Dear brothers and sisters, receive from us a fraternal left hand greeting.

After the development of the 28th Interamerican Scout Conference that the Scout Association of Paraguay was kind enough to organize, we would like to present a brief report on the participation of the ICCS in this important event of the Governance of the Interamerican Region of the World Organization of the Scout Movement.

The thematic axis of the Conference focused on three lines of action, which guided its planning and development as well as the formulation of the Regional Plan for this Post-Pandemic stage: Gather, Reconnect and Recover.

First of all, the Regional President, Nicolás Nava, took the necessary steps so that the Interamerica Support Center of the World Scout Bureau would invite the Interamerican Region of the ICCS to participate in the Conference, by virtue of which the aforementioned invitation was obtained, and a Stand was assigned for the promotion of the ICCS together with the World Scout Shop, and promotional Stands for events and activities, likewise, a brochure was prepared with information on the ICCS and the Regional contact in Spanish, English and French.

 

MEET

Days before and especially on November 23, 2022, the Delegations of the National Scout Associations of the Interamerican Region began to arrive in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, venue of the 28th Interamerican Scout Conference.

The Regional President, Nicolás Nava, the Regional Secretary, Juan Pablo Gutiérrez-Alzate and the World Chaplain, Fr. Luis Silva Mariño were present at the Conference. Additionally, the Regional Treasurer, Daniel Corsen Sr. was present and sharing with the CICE Delegation, although he was attending as a Delegate of Scouting Antiano, his National Scout Organization.

We had the opportunity to set up the stand that had been assigned to us and begin conversations with the various delegates of the NSOs of Interamerica, of other WOSM NSOs, observers of the Conference, as well as with the Staff of the Interamerican Support Center of the World Scout Bureau.

Thus, various topics were discussed with the Delegates of member and non-member Associations of the ICCS, and several Delegates, including some young people, showed interest in learning about the work of the Conference and joining the teams that are being formed in the development of the Regional Plan.

The ICCS Delegation also participated in the various workshops and plenary sessions of the Regional Conference.

All the delegations present received the information brochure with contact information and social networks of the Inter-American Region, in their respective languages.

Particularly important was a first contact with the Delegate of Scout D’Haiti, recently admitted to the ICCS, with whom it was agreed to establish a channel of communication and to advance some joint activities in the near future.

In addition, the Payment Plan was initiated on behalf of the Scout Movement of Uruguay with a first payment, corresponding to the 2022 annuity and a payment of the outstanding balances from previous years.

 

RECONNECT

From the ICCS, and taking advantage of the presence of the World Chaplain, we promoted the development of the Celebration of the Holy Mass offered for all the participants, in which some Delegates of different National Scout Organizations, the Secretary of the Interamerican Region of WOSM and other people were present. It was an opportunity to celebrate the contribution of the Catholic Faith to Scouting throughout the American continent.

Within the framework of the Conference, a visit was made to the Itaipú Binacional Natural Reserve, adjacent to the hydroelectric plant of the same name, where, in addition to a tour of the dam facilities, there was the opportunity to participate in the planting of native trees that the Paraguayan authorities promote in that area.

Additionally, as a result of the various conversations, it was possible to learn about the existence of an agreement between the ICCS – IA and the Catholic Scout Movement (one of the NSO’s of Spain), with whom it was agreed to channel the various requests received for the formation of Catholic Scout Groups.

RECOVER

After the formation and deliberation days of the Regional Conference, the election phase was held for the formation of the new Regional Scout Committee.

By virtue of this election, the Committee proceeded to the designation of its Dignitaries, electing Ruben Tadeu as Regional President, with whom our President, Nicolás Nava, had the opportunity to talk about strengthening the links between WOSM and ICCS in the Americas, for which a meeting of both Regional Committees is planned.

After the event, letters of thanks were sent to the ICCS Delegation to the Scout Association of Paraguay, the organizing NSO, and to the Interamerican Support Center of the World Scout Bureau, for facilitating our participation.

We attach the brochures shared with the participants, as well as several photographs taken during the event.