Guides and Scouts reaching out in the inner cities

19 Guide and Scout leaders from ten countries across Europe  have spent the last week at the National Training Centre of the Scouts et Guides de France outside Paris,   discussing ways in which Guiding and Scouting can reach out to young people living in the inner cities.  



They were taking part in a seminar organized by the Europe Region WAGGGS and the European Scout Region and supported by the European Youth Foundation of the Council of Europe as part of the All Different All Equal campaign - the European campaign to promote Diversity, Human Rights, and Participation organized by the Council of Europe, which is mobilizing young people, youth organizations and other NGOs, and governments at local and national level, to fight against intolerance and discrimination in the 49 European countries belonging to the Council of Europe’s Cultural Convention.  

The aim of the seminar, which coincided  with an outbreak of rioting in the Paris banlieues near the venue, was to examine how Guiding and Scouting can reach out to children and young people in inner-city areas, and to equip young leaders with the knowledge and tools to implement projects to develop Guiding and Scouting in urban communities.  The disturbances heightened the discussions on how Guiding and Scouting can reach out to young people living in the inner cities, particularly those from marginalized or socially-excluded backgrounds.   

As a result of the seminar, 17 projects have been developed by the participants which will be implemented in the near future.