Scouts en Gidsen Vlaanderen: General Assembly
The General Assembly of the Scouts en Gidsen Vlaanderen determines the substantive policy of the organisation. This Assembly, with representatives from our approximately 90,000 members and leaders, is designed to be as participatory as possible.
The Scouts en Gidsen Vlaanderen is made up of 12 regions, each of these regions can elect a Commissioner, President and Treasurer. These three roles make up the regional council who then represent their local area at the General Assembly. Anyone taking on these roles should be between the ages of 23 to 40, and generally the average age of people in these roles is 24-25.
The General Assembly is a form of representative democracy – meaning that the regional council is elected by each region to represent them.
First, local Group Leaders are invited to elect District Commissioners. Note: Group Leaders should be between the ages of 21 to 40, the average age is 21. The District Commissioners are then invited to elect the Commissioner, President and Treasurer of the regional council. This allows for meaningful participation in decision-making from local to regional to national level.
Also present at the General Assembly is the Central Bureau of the organisation. This consists of a nationally elected Commissioner, President and Treasurer. These roles have a maximum age of 45, with the eldest being 42.
The event is 1-day long and takes place 4 times a year. It rotates around the regions, meaning that everyone has the opportunity to not travel too far. The day itself is free for anyone to attend – not just the elected councils with voting power. Each region has a table in the Assembly and anyone from that region is welcome to join the event and sit at their region’s table.
Guiding and Scouting spirit is at the heart of how the Assembly is run, from workshop spaces for wider learning to camp cooking for the event food, we stick to what we know and do best.
In May 2025, the General Assembly voted for our updated Scouting Values. These had been in place for 20 years and it was time to update them. One year before, at our national Leadership Congress, around 500 local Group Leaders came together to discuss how we practice scouting and what we teach through our methods. The results of this Congress were then later reviewed by a wider audience, through a survey and a Compass Day where parents, leaders, members and critical thinkers beyond our organisation were involved. This year long work of wider participation informed the discussion and decisions taken at the Assembly - it supported us to connect what we stand for to what is happening in our Guiding and Scouting today.
The General Assembly itself is an instance of our values in action. By ensuring participation is not a footnote and that every voice can be heard even if they are not always visible, we enable shared decision-making, led mostly by young people, to be at the heart of the organisation.
The Scouts en Gidsen Vlaanderen are a Component Association of WAGGGS, part of the Federation of Guiding and Scouting in Belgium.