The World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM ), branded as World Scouting since 2024, is the largest and, after the Order of World Scouts (formed in 1911), is the second-oldest international organisation in the Scout Movement, having been established in 1922 as The International Conference of the Boy Scout Movement. It has 176 members. These members are national scout organisations that founded WOSM or have subsequently been recognised by WOSM, which in 2025 collectively have around 51.4 million participants (up from 43 million in 2022), and a reach of 60 million young people. Its operational headquarters is in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, although it is legally based in Geneva, Switzerland.
WOSM's stated mission is "to contribute to the education of young people, through a value system based on the Scout Promise and Scout Law, to help build a better world where people are self-fulfilled as individuals and play a constructive role in society".
WOSM operates through conferences of its member organisation representatives, its committee and its full-time bureau, structured into regions. It is associated with three World Scout Centres. A World Scout Jamboree is held approximately every four years under its auspices and it organizes World Scout Moots for 17- to 26-year-olds and previously organised World Scout Indabas, a gathering for Scout leaders. The World Scout Foundation is a separately governed fund, supported by donations, for the development of WOSM associated programmes.
WOSM is the counterpart of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS). It is a non-governmental organization with General Consultative Status to the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
History In 1920, a conference held during the 1st World Scout Jamboree at Olympia, London agreed to create a Boy Scouts international bureau. An office was established at 25 Buckingham Palace Road, London and The Boy Scouts Association of the United Kingdom International Commissioner, Hubert S. Martin, was appointed honorary director. The bureau's principal task was to co-ordinate discussions and prepare a second international conference in Paris in 1922. At the 1922 Paris conference, The International Conference of the Boy Scout Movement and its committee were constituted and took over the bureau in London.
In 1961, the organisation's conference reconstituted the organisation under the name World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM). Its International Conference of the Boy Scout Movement became WOSM's World Scout Conference ("conference"), its Boy Scouts International Committee became WOSM's World Scout Committee ("committee") and its Boy Scouts International Bureau became WOSM's World Scout Bureau ("bureau").
Member organizations
Membership policy WOSM's membership consists of its remaining founding member organizations and organizations recognized by WOSM as national scout organizations. WOSM's rules protect its founding and existing member organizations by permitting only one member organization in each country and locking-out all other Scout organizations from WOSM membership, recognition and participation no matter how worthy or large their membership. Several member organizations are federations, some with different component groups divided on the basis of religion (e.g., France and Denmark), ethnic identification (e.g., Israel) or language (e.g., Belgium). However, WOSM has never required an existing member organization to federate with other Scout organizations in the country, in order to make WOSM more inclusive and representative. There are numerous Canadian Scout organizations but only one is a WOSM member organization (the Canadian branch of one of the organizations that founded WOSM) which has a French language affiliate which is thereby recognized by WOSM. Other than this inherent limitation on WOSM membership, the basis for WOSM membership includes adherence to WOSM's aims and principles and independence from political involvement on the part of each member organization.
Member organizations in non-sovereign territories WOSM has member organizations in some non-sovereign territories. Aruba - Scouting Aruba: full member Curaçao, Sint Maarten and the Caribbean Netherlands (former Netherlands Antilles) - Scouting Antiano: full member Hong Kong - The Scout Association of Hong Kong: full member Macau - Associação de Escoteiros de Macau: full member French Polynesia - Conseil du Scoutisme polynésien: associate member
Non-national members WOSM historically recognized some non-national Scout organizations: "National" organizations operating outside their original homelands. WOSM's conference admitted and recognised the exile Russian Scouts as the "Representatives of Russian Scouting in Foreign Countries" on 30 August 1922 and the Armenian Scouts in France were recognized as a "National Movement on Foreign Soil" on 30 April 1929. Small, non-voting associations. The International Boy Scouts of the Canal Zone, a group in Panama with Scouts that claimed British and not Panamanian nationality was originally placed under the Boy Scouts of America's Canal Zone Council but, in 1947, was transferred under WOSM's bureau. The group had over 900 members in 1957 and existed as a directly registered group until the late 60s. The Boy Scouts of the United Nations began in 1945 and for years there was an active Boy Scouts of the United Nations with several troops at Parkway Village in New York City but only 14 members in 1959. Both the International Boy Scouts of the Canal Zone and the Boy Scouts of United Nations have long since disbanded. Directly registered "mixed-nationality Troops" were registered after discussions concerning such troops took place at WOSM's 3rd conference in 1924 at which WOSM's bureau was authorized to directly register such groups. It seems that the discussion at WOSM's 1924 conference was, at least in part, prompted by a letter to Baden-Powell from the Scoutmaster of one such troop in Yokohama, Japan. Janning's troop became the first troop directly registered by WOSM's bureau. Only a few troops were directly registered and the practice was soon discontinued with new "mixed" groups being encouraged to join the WOSM member organization of their country of residence. In 1955, only two such groups were still active, a troop in Iraq that disbanded that year, and the first group to be so registered, the International Troop 1 in Yokohama. The only remaining directly registered Troop is the International Boy Scouts, Troop 1 located in Yokohama, Japan. Temporary recognition was extended to Scouts in displaced persons camps after World War II. In 1947, at WOSM's 11th conference the "Displaced Persons Division" of WOSM's bureau was established to register and support Scouts in displaced person camps in Austria, Northern Italy, and Germany. These Scouts did not receive the right of WOSM membership but gained recognition as Scouts under WOSM's bureau until they took up residence in a country that had a recognized national Scout organization, which they could join. The D.P. Division was closed on 30 June 1950.
