Promising Practises

Over 700,000 trees have been planted in a four year period to help save two of Australia’s largest river systems. The aim of the Murray Darling Rescue – named after the Murray River and the Darling River was established in 2002, and has been a very successful project for Scouts Australia in being proactive in environmental management; teaching Scouts the importance of our natural environment and working towards their award scheme badges; generating corporate relationships; and displaying Scouting in a very positive light in local and national media.

Child labour project, Egypt The project was developed in response to the needs of working children, which were identified in Egypt during the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s. Although the minimum age of employment is 14 years of age, young people who drop out of formal education may start vocational training at the age of 12 years. The law does prohibit the employment of young people under the age of 17 in hazardous occupations and includes laws to protect young workers against exploitation and harmful working practices, e.g. their working day is limited to six hours.

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Extension Scouting Programme (ESP), Kenya

1200 Scouts in Kenya are now part of the Extension Programme for young people who are street children or children living in difficult circumstances, e.g. being AIDS orphans, or through one or both parents having AIDS,or through disability . There are 24 Units set up all over the country, all using the Scout Method to teach young people life skills, vocational skills and to help them to have some fun and be like other young people of their age.

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Scouting for ethnic minority communities, Slovakia The Roma community, often referred to as ‘gypsies’, is seen as a problem in most European countries, due in part to their nomadic nature and exoctic culture. In eastern and central Europe the Roma community is the region’s most marginalized and vulnerable minority. The community is spread across most of this region and the Roma population in Slovakia is around half a million, from a total population of five and a half million people.

Poverty is widespread within the Roma community and many live in ghettos on the edge of urban centers in unhealthy housing. There are high levels of unemployment, partly due to the low level
of skills within the community. The children are most affected. As many as half of Roma children do not complete primary school and Roma children often end up working on the streets to support their families. This results in the community becoming more and more marginalized from the rest of society in Slovakia.

Scouting didn't exist in the Roma community before year 2000. The small independent Club of Right Roma boys and girls was founded in that year but to have a bigger impact in their community
and become part of the world-wide family of Scouting it had to become part of Slovensky Skauting.

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