Scouting and Guiding in Belgium
The
History
The first Scout Troop was founded in Brussels in 1909. Englishman Harold Parfitt founded the first Scout Troop for British boys, belonging to the British colony in that city. Belgians (notably Henri, son of Antoine Depage) observing the troop's activities also took an interest in Scouting and soon Belgian Scouting began.
Boy Scouts of Belgium (BSB) was founded on December 23, 1910. The first all-Belgian troop was founded in Brussels. They used the British badges, rules and uniforms. This association was open to all boys.
As early as 1911 the BSB founded a Girl Guide or Girl Scout troop but World War I and the German occupation hampered their development, so the founding of GGB was not until December 17, 1919. They also used British badges, rules and uniforms.
Belgium was again occupied by the Germans during
The Sea Scouts of Belgium (SSB), was founded in April 1914. SSB is an open movement concentrating on Sea Scouting only and founded along the North Sea Coast in the Flemish speaking part of Belgium only. SSB did not have any connection with BSB. They also used British badges, uniforms and rules.
Organizations
Active on national or regional level are:
- Guidisme et Scoutisme en Belgique/Gidsen- en Scoutsbeweging in België (GSB, Guides and Scouts Movement of Belgium), member of both the World Organization of the Scout Movement and the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, consisting of
- FOS Open Scouting (FOS; interreligious, coeducational, Flemish), 10 000 members[1]
- Brussels; only WAGGGS-member), 23,000 members [1]
- Les Scouts - Fédération des Scouts Baden-Powell de Belgique (until 2001: Fédération des Scouts Catholiques, FSC, Catholic Baden-Powell-Scout Federation of Belgium, Roman Catholic, partly coeducational ; since 2001: multiconfessional, coeducational, Walloon region and Brussels; only WOSM-member), 58,000 members[1]
- Scouts en Gidsen Vlaanderen (SGV, Scouts and Guides of Flanders; until 2006: Vlaams Verbond van Katholieke Scouts en Meisjesgidsen (Flemish Catholic Scout and Guide Association), VVKSM; since 2006: pluralist/interreligious, coeducational, Flemish), 80,000 members (2017)[2]
- Scouts et Guides Pluralistes de Belgique (SGP, Belgian Pluralist Scouts and Guides; pluralist, coeducational, Walloon), 5,000 members[1]
- Europe et Scoutisme, member of the Confédération Européenne de Scoutisme, 9 groups [3]
- Union Internationale des Guides et Scouts d'Europe, 1,200 members (2006)
- Hanoar Hatzioni, an international Zionistyouth organization
- Onafhankelijke Scouts en Gidsen - Scouts et Guides Indépendants, member of World Federation of Independent Scouts, 3 groups (2016)
There are also a number of local organizations including:
International Scouting units in Belgium
Thanks to the many international institutions in Belgium there are some international Scout organizations active in the country. Among them are the British Scouts Western Europe (part of
References
- ^ a b c d "Les Scouts" (in French).
- ^ "Beleidsnota Scouts en Gidsen Vlaanderen" (PDF) (in Dutch). Scouts en Gidsen Vlaanderen. 2011. Retrieved October 12, 2011.
- ^ "Les Groupes" (in French). Europe et Scoutisme. 2016. Retrieved February 26, 2017.
- ^ "Eclaireurs Unionistes de Belgique - YMCA Scouts".
- ^ Binst, Jean-Marie (December 28, 2018). "Al 110 jaar buitenlandse scouts in Brussel". bruzz.be (in Dutch). Retrieved December 27, 2020.