MoP Bulletin Issue No.28

Messengers of Peace

ASIA-PACIFIC The Messengers of Peace quarterly newsletter is an initiative of the Asia-Pacific Support Centre of the World Scout Bureau highlighting the project, programmes and activities of National Scout Organizations under the MoP Initiative.

ISSUES NO.28 OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2019

InternationalPeace Day Orieenteering of Peace 21 September 2019 Scouts Story on page 2

Story on page on 11

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Indonesia’s Peace Run adds colour to Scouting

SDGs

12 3rd Messengers of Peace Local Coordinators Meet

15 Rovers in Islamabad receive Better World Framework training; becoming active global citizens

NSOs in Asia-Pacific celebrate International Day of Peace with Climate Action initiatives

CLEAN-UP DRIVES 2

TREE PLANTING ACTIVITY

Scouts from different National Scout Organizations in the Asia-Pacific Region joined the celebration of the International Day of Peace on 21 September 2019 advocating Climate Action for Peace.

Scouts planted trees as part of their effort to address climate change, while others participated in clean-up drives resulting to cleaner and safer environment.

In Fiji, a total of 175 plants and 200 tree saplings were planted.

In Brunei Darussalam and Cambodia, tree-planting and clean-up activities in schools and project sites were conducted.

While tree-planting is a good idea, for other NSOs, they opted to do awareness campaigns.

In Afghanistan and Bhutan, Scouts and their adult leaders organised peace rallies, door-todoor campaigns and peace pledges, discussions on the signs and impact of climate change in the atmosphere, land, and oceans and the positive action they can contribute.

In India, The Bharat Scouts and Guides led the “Say No to Plastic� activity where Scouts and Guides explained the harmful effects of plastic to the environment. They also took part in picking up plastic waste in Sambalpur Railway Station as their environmental solution in addressing the growing problem of plastic pollution.

With the climate change initiatives done by Scouts from different NSOs, this is their way of contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals.

Photo (c) Gerakan Pramuka

C L IM A T E A WAR E N E SS

PEACE AWARENESS

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Afghanistan

Bhutan

Brunei Darussalam

CLEAN-UP DRIVES

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TREE PLANTING ACTIVITY

Cambodia

The General Association of the Scouts of China

C L IMA T E AW A R E N E SS

PEACE AWARENESS 5

The theme draws attention to the importance of combatting climate change as a way to protect and promote peace throughout the world.

Fiji

CLEAN-UP DRIVES

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TREE PLANTING ACTIVITY

India

Indonesia

Sri Lanka

CL IM A T E A WAR E N E SS

PEACE AWARENESS 7

Indonesia’s Peace Run adds colour to Scouting

By Erwin Samuel Ramli

Messengers of Peace team of Gerakan Pramuka con-

Wearing their MoP scarves, Scouts enjoyed the peace

ducted a Peace Run and Peace Movie Competition in

run along with other non-Scout participants.

Jakarta, gathering 795 runners and 115 volunteers to

Upon reaching the finish line, different colors were

celebrate the International Day of Peace.

thrown in the air commemorating the victory of the runners. For non-runners who also came, they enjoyed

The event coincided with the “Car-Free Day,” a weekly

taking part in the peace dialogue and playing the games.

event in the country where the main streets of Jakarta are free from vehicles from 6am-11am every Sunday.

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On the other hand, the Peace Movie competition

Photo (c) Gerakan Pramuka

received five entries from different groups which

see another fun event like this.”

created a short clips and shared it in their Youtube channel and posted in scout.org.

Supriyadi, Gerakan Pramuka Vice-Chairman for Youth Programme said, “Messengers of Peace really gives

Participant Dini Suputri said, “This kind of event is

a new colour on Scouting. Nowadays, Scouting is not

rare in Scouting, and coinciding it with the Car Free

only about camping, hiking and other old-fashion

Day is just a crazy yet fun idea. Appreciation for the

activities, but with MoP activity such as this, it has

committee and those who are in charge. Can’t wait to

improved the style of Scouting”.

