Indonesian Scouts Play Significant Role: Parkinson

Sanur (Antara Bali) - Indonesia`s scouts have played a significant role in scout development internationally, according to Paul Parkinson, chairman of the Scout Committee for Asia and the Pacific.

"You have half of the world`s scout members. Hence, we highly respect and laud Indonesia`s scouts," he stated on the sidelines of the Ninth Asia-Pacific Regional Scout Leaders` Summit 2017, here, Monday.

The number of Indonesian scout members is expected to increase by one million to reach 22.7 million by 2023.

The Bali summit will share best practices in the management of scout organizations.

Held every three years, the meeting will also focus on addressing challenges and obstacles as well as on deciding directions and policies of scouts in Asia and the Pacific.

At least 25 scout leaders and 152 delegations from 30 countries in Asia and the Pacific will participate in the summit.

The participating countries are Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Fiji, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Cambodia, Kiribati, South Korea, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, and Thailand.

Representatives of scout movements from Poland, Spain, Ghana, Egypt, Timor Leste, and Macau were also present as guests.

Secretary General of the World Organization of Scout Movement (WOSM) Ahmad El-Hendawi had attended the summit held on April 22-25, 2017.

"This summit is strategic because it is being organized ahead of the 1st World Scout Conference to be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, in August 2017, and the 27th Asia and the Pacific Region Scout Conference in the Philippines.

Indonesia has the world`s largest number of scout members. According to the 2013 data, the figure was recorded at 17,200,595 and increased to 21,842,404 based on the WOSM data this year, according to chairman of the organizing committee of the APR Scout Leaders Summit 2017 Brata T. Hardjosubroto.

The number of the world`s scout members is expected to reach 100 million in accordance with the WOSM Vision 2023.

"Indonesia has the highest density of scouts in the world. Of the total 109 million young people in Indonesia, 21.8 million are scout members. The ratio is 1:5, meaning that one in every five Indonesians is a scout member," Hardjosubroto noted. (WDY)