In light of the growing worldwide health crisis of the COVID-19 global pandemic, it has been decided by WOSM’s National Scout Organizations (NSOs) through a referendum to postpone the 42nd World Scout Conference and 14th World Scout Youth Forum.
Following close monitoring of the situation and careful consideration of contingency scenarios, the World Scout Committee (WSC) decided in late March 2020 that in the current context it was not viable to continue organising the events as planned for August 2020. As such, the WSC put forward a referendum to NSOs to postpone the events with a primary focus on ensuring the health, safety and wellbeing of all participants.
In the coming months, the WSC and the World Scout Bureau will continue to collaborate with the Egyptian Scout Federation on the organisation of the events. Once normalcy has returned, NSOs will be notified of the new event dates with at least six months advance notice.
We invite you to visit our Questions & Answers page to understand what the postponement of the events will mean for the ongoing handling of WOSM’s operations. A one-year “express” plan is being developed to guide WOSM’s operations in supporting NSOs through the COVID-19 crisis and beyond and will be shared with NSOs in the course of May 2020.
The Scout Movement is committed to ensure all young people and adults in our care are Safe from Harm and that their safety is our utmost priority including throughout this global health crisis. For further tips for NSOs on how to stay safe and to seek additional support, please visit scout.org/covid19.
When more details and guidance for participants becomes available, it will be posted to scoutconference.org.
