The United Nations Secretary General has passed on a special message to World Scouting.

Message from Mr. Ban Ki-moon, United Nations Secretary General

Message to 21st World Scout Jamboree - Chelmsford, 1 August 2007
Dear young friends,
As scouts from all over the globe taking part in this world jamboree, you have much in common with the United Nations: people of different backgrounds joining hands in friendship and in search of knowledge, understanding and solutions to global problems. If the United Nations is the international community’s most universal organization, scouting provides an early training ground. It is a way to prepare all of you for the responsibilities of global citizenship. It is a forum bringing together ideas, values and cultures. It is a way to open minds and help equip you to take on the challenges of our time.

Your jamboree will engage you in some the most pressing issues of our age -- issues that are at the forefront of the United Nations agenda, from the environment to human rights and poverty eradication. Whatever profession or activity you go on to pursue in life, I hope you will always be united by the bond of global citizenship that scouting has forged among you. And I hope you will always identify with the United Nations and its mission. In that spirit, please accept my warmest wishes for a productive Jamboree.

Ban Ki-moon

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