The new partnership was announced during the 12th Africa Scout Conference in Mauritius in September 2004. The Funding will be used specifically to enhance youth leadership under the project title: Developing Young Leaders, assuring Africa's future.

Through this project, the Africa Scout Region will enhance its capacity to empower young people to participate in national development and thereby bring about positive change to their lives and that of their communities. Among the issues to be addressed include how to integrate young people into the fight against HIV/AIDS, promoting peaceful coexistence, and participating in decision-making processes.

The Jacobs Foundation and the Scout Movement share a common vision based on empowering young people to become positive change agents in society. Since its inception in 1988, the Jacobs Foundation has remained a close partner of the Scout Movement, often lending a helping hand towards the growth and development of Scouting.

The primary purpose of the Jacobs Foundation is to help create those conditions which are conducive to the wholesome development of young people. The Foundation is committed to contributing to the welfare and social productivity of the current and future generations of young people. In seeking to overcome social, economic and ideological barriers, the Foundation's emphasis is on self-help and the exercise of personal responsibility.

The new partnership with the Africa Scout Region will commence with the implementation of the project in six countries: Burundi, Ethiopia, Gambia, Mauritius, Niger and South Africa, and then eventually spread to twelve countries in the initial three year period.

The Jacobs Foundation has indicated a willingness to extend the funding beyond three years, after an impact evaluation of the first phase of the project. The Scout Movement is the world's largest educational youth movement with more than 28 million Scouts, youth and adults, in 216 countries and territories.

The mission of Scouting is to contribute to the education of young people, through a value system based on the Scout Promise and Law, to help build a better world where people are self fulfilled as individuals and play a constructive role in society. In Africa, there are about one million registered Scouts, though it is estimated there are more than twice that number who are active in Scouting.

Jacobs Foundation