May, 2004

The Scout Association of Japan has announced a series of actions from 2004 to 2007 to vitalize groups and councils throughout Japan.

Scouting's 100th anniversary in 2007 is fast approaching and the interest in Brownsea Island is already increasing.

The island, on the southeast coast of England, is the site of Baden-Powell's experimental camp, held in 1907 for 20 boys. Since this first camp Scouting has grown and world membership now numbers more than 28 million.

United Kingdom - "It is with deep regret that I announce the death of our Vice President, the Hon Mrs Betty Clay, CBE, and youngest daughter of our Founder. She died peacefully in her sleep in a nursing home alongside her home in Somerset, on Saturday morning 24th April 2004, just a few days after she and her husband Gervas had celebrated their joint birthday - her 87th and his 97th.

Nelson Mandela, former President of the Republic of South Africa, has been presented the Africa Elephant, the top Scout award in the continent, for his continued support of the growth and development of the Scout Movement.

The World Organization of the Scout movement was invited to attend the Annual World Bank Conference on Development Economics in Europe, held in Brussels in May.

Reykjavik, Iceland, 22 April 2004

The delegates of the European national Scout organizations have elected a new European Scout Committee. Among the six members, four are under the age of 35. This decreased average age supports Scouting's strategic priority to involve more young people within the institutional decision-making process of the World Scout Organization.

Within hours of becoming Secretary General of World Scouting, Dr. Eduardo Missoni (centre) took his seat with the World Scout Committee at its spring meeting in Geneva.

Goodbye and Welcome! At midnight on March 31, Dr. Jacques Moreillon passed his title as Secretary General of the World Organization of the Scout Movement to Dr. Eduardo Missoni. Dr. Moreillon is 65 this year, the retirement age in Switzerland.

March, 2004

In March 2004, the "Jacques Moreillon Room" was dedicated in the Las Vegas International Scouting Museum in the United States.

The story below is told by Dr. Moreillon, just before his retirement as Secretary General of the World Organization of the Scout Movement at the end of March 2004.

January, 2004

The first International Gathering on Scouting and the Environment was held in January in the United Arab Emirates. Rover Scouts from 45 countries in all six world Scouting regions attended.