WAGGGS and WOSM Consultative Committee

Introduction

The WAGGGS WOSM Consultative Committee (WWCC) met on 1 September 2018 in Geneva, Switzerland. Representing WAGGGS were Ana Maria Mideros, Chair, World Board; Connie Matsui, Vice-Chair, World Board and Sarah Nancollas, Chief Executive Officer; and from WOSM, Craig Turpie, Chairperson, World Scout Committee, Pia Melin Mortensen, Member, World Scout Committee, Ahmad Alhendawi, Secretary General, with support provided by Srinath Tirumale, World Scout Bureau. 

This note is a summary of the key discussions prepared for sharing with all WAGGGS MOs and WOSM NSOs.

Expectations

This was the first meeting since April 2017, coming after both World Conferences in 2017 and several changes in both WAGGGS and WOSM. Personal expectations for the meeting were shared at the start with all recognizing and respecting the distinct missions of both WAGGGS and WOSM but noting that there are opportunities for specific areas of collaboration.

Updates

Following both World Conferences in 2017, updates were shared on respective strategic priorities, progress being made, and plans for the future. It was noted that a common development in both WAGGGS and WOSM has been actions to ensure effective support to respective Member Organisations (MOs and NSOs). Recognising similarities in organizational structures, time was also used to review how coordination between world and regional structures work, to maximise support to MOs and NSOs. 

Opportunities for Collaboration

• On promoting the value of non-formal education, WAGGGS and WOSM identified that more could be achieved together on this topic which is of importance to both WAGGGS and WOSM, and explored a number of interesting approaches to achieve this.

• On membership growth, WAGGGS and WOSM acknowledged the ambitious growth targets of both organisations. They noted that this growth should come from reaching young people who are not currently benefiting from the unique educational offering of both WAGGGS and WOSM. They agreed to be respectful of each other’s members and highlighted their respective growth strategies and responsibilities to achieve this.

• On the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), WAGGGS and WOSM outlined specific actions being taken on a number of the SDGs, recognising the common interest in developing tools, support and advocacy work, and acknowledging their different approaches.
• On Safeguarding, WAGGGS and WOSM shared information and experiences in supporting MOs and NSOs in their efforts to improve protection of young people, and committed to further collaboration on this point.

Conclusions and Next Steps

Conducted in a spirit of openness and constructive engagement, the meeting offered a valuable opportunity to exchange views on a number of topics of common interest for the development of Guiding and Scouting worldwide. WAGGGS and WOSM reiterated their shared commitment to the WWCC as an important space for dialogue, knowledge sharing and action planning.

As a new team, the representatives of the two organisations were pleased that the meeting concluded with a positive evaluation. An agreed mechanism to follow up on the actions was identified. It was agreed that, in addition to virtual meetings, the next annual meeting will be held in Split, Croatia in August 2019.