His Majesty has asked Dr Eberhard von Koerber, for many years, Chairman of the World Scout Foundation (and himself a major donor to this programme), and Dr Abdullah Nasseef, WSF Board Member from Saudi Arabia, to represent Him at a meeting next week with his Majesty King Abdullah, to report on progress to date and discuss needs for long term funding.

The "Gifts for Peace" programme was inspired by the King of Saudi Arabia in 2001, when as Crown Prince, he called on the Scouts of the world to be "Messengers for Peace".

The aim of this programme is to guide and lead the world's 28 million scouts to work in their communities through peace education, conflict prevention and intercommunity-intercultural bridge-building.

The impact of the " Gifts for Peace" programme can be seen in over 70 countries where scouts are helping to build bridges between communities, they are helping to stop bullying in schools or helping marginalized young people to rejoin mainstream society.

An interactive cdrom and Website ScoutPAX - has been developed and widely distributed, showing how young people can learn and practice conflict resolution and community action. A global Photo Competition is soon to be launched, and a series of international meetings is being planned, starting in Jubail, Saudi Arabia, under the patronage of the Saudi King.

The " Gifts for Peace" is now the single most important global programme for young people of all faiths involved in peace building and conflict resolution. Our vision: to have 28 million young people in 150 countries working for peace.

It is now entering the second phase where long term programmes are being planned in scout Associations throughout the world.

Much of this has been supported by the seed funding provided by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. World Scouting is now seeking funding for the long term programme.