The projects are as varied as our different cultures and ways of life, but they have something special in common: these projects will make a difference to the lives of other people and communities at a time when more than ever we need to work to build a culture of peace.

Here are just some examples of the inspirational projects launched by Scouts across the world:

Scouts in Brazil are working on a project called "Let's Disarm out Children" which aims to encourage children and adolescents to stay away from fire arms of any kind, even the toy ones, so that young people grow up learning how to resolve disputes through dialogue and compromise, not violence.

Scouts in Saudi Arabia have peace education built into their Scout programme and are running many events and gatherings to promote intercultural understanding, tolerance and respect. They will hold their next big event in February 2006. The King of Saudi Arabia has donated a substantial sum to Scouting to support the development of the Gifts for Peace and we are very grateful for this valued support for the project.

Scouts in Hong Kong will work on four major projects dealing with social equity, environmental sustainability, disability awareness and the integration and support of children with special needs into Scouting.

Scouts in El Salvador are working to combat child labour. They are offering greater possibilities to young children, including education, recreation (the right to play and just be a child), and support for children who have been exploited or even abused, helping them to develop skills to keep them off the streets and keep them safe.

Scouts in Indonesia will hold 32 special camps to help to teach street children about their rights and give them possibilities to develop basic skills. Indonesian Scouts will be learning about the issues surrounding this difficult subject and where possible street children will be integrated into Scout units.

Scouts in the United Kingdom will work on projects on a range of areas for example, bullying, working with people with learning difficulties, bringing Scouting to new communities and developing community leadership skills for young people from socially deprived areas.

Scouts in Mauritius will be "Bringing back a smile to Vulnerable Children" through a project to help all sorts of children in difficult circumstances, e.g. street children, handicapped children, children in shelters or reformative institutions and in deprived areas. They will promote conflict management, peace education, integration, violence against children and illiteracy.

Scouts in New Zealand will be promoting health education in relation to the problems that young people face in New Zealand. They will promote skin cancer awareness, education for combating obesity, psychological abuse, physical abuse, substance abuse and the growing problem of youth suicide.

Scouts in Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo will be working on projects to offer better possibilities to young people in difficult circumstances. The project will reach out to child soldiers, street children, orphans, handicapped children, and work towards reintegrating them back into society and re-educating them. The project is called AMAHORO, which means 'peace' in Kirundi & Kinyarwandan (native languages of Burundi and Rwanda).

Scouts in Switzerland are encouraging all young people to become peacemakers in their communities. The Scouts will deal with bullying, learning how to solve conflicts at school and in the community, and will learn about children's rights. They will work towards the integration of other marginalized groups into their Scouting, learning about social freedom and working with Non-Governmental Organisations to support community projects.

Scouts in South Africa are building on their successful HIV/AIDS Education Programme so that young people and adults across South Africa are aware of the real facts about HIV and AIDS and can act as peer educators. Scouts will take part in numerous projects to support this awareness campaign and directly support people living with HIV and AIDS through different provincial projects.

…And millions of Scouts are working on other projects. We will give you another update in the near future.