Interesting facts about VBC and Iraqi Scouting

Ten things you should know about Scouting in Iraq:

1 - Scouting has been here in Iraq for almost a century!

2 - Scouting in Iraq has been "de-certified" by the WOSM twice due to wars or politicization of the program.

3 - Iraqi Scouting is run through the schools, via the Ministry of Education, as a nationwide youth program.

4 - Boy Scouts and Girl Guides are the two programs run by the Ministry of Education. Younger children in the program are called Cubs / Flowers and the older children are called Scouts / Guides.

5 - Iraqi Scouting is still not re-certified by WOSM, but they are working on it!

6 - There are over 100,000 Scouts in Iraq, but the programs vary greatly in their organization and scope - they do not have a 'National HQ" like we do in the US.

7 - Both the GZC and the VBC are not "councils" in the US sense. We do not govern or control any aspect of Iraqi Scouting, but are instead a conduit for volunteer time, talent, and energy into the local Iraqi communities to help Scouting start and flourish in areas that are under-served.

8 - Victory Base Complex has over a half dozen camps, and over 30,000 people - that's a lot of potential Scouting volunteers!

9 - There is an ongoing effort to move Scouting into a separate ministry that reports directly to the Prime Minister.

10 - Iraqi Scouts don't do flag lowerings! Their national flag has the name of Allah on it, and thus goes up and stays up as required by their culture. They also generally do not know what a marshmallow is! However, within 5 seconds of being given one for a S'more, an Iraqi scout can figure out that it burns! : ) Some things are universal!