications & Media Team at the World Scout Bureau for all their valuable assistance and extensive cooperation in the design of their new brand.

On Sunday, 13th of July, four workshops chaired by members of the World Scout Committee and Educational Methods Committee will take place in advance of the World Scout Conference in Korea. These Workshops will take place at the Conference Centre from 14.00-17.00. While three of the workshops will be on Youth Programme, one will be on Scouting's Profile (Strategic Priority 7).

Significant progress has been made in each of the areas covered by the workshops on Sunday, which will be reported at the Conference. With active participation from National Scout Organizations we are anticipating detailed discussions on the specific topics during these workshops.

Governments should recognise volunteering as a legitimate job-seeking activity, according to a report into young adult volunteering published this week in the United Kingdom.

The Morgan Inquiry, supported by The UK Scout Association, includes recommendations for a flexible day off to encourage volunteering, an ‘industry standard’ award scheme to acknowledge skills developed through volunteering and better signposting of voluntary opportunities.

Barcelona, Spain based Eduard Vallory has just completed his two-year doctoral research on 'World Scouting as a global citizenship builder', as a Research Fellow (2004-06) of Fitzwilliam College - University of Cambridge. His remarkable thesis titled 'Global Citizenship Education – Study of the ideological bases, historical development, international dimension, and values and practices of World Scouting' is available in both English and Catalan.

Dr. Jacques Moreillon, former Secretary General of the World Organization for the Scout Movement (WOSM) pinpointed its relevance and contributions during his comments as part of the thesis committee: “This thesis is not just exceptional, it is unique. Unique because it is the first ever written academic study on World Scouting, both in its origin, evolution and globality. The only other work that has endeavoured to give an idea of the history and contents of World Scouting has been Laszlo Nagy's "250 million Scouts", but it was not - nor did it pretend to be - a comprehensive academic study”.

26 Mayo 2008 - El movimiento de voluntariado para la mejora del medio ambiente ha adquirido bastante más fuerza tras el anuncio hoy de que cerca de 28 millones de Scouts de 156 países participarán en iniciativas ecológicas de carácter comunitario como parte de la nueva alianza con la campaña global A Limpiar el Mundo (Clean Up the World).

La nueva relación anunciada hoy en Australia por la Secretaria de Parlamento Australiano para la Inclusión Social y el Sector de Voluntariado, la Senadora Ursula Stephens, el Presidente y Fundador de A Limpiar el Mundo Ian Kiernan AO* y el Comisario en Jefe de los Scouts de Australia John Ravenhall AM*, aumentará substancialmente el número de voluntarios de A Limpiar el Mundo, campaña que ya estaba movilizando a unos 35 millones de personas cada año.