The 2023 World Scouting Review

In 2023, Scouts have grown together as a global Scout Movement, building greater resilience, a better world, and a strong increase in Scouting worldwide!

We know the transformative power of Scouting from all angles, and the contributions of every Scout, along with countless supportive donors, partners, volunteers and parents, have made it possible this year. Let’s have a look at some of the highlights from World Scouting in 2023:

Membership

• Worldwide, Scouting membership grew by 5.4% in 2023, approaching a pre-pandemic peak in membership and demonstrating the relevance and demand of Scouting for young people. 

• This includes welcoming Scoutisme Congolais as the 174th Member Organization of the Scout Movement!

Community Service

• Scouts worldwide are nearing a landmark of 3 billion hours of community service towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), logged through the Scouts for SDGs hub.

• Work on revamping the Scouts for SDGs hub and educational offerings is well underway, with pilot projects being tested for the new Health and Well-being and Life Skills initiatives.

Partnerships

• World Scouting partnerships continue to flourish, with ongoing collaboration among the Big 6 Youth Organizations and the Global Youth Mobilisation supporting 3.6 million young people in the last two years.

• Partners gathered for a successful SDGs tent at the World Scout Jamboree, helping engage young people in meaningful discussions and action for sustainable development.

• In 2023, a renewed partnership was signed with KAICIID and a new partnership was created between the EU and Big 6 Youth Organizations.

WOSM Services

• WOSM Services provided direct support to National Scout Organizations and we trained over 150 new WOSM Consultants to continue to support Member Organizations in modernising their Youth Programmes, implementing Safe from Harm policies, growing their membership, and more.

• We introduced a new Safe from Harm Self-Assessment Tool and upgraded the Global Support Assessment Tool (GSAT) to support Member Organizations to meet international best practices in child and youth safety, good governance and quality Scouting.

Scout Donation Platform and Humanitarian Response

• Together with the World Scout Foundation, we relaunched the Scout Donation Platform to raise funds for Scout-led community projects, as well as emergency relief efforts for disasters and humanitarian crises around the world.

• Scouts continued to step up in times of crisis, with Scouts on the frontlines of aid efforts in tragic situations, such as the earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria, earthquakes in Morocco, floods in Libya, conflict in Sudan, cyclone in Madagascar, the war in Gaza, hurricane in Mexico, ongoing support for Ukrainian refugees, and more.

World Events

• At the 25th World Scout Jamboree, Scouts demonstrated resilience and leadership in overcoming organisational challenges and extreme weather. 10,000 adult volunteers stepped up to ensure the event remained safe and successful through an unprecedented evacuation.

• From this challenge, an opportunity to significantly upgrade our World Events emerged. That is why we established a Panel of Experts to conduct a comprehensive review of the event’s planning and delivery, and to provide recommendations to strengthen future World Scout events.

• JOTA-JOTI 2023 was a great success with a record number of registrants and numerous trials of new ways of delivering our annual digital and radio jamboree events with more partnerships and in-person opportunities.

• Leadership from across our Movement came together at the recent 4th World Scout Education Congress in Paris, and contributed to the development of a Roadmap for Education in Scouting to guide us for the future.  

• As we prepare for our long-awaited global assembly at the 43rd World Scout Conference in Egypt, we are making significant progress in equipping the organisation for the next decade with an ambitious draft Strategy for Scouting beyond 2023, a refreshed brand for WOSM, more aligned world and regional triennial plans, and a fit for the future Word Scout Bureau to seize the great opportunities ahead of our Movement.

Regional Events

As always, the various regions within World Scouting ran an impressive range of events to upskill NSOs and bring Scouts together. Some of the highlights included:

• Year-long celebrations of 100 years of Kandersteg International Scout Centre (KISC);

• The Arab Parajamboree, setting a high bar for hosting inclusive events;

• The 32nd Asia-Pacific and 11th National Scout Jamboree in Bangladesh, which gathered over 10,000 Scouts from 72 contingents;

• The Interreligious Symposium in the Central African Republic, bringing together 57 Scout leaders, government representatives and partners from 8 countries to work towards greater unity;

• The first-ever Africa Rover Moot, hosted in Kenya, with 600 participants from 34 countries;

• The WeAct Forum, hosted in Krakow, Poland, brought together over 150 Scouts and representatives from humanitarian organisations to redefine youth-led humanitarian action and strengthen collaboration for humanitarian response;

• The 33rd Arab Scout Jamboree, hosted in the United Arab Emirates, gathering 1500 Scouts from 17 countries;

• and more!

Advocacy and Youth Representatives

• World Scouting’s 20 Youth Representatives have proudly advocated at numerous events this year to represent the interests of young people on issues such as climate action, equality, human rights and overall sustainable development.

• Notably, WOSM leadership and Youth Representatives were present this year at the UN General Assembly and COP28 where they called for accountability and urgent action from governments and business leaders to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

This has been a significant year for Scouting. Thanks to the contributions and dedication of our members, Scouting continues to be a force for good in empowering individuals and communities worldwide. We look forward to celebrating the successes of Vision 2023, and charting a new direction for our Movement through the next Strategy for Scouting. 

The beauty of Scouting is that all 57 million individuals who are part of our Movement are part of its success. From regular meetings and camps to helping your communities, or taking an active role with your National Scout Organization, region or global scouting, you all make a difference for a better world.

With warm wishes for a happy new year from the World Scouting family to yours - here’s to 2023 and an exciting year ahead!

Special thanks to the donors, partners and volunteers who made Scouting possible in the last year - we couldn't do it without you! Want to give back to Scouting? Make a donation to our annual appeal here.

Share your highlights from 2023 by tagging @worldscouting on Instagram and TikTok or leave a comment on our social media posts.