At this year’s World Scout Jamboree, KAICIID celebrates the fifth anniversary of its Dialogue for Peace Programme with the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM). Katerina Khareyn, KAICIID Programme Manager for Youth, looks back at five years of successful partnership with WOSM, as well as the programme's most signficiant achievements.
Ever since its establishment, KAICIID has seen young people as essential partners for peace. In turn, as the world’s leading youth organization, WOSM is, at its core, an institution founded on dialogue. For us, this was a natural alliance, and a way for KAICIID to help the Scouts build on the dialogue skills and values within Scouting, and promote them externally to a larger population. Therefore, we take great pride that one of KAICIID's first Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) was signed with WOSM.
The jointly-developed Dialogue for Peace Programme is a key cornerstone of our collaboration, teaching Scouts to build a culture of peace. Last year, the programme witnessed exponential growth in terms of outreach and sustainability. It is now deeply woven into the fabric of Scouting.
This active growth has continued in 2019. In the past 18 months of operation, the Dialogue for Peace Programme has held numerous trainings around the world, equipping over 800 young people from 70 countries with the skills and principles of dialogue. During the first days of the Jamboree alone, hundreds of young people from over 50 countries were introduced to the programme’s initiatives, which were facilitated by a joint team from KAICIID and the Scouts.
We also invited Scouts to play Dialogo!, a game specially designed to equip young leaders with skills such as dialogue, teamwork, speaking, and social emotional learning.
Additionally, our KAICIID/WOSM Dialogue Core Team launched an exciting, new educational programme at this year’s Jamboree: the Interreligious Dialogue Badge, which furthers our joint commitment to create a better world. Like the Dialogue for Peace Programme as a whole, the badge not only recognizes the skills and knowledge of dialogue, but also supports the social and moral values of mutual respect and peaceful coexistence.
Our collaboration with WOSM is an example of a partnership that works to institutionalise dialogue throughout the movement and at every level of Scouting. Through our joint work, we recognise the vital role of youth involvement in conflict resolution, peace education, peacebuilding, and reconciliation, based on United Nations Security Council Resolution 2250 on Youth, Peace and Security.
Over the last five years, the programme’s established success and demonstrated applicability within and outside of the Scouting context shows its potential for sustainable impact on youth across different religions, cultures and social backgrounds.
Looking back at five years of fruitful collaboration with Scouting, we are grateful for this incredible and mutually enriching partnership which, with both partner organizations truly committed to the values of dialogue, undoubtedly has many more years and exciting joint projects to come.