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Philippine Jamboree features Better World Framework programme

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With the theme “Saving Lives”, the Boy Scout of the Philippines conducted its 17th National Scout Jamboree on 1-7 December 2019 at Camp Kainomayan, Botolan Zambales.

Peace, HeForShe, and Messengers of Peace were showcased. As an additional attraction, information about Scouting in the Asia-Pacific Region was also on display.

The event focused on how Scouting can help address various issues concerning people, nature and the community where Scouts can be catalysts for positive actions.

Apart from that, the event aimed to develop Scouts’ character towards their community so that they may be able to nurture their culture and love for their country.

A creative presentation of each programme, combined with games were conducted to engage more Scouts to the activities. Scout talks were also organized everyday to deepen the knowledge of Scouts about the programmes.

Additional topics tackled were Scouts of the World Award, Youth Engagement in the NSOs Decision-Making Process, and the Scout Donation Platform.

Highlight of the Jamboree was the Better World Framework (BWF) Exhibition where programmes like Scouts for SDGs, Scouts Go Solar, World Scout Environment Programme, Dialogue for

More than 14,000 Scouts and 560 adult leaders were introduced to the Better World Exhibit and 1,500 Scouts and Scout leaders received the BWF Badge.

Orieenteering4Peace and Scouts4SDGs Sherman Sheng Hsiao Ming, The General Association of the Scouts of China

The General Association of the Scouts of China celebrated the International Day of Peace by conducting Orienteering4Peace and Scouts4SDGs event on 6 October 2019 in Kaohsiung City, participated by 250 Scouts.

There were booths during the event which showcased several Sustainable Development Goals, and

Rover from Taichung City Scout Council said,

the Messengers of Peace Programme. Participants

“During the event, every child was [deeply]

were introduced to the importance of land crea-

involved in the activity. [Through] the booth visit-

tures in achieving SDG 15 (Life on Land). Also, the

ing, they could learn more about the endangered

participants were asked to conduct a PEACE in your

species and the nice way to treat the forests.

Mind activity which targets to achieve SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities) and SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and

We hope the Scouts and children, who visited the

Strong Institutions). Furthermore, the team part-

booths, could bring back the ideas [gained] and

nered with Pier-2 Art Centre to successfully conduct

share [it] to their friends and family. Besides,

the orienteering of Scouts where everyone was

[through the] other activities, we also learned

tasked to visit selected museums to understand

more [about] the Messengers of Peace. We hope

their local culture and history.

that different Scout groups can establish their own MoP project, to create impact to their socie-

At the end of the event, participants were in-

ty, and to solve different problems. We hope the

spired to initiate and conduct more activities in

world could change by those tiny MoP projects

their respective communities. Pei Wen Yuan, a

and create a better world,� he added.

Photo (c) The General Associations of the Scouts of China

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3rd Messengers of Peace Local Coordinators Meet, Thailand National Scout Organization of Thailand organised

completing the course, they were awarded with

its 3rd Messengers of Peace Local Coordinators

certificates and green scarves, and were encour-

Training Course on 22-24 November 2019 at the

aged to actively promote Scouting and the MoP

Red Cross Youth Activities Personnel Develop-

Programme in their schools.

ment Center, in Bangkok, Thailand, gathering 58 participants.

The MoP Thailand Adult Training also awarded the Blue Scarf to MoP Local Coordinators who have

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In partnership with Rajadhivas Scout Club, Janta-

been performing and accomplishing the criteria

siri Vittaya School, and Technology Asia Vocation-

set by the NSOT for the past three years. The

al College, the participants comprised of school

presentation of the Blue Scarf was led by Re-

directors and community leaders from northern,

gional Scout Committee Chairman Ambassador

central and eastern Thailand who were trained

Ahmad Rusdi, who also presided the opening

and introduced to the MoP Programme. After

ceremony.

