South Asian countries Scouts gather together

At the inauguration ceremony of the 6th South Asia Foundation Scout Friendship Camp, Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed, Chief Adviser of the Government of the Republic of Bangladesh urged Scouts to work together in promoting peace and prosperity in the SAARC Region.

Md Abul Kalam Azad, Chief National Commissioner of Bangladesh Scouts, welcomed the 258 participants from Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh who have gathered together from 12th to 18th October 2008 at the National Training Center of Bangladesh Scouts, located in Mouchak, Gazipur, Bangladesh.

Participants enjoyed doing the nine challenges. All-time favorite activities were hiking, community service, backwoodsman, cooking and rowing.

To foster youth involvement in the area of decision-making, a 'Youth Forum' was organized empowering them to make decisions on the issues that directly affected them. The Youth Forum culminated with a simulated parliament, where young people stood as Chief Commissioners. They deliberated on a proposed bill looking into ways on how they can achieve the Millennium Development Goals. A young female leader from the host national Scout organization, Bangladesh Scouts, chaired the parliament. The deliberation was carried out in the presence of the representative from the Office of the President of the Republic of Bangladesh.

Cultural exchange and understanding was evident for every country where they had the opportunity to present their culture and other demographic information of their respective countries.

Bangladesh hosts Chief Commissioners meeting
On 13th October 2008, the Chief Commissioners of South Asia met for their annual gathering at the Jamuna Resort in Tangail District, Bangladesh for this year's Chief Commissioner’s Meeting.

Attended the meeting were Mr L.M. Jain of the Bharat Scouts and Guides (India), Mr Ahmed Ali Maniku of the Scout Association of Maldives, Mr Shree Ram Lamichhane of Nepal Scouts, Mr Ghazanfar Mashkoor of Pakistan Boy Scouts Association, Mr Bernard C. Batuwangala of Sri Lanka Scouts Association and Mr Md Abul Kalam Azad of Bangladesh Scouts.

At the meeting, Pakistan turned-over the chairmanship of the sub-region to Bangladesh and each country was given an opportunity to present an update of their national Scout organization's achievements and challenges in the previous year.