More than a party… we are recognising 100 years of success

On 10 April, Centenary Celebration Day, Girl Guides and Girl Scouts all over the world celebrated the 100th anniversary of international Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting. The centenary theme for 2012 is ‘Share’, following ‘Plant’ in 2010 and ‘Grow’ in 2011.

Girl Guides and Girl Scouts around the world held different celebration events and used the opportunity to share Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting with their local communities.

Celebrations included Girl Guides and Girl Scouts of all ages sharing cakes, sharing stories of how Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting affected their lives, sharing community work and planting trees. Girl Scouts of Southeastern Michigan planted daisy seeds as part of the Girl Scouts USA Forever Green campaign and made posters to ’Share’!

President of Ireland Mr Michael D. Higgins hosted a group of 50 Girl Guide leaders, Ladybirds, Brownies and Senior Branch members. He said reaching such a landmark was a wonderful achievement and congratulated the IGG for inspiring generations of children to respect ecology and nature. 

Nepal Scouts participated in the cleaning campaign organized by the Kathmandu Metropolitan City at Bhagwan Paw, Swaymbhu, the holy place of the Buddhist Swaymbhunath Temple. The Honarable Youth and Sports Minister, Ms. Kamala Roka and the Honorable Youth and Sports Home Minister, Mr. Gopi Achhami also participated in the program. 

In Peru the Guías Scouts del Perú launched a new campaign on Millennium Development Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability. Peru’s local councils launched their own projects on 10 April and a major celebration is going to be held on 5 June, World Environment Day.

At a global level, WAGGGS marked the Centenary Celebration Day on 10 April at our four World Centres by holding celebrations with volunteers, participants and local communities as well as with a party at the WAGGGS World Bureau in the UK.

WAGGGS also launched a new marketing campaign called Imagine More, which will help Member Organizations, leaders, volunteers and girls to share Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting with the world. Visit our Imagine More website section for more information.

Centenary Celebration Day was also a chance to collect voices for the Stop the Violence campaign; we now have nearly 7,500 voices from over 100 countries. Please continue to share your voice with the campaign and help us to speak out and stop violence against girls and young women.