Interamerican Scout Region (World Organization of the Scout Movement)


The Interamerican Region is the divisional office of the World Scout Bureau of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, headquartered in Ciudad del Saber, Panama. The Interamerican Region services Scouting in the Western Hemisphere, both North and South America. Until the 1960s, the "Inter-American Scout Advisory Committee" serviced only Mexico, Central and South America, with Canada and the United States serviced through the then-named "Boy Scouts International Bureau" in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Even today, the Interamerican Region exists more for the benefit of countries south of the Rio Grande, as evidenced by the website being only in Spanish until 2011; consequently, the United States and Canada did not participate as vigorously in regional activities as do other national organizations around the world, however this is changing in the 2010s.
The headquarters of the Interamerican Region moved progressively southward from its inception until 2010, starting in Havana, Cuba, from 1946 to 1960; moving briefly to Kingston, Jamaica, in 1960; immediately relocating to Mexico City, Mexico, between 1960 and 1968; then to San José, Costa Rica, between 1968 and 1992; Santiago, Chile, from 1992 to 2010, most recently relocating to Ciudad del Saber, Panama.
The Scouts of the nations in the Caribbean basin host their own subregional jamborees.
The Interamerican Region contains one of the five countries with no Scouting organization, Cuba, due to political constraints within the country.
This region is the counterpart of the Western Hemisphere Region of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts.

Regional Scouts administered directly by WOSM

The needs of Scout youth in the Region in unusual situations has created some interesting permutations, answerable directly to the World Scout Bureau. For years there was an active Boy Scouts of the United Nations with several troops at Parkway Village in New York City, with but 14 members in 1959. Also directly registered to the World Bureau were the 900 member International Boy Scouts of the Canal Zone.

Interamerican Scout Committee

The Interamerican Scout Committee is the agency that directs and manages the Region based on the objectives, policies and lines of action established by the Interamerican Scout Conference.
The purpose of the Committee is:
The Committee is composed of ten elected members so that there is no more than one member of the same National Scout Organization. These members serve on a voluntary basis, serve six years in their positions, and five of them are renewed by the Conference when it meets every three years. The Regional Director of the Interamerican Scout Organization is the Executive Secretary of Committee.
Currently the 10 members are:
PositionNameCountry
PresidentLeonardo Morales MoralesCosta Rica
1st Vice-PresidentSteve KentCanada
2nd Vice-PresidentRicardo StuberBrazil
MemberKent ClayburnUnited States
MemberLuis SilvestriArgentina
MemberRosario MayorgaEcuador
MemberZaida JoaquinGuyana
MemberHumphrey SchurmanSuriname
MemberLorena GudiñoMexico
MemberRafe LucadoPanama

Pan-American Region Scout Jamborees

The Region has run or sponsored region-wide jamborees in its member countries. Past Jamborees include:
The Interamerican Scout Conference, the highest body in the Region, is made up of delegates from member National Scout Organizations and meets every three years.
The purpose of the Conference is:
The World Scout authorities and observers from various governmental and non-governmental organizations, national and international, who have common interests with the Scout Movement, are invited to the Conference. Each NSO has the right to vote in the Conference sessions, and if one can not attend, the voting right can be given to another NSO.

List of Interamerican Scout Conferences

Pan-American Moot

The Interamerican Leadership Training is a Leadership Training Course in the Interamerican Region of the World Organization of the Scout Movement. Sponsored by the Messengers of Peace program, the training course goals are to strengthen Scouting in IAR through a collaborative effort of sharing, networking, training, and support. The course is held once a year hosted by one of the National Scout Organizations of the Region. The selected NSO is awarded the rights to host the ILT two years in a row.
YearEventLocationParticipating NSOsDates
2013Pilot Interamerican Leadership TrainingCamp Strake, Texas32December 26, 2013 - January 1, 2014
20142nd Interamerican Leadership TrainingGalveston, Texas32December 27, 2014 - January 2, 2015
20153rd Interamerican Leadership TrainingGuatemala City30December 28, 2015 - January 3, 2016
20164th Internamerican Leadership TrainingGuatemala City31December 28, 2016 - January 3, 2017
20175th Internamerican Leadership TrainingQuitoDecember 28, 2017 - January 4, 2018
20196th Internamerican Leadership TrainingPanama CityDecember 26, 2019 - January 2, 2020
20207th Internamerican Leadership TrainingPanama City

Youth of the Americas Award

The Youth of the Americas Award is the only award conferred by the Interamerican Scout Committee. The award is given to persons who have made an impact at the international level.