A People of Peace

It is hard to believe that we are finally in Ljubljana. These last few days have been jammed packed with fun,  fellowship and discussion. In order to achieve all the goals of the forum our delegation was separated into international teams. They were composed of scouts from various regions, with the hopes that the diversity of the group would all for better group participation. Within a few hours the groups were so close that the line between national borders were blurred, and all that remained was a group of scouts trying to make the world a better place.

The first session that we attended was the Keynote speech given by Mr. Ahmad Alhendawi, UN Secretary General’s Envoy on Youth. He encouraged the participant of the Forum to do their best to generate awareness to all of the major global issues, especially the pursuit to change the “troublemaker” image that many of todays youth are given. He said that it was the duty of the youth of the world to be the protectors of peace, and that we must continue the legacy of Baden Powell to be the best youth our nations had to offer.

During the Youth Forum the Youth Delegates of each NSO were tasks to select six youth to represent their interests as the World Scout Youth Advisors to the World Scout Committee. This year twelve very capable youth were nominated for the responsibility of being a world youth representative. The BSA Delegation spent hours trying to determine who we believed were the most worthy candidates might be, and after much debate we came up with a plan. 

Later, e

ach international team was tasked with the challenge of creating a resolution. Getting to see what every scout would like for the Movement is the major purpose of the Youth Forum. This process was facilitated by each group writing about where they would like to see scouting in the next three years, and then drafting team resolutions. This process was a lot more fun than it sounds. We were able to debate major world issues and what try to figure out how scouting could be used to solve these problems. Each group had amazing ideas, and I cannot wait to see what will be passed tomorrow.

These last few days have been amazing and eye opening experiences--one of the most prominent in my life. Needless to say this Forum has gone above and beyond all expectations, and there is no knowing the brilliant opportunities that the rest of the week has in store. Hopefully, we as scouts will be able to fulfill our responsibility to be the Protectors of Peace that Lord Baden Powell envisioned when he developed scouting.