World thinking day 2014

Each year on February 22, World Thinking Day, girls participate in activities and projects with global themes to honour their sister Girl Guides and Girl Scouts in other countries.

World Thinking Day is part of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts.

The Global Action Theme (GAT) based on the United Nation's Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which aim to improve the lives of the world's poorest people.

The theme for World Thinking Day 2014 is 'Education opens doors for all girls and boys'.

This theme is based on the United Nation's Millennium Development Goal 2, to achieve universal primary education, and is especially focused on making sure girls have access to education. Educating girls is one of the most powerful and effective ways to reduce global poverty.

Did you know...?

- 66 million girls are out of school globally (UNESCO). That's even more girls than all the girls in Canada, Mexico and the United States combined!

- There are 33 million fewer girls than boys in primary school.

(Education First) That's approximately the number of all school-age girls in the United States.

- In some places, there are 90 students to one teacher. (Global Campaign for Education)

- A child born to a literate mother is 50% more likely to survive past the age of 5. (UNESCO)

- A girl with an extra year of education can earn 20% more as an adult.

(The World Bank)

- Girls with eight years of education are four times less likely to be marrie as children. (National Academies Press)

- 14 million girls under 18 will be married this year. That's 38,000 girls today. (UNFPA)

- Even though K-12 school is free in the United States, almost one in every seven US adults cannot read. (US Department of Education, National Institute of Literacy)

The Olave Centre for Guides

The Olave Centre for Guides was built in north London in Olave's memory. This has the World Bureau and Pax Lodge in its grounds. Pax Lodge is one of four World Centres.

Scouts and Guides mark 22 February as B.-P. Day or Thinking Day - the joint birthdays of Robert and Olave Baden-Powell, to remember and celebrate the work of the Chief Scout and Chief Guide of the World. On that day in 2011, a Blue Plaque was unveiled near the site of the house in Chesterfield where she lived, by the Derbyshire County Council.

The Olave Baden-Powell Bursary Fund was set up in 1979 from voluntary contributions in memory of Olave B-P.

Annually awarded bursaries aim to allow girls in Girl guiding UK to further their interests and hobbies and realise their dreams.As a child, Olave learned the violin; her first violin she called Diana. It was a copy of a Stradivarius made by Messrs.

Hill for the Paris Exhibition and many years later it was presented to the Guide Association.

It is still available on loan to Guides who are seriously learning to play the violin prior to them acquiring their own instrument.

Scouts and Guides of Sri Lanka celebrate birthday of Lord and Lady Baden Powell

Scouts and Guides of Sri Lanka celebrate the birthday of both Lord and Lady Powell in different ways in various schools in the island.

Scouting and Guiding which were introduced to the country in 1912 and 1917 were rejuvenated by the visit to Sri Lanka in 1921 of Lord Baden Powell, the founder of the Boy Scout and Girl Guide Movements - and Lady Olave Baden-Powell, the World Chief Guide.

With over 47,000 girls and boys, the Girl Guide and the Boy Scout Associations have become the most popular youth movements in Sri Lanka.

Over 24,000 boy scouts have active companies all over the country including Mullaitivu, Vavuniya, Jaffna and other areas in the North. Scouting has also been introduced in estate schools and international schools.

The 'Boy Scout Core' was started in Sri Lanka, 1912 with the only purpose of 'putting the boy's "spare time" to better use' at Christ Church Missionary School Matale (100km North East of Colombo) by an English engineer, F.G. Stevens. Sri Lanka became a member of the World Scout Movement with just twenty scouts.

In 1917, the Girl Gude Movement was started at Girls' High School, Kandy under the guidance of Jennie Calverly the vice principal of the school. On March 21, 1917, the very first Guide Company (1st Kandy) was formed with the enrolment of 40 girls.

With Ceylon's independence in 1948, the movement needed to stand as an independent member of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS).

The result was the formation of 'Ceylon Girl Guides Association' on April 28, 1951, as a 'full member' of the World Association.The Sri Lanka Girl Guides Association has set up 40 Girl Guide Districts with companies in special schools for deaf and blind children. It has reached most rural areas and also other areas forming active companies in Jaffna, Vavuniya, Kankesanturai and Mannar.

WAGGGS: largest global voluntary organisation for girls

The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS), with over 10 million members in over 145 countries, is the largest voluntary organisation for girls and young women globally.

Its mission is to enable girls and young women to develop their fullest potential as responsible citizens of the world.

The year 2010 marked 100 years since the start of the movement. In Sri Lanka, the Movement has been empowering girls and young women for over 95 years.

The membership, which numbers over 30,000 spans all the nine provinces.

The Sri Lanka Girl Guides Association (SLGGA) is a Non-Governmental, non-religious organisation which is open to girls and women from all walks of life irrespective of caste, religion, and race.

The SLGGA follows a value-based, non-formal educational program focusing on community development, environmental awareness, primary health care, drug abuse prevention, the girl child, adolescent health, HIV/AIDS and the integration of the differently-abled into normal society.

The Association also stresses on leadership training to encourage girls and young women to make their own choice in decision-making at all levels. Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting began in the UK in 1910, spreading rapidly worldwide in 1911 and 1912. It has now reached many more countries. The Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting world is organised into five Regions: Africa, Arab, Asia Pacific, Europe and Western Hemisphere.

Each country's Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting activities are managed by a national Member organisation.

Some countries such as France, Israel, Lebanon, Madagascar and Sweden have more than one Member organisation.

In these countries, the Member organisations are all part of a unified Federation for that country.

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