Scouting and Guiding in France

The Scout movement in France consists of about 80 different associations and federations with about 180,000 Scouts and Girl Guides.[1] Next to Germany, France is the country with the most fragmented Scout movement.

National recognized organizations

The national recognized organizations are grouped in two federations and one independent organization.

Fédération du scoutisme Français

French Scouting uniform (Scouts de France)

The Fédération du Scoutisme Français (Federation of French Scouting) is the national member of both the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM) and the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS). The federation has about 120,000 members grouped in five co-educational associations.

Scoutisme Français was founded in 1940 under the Vichy regime. The new organization banned some clubs and gathered others under a broad umbrella. The new club included members from Eclaireurs de France, the Éclaireurs unionistes de France, the Scouts de France, the Guides de France, the Éclaireurs israélites de France and the Fédération française des éclaireuses.

The Members of the federation are:

Conférence Française de Scoutisme

The Conférence Française de Scoutisme (French Conference on Scouting) has about 35,000 members grouped in three co-educational associations:

Scouts unitaires de France

The Scouts Unitaires de France (Unitary Scouts of France) were founded in 1971 in reaction to a pedagogic renewal within the Scouts de France splitting the former Scout troops (unités) in two new sections and implementing coeducation. The association is Catholic and counts about 23,000 members.

Regional or local recognized organizations

There are at least 50 independent Scouting associations in France outside the above-mentioned federations. Most of them are recognized by regional or local authorities, some via religious communities. They have an estimated membership of about 5,000 Scouts and Guides.

Notable among them are:

  • Association Française de Scouts et Guides Catholiques (Traditionalist Catholic)
  • Scouts de Doran (Split-off of the former, Catholic), working towards national recognition
  • Scouts et Guides Godefroy de Bouillon (Traditionalist Catholic, with connections to the Society of St. Pius X)
  • Ecuyers Saint-Michel (Fencing Scouts)
  • Fédération du Scoutisme Evangélique Français (Protestant). Affiliated are a number of smaller associations.

Old Scouts

The Fédération des Associations d'Anciens du Scoutisme (FAAS) is the national member of the International Scout and Guide Fellowship.

The Members of the federation are:

  • Les Amitiés de France Anciens Scouts et Guides (ADF)
  • Association des Anciens Éclaireurs et Éclaireuses (A.A.E.E.)
  • A3-Association des Anciens et Amis des Éclaireurs et Éclaireuses Israélites de France
  • Les Tisons, Anciens des Éclaireurs et Éclaireuses Unionistes
  • Réseau des Parents et Amis des Guides et Scouts de France[2]

International Scouting units in France

History

At the end of 1937, France sent Scoutmaster Raymond Schlemmer to the Cambodian, Laotian and Vietnamese areas of Indochina to oversee the setting up of the Fédération Indochinoise des Associations du Scoutisme (FIAS, Indochinese Federation of Scouting Associations) in all three regions.

See also

Notes

The French language knows two words both for Boy Scout and Girl Guide/Girl Scout. Boy Scout is translated as scout in Catholic and Muslim associations, and as éclaireur in Protestant, Jewish and interreligious associations. Girl Guide/Girl Scout is translated as guide in the Catholic associations, and as éclaireuse in Protestant, Jewish and interreligious associations.

References

  1. ^ "La carte du scoutisme" (in French). La toile scoute. 2005. Retrieved 2014-03-03.
  2. ^ "les Associations" (in French). FAAS. Archived from the original on 2008-11-12. Retrieved 2009-09-30.
  3. ^ "TAC-Districts". TAC-BSA. Archived from the original on 2009-10-13. Retrieved 2009-09-30.
  4. ^ "Overseas Committees". Girl Scouts of the USA. Retrieved 2010-10-02.
  5. ^ "British Scouting Overseas". British Scouting Overseas. Retrieved 2018-02-16.
  6. ^ "Girlguiding BGIFC - Benelux & France". British Guides in Foreign Countries. Archived from the original on 2009-02-16. Retrieved 2009-09-30.
  7. ^ "Scoutisme" (in French). Homenetmen France. Retrieved 2009-09-30.
  8. ^ "Scouts Hellenes en France" (in French). Scouts Hellenes en France. Retrieved 2011-06-27.
  9. ^ "Scouts hellenes" (in French). Festival de la Jeunesse Orthodoxe. Archived from the original on 2012-03-26. Retrieved 2011-06-27.
  10. ^ "Our Troops, by Region and City" (in English and Hungarian). KMCSSZ. Retrieved 2011-06-27.
  11. ^ "Okręgi na Świecie" (in Polish). ZHP pgK. Retrieved 2009-09-30.
  12. ^ "Scouts russes de France" (in French). Festival de la Jeunesse Orthodoxe. Archived from the original on 2012-03-26. Retrieved 2011-06-27.
  13. ^ "Russian Scouts-Scouts Russes" (in French and Russian). Scouts Russes. Retrieved 2011-06-27.
  14. ^ "Organisation des jeunes éclaireurs russes" (in French). Festival de la Jeunesse Orthodoxe. Archived from the original on 2012-03-26. Retrieved 2011-06-27.