Photo (c) National Scout Organisation of Thailand

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Sri Lankan Scouts advocate Zero Waste

By Nandini Das, Sri Lanka Scout Association

To solve the problem on waste management, Sri Lanka Scout Association (SLSA) conducted national and district levels Awareness Training advocating Zero Waste to Scouts. The training was mainly designed to educate the public on proper waste management.

The Zero Waste training was first introduced to 100 adult leaders on 12 October 2019, who are MoP District Coordinators and Commissioners from 37 districts. The introductory workshop includes

Photo (c) Sri Lanka Scout Association

understanding the concept of Zero Waste, creating a training plan for Scouts, and planning the district level projects.

waste is an extreme approach towards reducing After the introductory sessions, adult leaders

your waste and simplifying your life. As an Air

shared their knowledge and experiences on proper

Rover Scout and MOP coordinator, we must have a

waste management in their respective districts that

proper management and disposal of waste.”

will deepen the understanding of the Scouts on the project, aside from distributing the leaflets and oth-

This was supported by District coordinator S.

er promotional materials to the public.

Meenambika who said that if the programme is implemented in the districts, there would be a

Currently, a total of 5,000 Scouts and 500 adult

revolution on waste management in Sri Lanka.

leaders are trained.

“We are proud to have been instructed to do this,” District coordinator Chathura Tharuka said, “Zero

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he said.

Rovers in Islamabad receive Better World Framework training; becoming active global citizens A total of 235 Scouts participated in the Better

and a roadshow was organised, with 250 Scouts

World Framework (BWF) Integration Camp organ-

actively participating. This event provided aware-

ised by the Pakistan Boy Scout Association (PBSA)

ness on BWF badges including Messengers of

on 16-22 November 2019, in their Islamabad head-

Peace, and Scouts were provided with training

quarters. The camp provided a platform for the

on how Scouts can invite non-Scouts to be active

Rovers to further understand the core values of the

global citizens.

Better World Framework. The presence of the PBSA National Commissioner and other 35 adult leaders

As part of the activity, participants visited three

from different provincial branch associations had

model schools where an estimate of 450 students

largely contributed in running the camp.

were introduced to BWF programme. Furthermore, a WhatsApp group was created to serve as a plat-

Prior to the camp, an awareness programme

form for Scouts to share their action plans.

Photo (c) Pakistan Boy Scout Association

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IN FOCUS: Messengers of Peace Hero 2019 Sam Aliff Ajwad Bin Marzuki The Messengers of Peace Hero Award is an annual recognition for Scouts around the world for their outstanding contribution towards community development, promotion of dialogue and peace and relief in needs through service projects. This year, 15 Scouts were awarded in Kuwait last 30th October to 4th November 2019, three coming from the Asia Pacific Region. One of the awardees is Sam Aliff Ajwad Bin Marzuki from Persekutuan Pengakap Malaysia (PPM).

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Aliff was recognized for his environmental projects in Malaysia, inspiring a number of Scouts to take action towards protecting and preserving the environment. One of his projects is the WalkSide By Rovs Project, where plastic bottle caps were collected and used as designs for pedestrian walkways to encourage local transportation.

A total of 80,000 plastic caps were collected from

Photo (c) Persekutuan Pengakap Malaysia

Scouts around the world including Switzerland, Maldives, Mauritius, Thailand, Myanmar, Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia to build a walkway of approximately 100 meters. A promotional video was made exclusively for the project to acquire support gaining massive attention and interests in social media and different private companies and government institutions. The collection of plastic caps took about six months where the team also conducted promotion in different school, national and private events.

With the help of the local community of Jalan Mesra, Datuk Keramat, the pedestrian walkway was built after two weeks. They also made the path interesting by arranging the bottle caps in floral design and inspirational words that represent the value of Scouting.

This project encourages local commuters to walk going to their destination as the road was constructed removing the problem of trash and stench.

The project has also created an awareness and partnership with the local communities in taking action toward the environment.