Structure
Conference WOSM's conference is its general meeting of member organizations' representatives which meet every three years, hosted by a member association. Each member organizations may send six delegates. The conference is usually preceded by the World Scout Youth Forum.
Date Number Location Country Member Countries Host Candidate Countries 1920 Retrospectively referred to as the "First International Conference" London 33 1922 First International Conference (retrospectively referred to as the "Second") Paris 30 1924 Third International Conference Copenhagen 34 1926 Fourth International Conference Kandersteg 29 1929 Fifth International Conference Birkenhead 33 1931 Sixth International Conference Baden bei Wien 44 1933 Seventh International Conference Gödöllő 31 1935 Eighth International Conference Stockholm 28 1937 Ninth International Conference The Hague 34 1939 10th International Conference Edinburgh 27 1947 11th International Conference Château de Rosny-sur-Seine 32 1949 12th International Conference Elvesæter 25 1951 13th International Conference Salzburg 34 1953 14th International Conference Vaduz 35 1955 15th International Conference Niagara Falls, Ontario 44 1957 16th International Conference Cambridge 52 1959 17th International Conference New Delhi 35 1961 18th International Conference Lisbon 50 1963 19th World Scout Conference Rhodes 52 1965 20th World Scout Conference Mexico City 59 1967 21st World Scout Conference Seattle 70 1969 22nd World Scout Conference Espoo 64 1971 23rd World Scout Conference Tokyo 71 1973 24th World Scout Conference Nairobi 77 1975 25th World Scout Conference Lundtoft 87 1977 26th World Scout Conference Montreal 81 1979 27th World Scout Conference Birmingham 81 1981 28th World Scout Conference Dakar 74 1983 29th World Scout Conference Dearborn 90 1985 30th World Scout Conference Munich 93 1988 31st World Scout Conference Melbourne 77 1990 32nd World Scout Conference Paris 100 1993 33rd World Scout Conference Sattahip 99 1996 34th World Scout Conference Oslo 108 1999 35th World Scout Conference Durban 116 2002 36th World Scout Conference Thessaloniki 125 2005 37th World Scout Conference Hammamet 122 2008 38th World Scout Conference Jeju-do 150 2011 39th World Scout Conference Curitiba 138 , , 2014 40th World Scout Conference Ljubljana 143 2017 41st World Scout Conference Baku 169 2021 42nd World Scout Conference Digital 170 2024 43rd World Scout ConferenceCairo 176 , 2027 44th World Scout ConferenceLondon
Committee WOSM's committee is its executive governing body, composed of elected volunteers and its secretary general, which is responsible for the implementation of the resolutions of its conference and governs the organization between meetings of its conference. The committee meets at least twice a year. Its steering committee, consisting of the chairperson, two vice-chairpersons and its youth advisor and secretary general meet as needed.
The committee has 21 members. Twelve, each from a different country, are elected for three-year terms by WOSM's conference. The members, elected without regard to their nationality, represent the interests of the movement as a whole, not those of their country. The secretary general, the treasurer of WOSM and a representative member of the board of the World Scout Foundation and the chairpersons of the regional Scout committees are ex-officio members of the committee. From 2008 to 2021 six Youth Advisors to the WSC were elected by the World Scout Youth Forum. The Youth Advisors participated in all of the WSC meetings and were also part of the governing structure between the meetings. There will be no Youth Advisors from 2024.
The 2021–2024 committee set up work streams to address the top strategic priorities, as defined by WOSM's conference.
Task forces include: Youth Engagement in Decision-Making Sustainability
Workstream Coordination Group Project management support Volunteer management support Monitoring and evaluation support
Standing committees include: Audit Budget Constitutions Ethics Honours and Awards Steering
Incumbent committee members Name Country Position untilDaniël CorsenChairperson2027Mori Chi-Kin ChengVice Chairperson2027Julius KramerVice Chairperson2027David BergSecretary General2027Victor AtipagahVoting member2027Elise DrouetVoting member2027Callum KayeVoting member2027Steve KentVoting member2027Nour Elhouda MahmoudiVoting member2027Martin MeierVoting member2027Mohammad OmarVoting member2027Christine PollithyVoting member2027Marie-Louise C. S. YcossieVoting member2027Jose VargasChair, Interamerican Region2028Diana SlabuChair, European Region2028Saiid MaalikiChair, Arab Region2028Franck RamanarivoChair, African Region2028Mohd Zin BidinChair, Asia-Pacific Region2028Dan OwnbyTreasurerJennifer Hancock World Scout Foundation