World Scouting and UNICEF sign global partnership to support children and young people
New agreement builds on decades of collaboration to power youth-led action, psycho-social support, humanitarian response and climate initiatives
World Scouting and UNICEF are proud to announce a historic partnership that will leverage the reach and expertise of two of the world's largest and most recognised organisations dedicated to supporting children and young people across the globe.
The partnership takes global-level cooperation to a new level and builds on decades of national and regional collaboration, including initiatives mobilising young people as partners in aiding refugee children and families affected by the war in Ukraine, coordinating local responses to environmental disasters, informing public policy and youth-led pandemic response, taking action to protect the environment and promoting youth-led advocacy and decision-making in international forums.
World Scouting and UNICEF will work together to engage young people as first responders in emergencies, provide psycho-social support and community integration for those displaced by conflict or climate disasters, and promote child rights and youth-led decision-making.
George Laryea-Adjei, Director of UNICEF’s Programme Group said: “UNICEF is committed to equipping young people with the skills and opportunities they need to thrive in a changing world. Climate change brings with it a rise in natural disasters that is expected to increase. In this new reality, empowering youth as first responders – to provide assistance and incident resolution in emergencies – just makes good sense.”
"This partnership represents a significant step towards enabling more young people as global citizens to take action to support their communities in times of need," said Ahmad Alhendawi, Secretary General of World Scouting. “By harnessing the reach, impact and influence of the Scout Movement and UNICEF’s unique reputation, network and technical expertise, we believe this partnership has the potential to deliver transformational support for young people and communities in every corner of the world.”
The partnership will initially focus on empowering and mobilising young people as agents of change to address the climate crisis, which significantly affects their lives and well-being. Through UNICEF and Generation Unlimited’s Green Rising initiative, and World Scouting’s Earth Tribe initiative, both organisations are investing in youth-led climate action and non-formal environmental education to equip young people with the green skills needed to thrive in a climate-impacted world.
Under the agreement, UNICEF will support the scale-up and roll out of Scouting's Champions for Nature Challenge by incorporating green skills into the initiative and expanding the programme to more countries. This will mobilise more young people to take on the challenge of combating the impact of the climate crisis in local communities and become champions for the planet. UNICEF and World Scouting will collaborate with WWF, a key content partner in the Challenge's initial design and development, to support its implementation and expansion among National Scout Organizations worldwide.
"From cleaning up rivers, planting trees, and building green businesses, there’s an accelerating global grassroots movement of young people rising up to tackle the climate crisis,” said Kevin Frey, Chief Executive Officer of UNICEF’s Generation Unlimited. “Our goal is to equip them with the green skills, knowledge and opportunities they need to succeed. The new partnership with World Scouting will help strengthen and expand the Green Rising Initiative, inspiring and mobilising a new generation of young climate champions to lead the way towards a sustainable future for all."
Cynthia Marquez, World Scouting’s Director for Educational Initiatives added: "Young people are already at the forefront of tackling the climate emergency. By integrating leadership and green skills into our educational programmes, we can better prepare young people to address humanitarian crises and environmental challenges of today and tomorrow.”
The partnership builds on a long-standing relationship between UNICEF and World Scouting and aims to harness the reach and influence of both organisations by increasing investment, fostering collaboration and improving partnership action at regional, national and local levels.
In particular, it draws on the success of the UAct partnership between UNICEF’s European and Central Asian Region and the European Scout Region in response to the war in Ukraine. Through a ground-breaking partnership, Scouting’s youth-led humanitarian initiative mobilised 35,000 Scout volunteers across nine countries to assist more than 1 million Ukrainian refugees and internally displaced persons affected by the conflict. Under the UAct initiative, Scouting’s efforts were supported by UNICEF to offer vital psychosocial support and humanitarian relief to people and communities impacted.
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About World Scouting
Scouting is the world’s leading educational youth movement, engaging millions of young people to be active citizens and create positive change in their communities. The Scout Movement engages more than 57 million Scouts connected through a membership network of 175 National Scout Organizations. For more information, visit scout.org.
About UNICEF
UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. Across more than 190 countries and territories, UNICEF works for every child, everywhere, to build a better world for everyone.
About Generation Unlimited
Launched by the UN Secretary-General at the 2018 UN General Assembly, Generation Unlimited is a leading global Public-Private-Youth Partnership on a mission to skill and connect the world’s 1.8 billion young people to opportunities for employment, entrepreneurship, and social impact. Anchored in UNICEF, the partnership brings together global organizations and leaders including Heads of State, CEOs, Heads of UN agencies, and civil society champions with young people to co-create and deliver innovative solutions on a global scale.