Sam has also co-organized other projects such as the River Revival: River Restoration Project with the objective of saving a commodore lizard’s habitat in the Damansara River establishing partnerships with Management and Science University and other organizations to preserve the wildlife habitat and to conserve the river. The project was pioneered by biomedical Science students where they used

enzymatic mudballs to increase the pH level of the river to neutral level allowing the commodore lizard to have conducive homeland. The impact was realized after six months where there is an increasing population of commodore lizard. The project was also recognized in Malaysia Book of Records with the number of mudball (176,000) made creating positive impact to the environment.

Another project is the My Mountain, Gunung Nuang, a tree planting project in conjunction with the re-opening of Mount Nuang, Selangor. The project was conducted with partnership with Shah Alam Youth (SAY) and His Royal Highness Tengku Amir Shah ibni Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah Al-Haj, the crown prince of Selangor.

With Sam’s exceptional experiences and recognition as MoP Global Hero, he was appointed as WOSM Ambassador for MoP and Scouts for SDGs initiatives where he received training for Scouts for SDGs and youth representation during his 5-day stay in Kuwait.

Sam said, “I love green, I love nature so much. I will do everything to make it beautiful again. I will continue to improve the environment condition of my lovely country, Malaysia. Yes! Malaysia is a beautiful country, but there is a side of Malaysia that doesn’t have that beauty. From there, I decided to let the people of Malaysia and the world to see and experience the beauty of nature even though it is an artificial or made out of recycle items.”

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MoP Coordinators training runs in Sabah Azahar Surain, Persekutuan Pengakap Malaysia

Eighty Scout Leaders from the districts of Sabah

ties including the Sustainable Development Goals

came and participated in the Sabah Zone National

(SDGs), website registration, administrative training

MoP Coordinators Course, organized by the Perse-

which tackles the preparation of MoP Programme

kutuan Pengakap Malaysia (PPM) on 1-3 November

documents, and creating their own action plans.

2019 at the Scout Nature Park in Sandakan, Sabah.

The training course was led by MoP National CoordiThe event was created to provide experience and

nator Dr. Amir Hamzah bin Aman who believes that

knowledge to the coordinators in the management

the training course will give birth to new coordi-

and administration of the Messengers of Peace Pro-

nators who serve as catalysts at their districts and

gramme.

states. The experience and knowledge gained during the course will also help to produce more Scouts

They were introduced and exposed to various activi-

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who will initiate and assist the projects.

Scout leads Zero Hunger project in her community

Scouts around the world are doing community

them.

actions to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Another SDG that her team helps is sending children to go back to school. One of them is

Ms Nandini Das, from the Bharat Scouts and

Mithun, whose school fee is being sponsored by

Guides initiated a project targeting the SDG 2:

Scout Abrar Anna, one of their partners.

Zero Hunger. The project aims to reduce hunger and food scarcity in her community.

Mithun said that because he needed to help in their family’s small shop since his parents have

Nandini partnered with food delivery giants: Swig-

their own respective work, his schooling is halted.

gy and Zomato and hotels like Saravana Bhavan

With the sponsorship he receives from Anna, he

in collecting excess food and distributing it to the

can go back to school.

community. Nandini’s team digitally connects to their partners to know where and when to collect

“Abrar Anna is my mentor, my well-wisher and my

the food excess.

best friend. Thank you for paying my school fee in Chennai Corporation school. I promise, I will work

The flow of the work starts when the team

hard and earn respect in the society,” he said.

receives a message from their partners, Scouts will collect the food, then locate the beneficiaries

Other SDGs that the team are also contribut-

and deliver the food to the target community. The

ing are SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and

team is using stainless containers in distributing

Production, SDG 13: Climate Action, SDG 14: Life

the food in all of their deliveries.

below Water, SDG 15: Life on Land and SDG 17: Partnerships for the goals. In their past activities,

Nandini said that they have already strategized

the team promoted the #RECYCEDPAPERBAGS

the work for the whole year and was delighted

as packaging of food products, as well as using

to share that many Scouts have sign-up to join

leaves as natural packaging.

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Monthly Statistics This monthly statistical report shows the current progress of our National Scout Organizations in the implementation of the Messengers of Peace Programme through the data populated at WOSM’s Global Network of Service – www.scout.org. The results are primarily made on the basis of [a] the number of users registered, [b] the number of actual service hours rendered, and [c] the total number of projects posted.

OCTOBER 2019 TOP 10 NSOs (scout.org users) 1. Indonesia 2. India 3. Philippines 4. Malaysia 5. Bangladesh 6. Bhutan 7. Australia 8. Hong Kong 9. Pakistan 10. Thailand

25,715 24,608 19,058 15,366 13,221 7,510 4,438 3,821 3,628 3,592

TOP 10 NSOs (projects) 1. Malaysia 2. India 3. Bhutan 4. Thailand 5. Philippines 6. Indonesia 7. Bangladesh 8. Fiji 9. Pakistan 10. Nepal

TOP 10 NSOs (service hours)

12,736 11,059 6,934 3,394 2,614 1,205 775 555 485 462

1. Philippines 2. Bangladesh 3. India 4. Malaysia 5. Bhutan 6. Nepal 7. Fiji 8. Thailand 9. Indonesia 10. Sri Lanka

547,543,736 197,597,344 65,960,315 47,523,673 27,513,549 13,927,062 8,923,336 8,018,309 6,051,211 3,551,528

NOVEMBER 2019 TOP 10 NSOs (scout.org users) 1. India 2. Indonesia 3. Philippines 4. Malaysia 5. Bangladesh 6. Bhutan 7. Australia 8. Thailand 9. Hong Kong 10. Pakistan

33,863 25,875 19,349 15,537 13,310 7,585 4,478 4,025 3,865 3,766

TOP 10 NSOs (projects) 1. Malaysia 2. India 3. Bhutan 4. Thailand 5. Philippines 6. Indonesia 7. Bangladesh 8. Fiji 9. Pakistan 10. Nepal

12,939 11,233 7,133 3,893 2,653 1,205 788 555 488 473

TOP 10 NSOs (service hours) 1. Philippines 2. Bangladesh 3. Malaysia 4. India 5. Bhutan 6. Nepal 7. Thailand 8. Fiji 9. Indonesia 10. Sri Lanka

547,782,134 198,063,653 91,389,604 66,286,391 29,685,100 13,931,103 10,030,344 8,923,336 6,051,211 3,602,737

DECEMBER 2019 TOP 10 NSOs (scout.org users) 1. India 45,118 2. Indonesia 26,003 3. Philippines 19,594 4. Malaysia 15,724 5. Bangladesh 13,410 6. Bhutan 7,893 7. Australia 4,517 8. Thailand 4,449 9. Pakistan 4,353 10. Hong Kong 3,913

TOP 10 NSOs (projects) 1. Malaysia 2. India 3. Bhutan 4. Thailand 5. Philippines 6. Indonesia 7. Bangladesh 8. Fiji 9. Pakistan 10. Nepal

TOP 10 NSOs (service hours)

13,061 11,543 7,646 4,233 2,658 1,216 851 555 520 477

1. Philippines 2. Bangladesh 3. Malaysia 4. India 5. Bhutan 6. Nepal 7. Thailand 8. Fiji 9. Indonesia 10. Sri Lanka

549,190,299 198,274,091 94,846,554 76,179,370 34,024,871 13,934,448 10,800,504 8,923,336 6,257,687 3,772,093

WORLD SCOUT BUREAU ASIA-PACIFIC SUPPORT CENTRE If you want to know more, or if you want to contribute a story about your MoP project or activity, contact us at asia-pacific@scout.org

Messenger of Peace Asia-Pacific Region (Facebook Group)

www.scout.org/ messengersofpeace

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