It’s about a year
to the day since we returned from the epic Girls’ World Forum. I thought you might like to know what
happened next.
The other day I took part
in the official close of the Girls’ World Forum (GWF), one year on, via a
webinar with other participants and delegates from around the world. Since the end of the Forum, we have kept in
touch, thanks to the joys of social media, including numerous Facebook groups
and Twitter hashtags.
The GWF was a
unique meeting of minds from around the world, all united by the Guiding and
Girl Scouting promises which we have all made within our organisations. WAGGGS has 145 member countries, at the time
of writing, with 10 million members across the world. I relay that mind-blowing statistic at every
available opportunity, to young members including Brownies, Guides and Senior
Section, and to other interested parties, such as the parents who attended a
recent information meeting for a forthcoming Brownie and Guide holiday. I think to some people, Guiding is still ‘what
Sophie / Olivia / <insert appropriate Brownie name> does on a Monday, or
a Tuesday, or <insert whichever day is relevant>'; it is crucial that we
convey what our members are part of, on a global scale, to those who are
interested. And also to those who are
not interested – let’s make them interested! I am really very much in need of
Brownie and Guide Leaders to enable my units to develop and to grow. Across the country, we have giant lists of
girls who want to join, and not enough Leaders.
So why not find out more about it? You don’t have to live and breathe
Guiding, it can be accommodated into your routine. Visit www.girlguiding.org.uk
for more details about what you could be part of.
But moving back to what I'm meant to be writing about.
The purpose of
the Girls' World Forum was for delegations to go home with a ‘Take Action’ project to deliver
within their organisation. Amy and Issi,
our two fantastic delegates, were particularly struck by our national lack of
women in senior positions within government.
The GWF focussed
on three Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), relating to poverty, the
empowerment of women, and environmental sustainability. Whilst the delegates were trained in the
issues associated with these goals, we chaperones were trained in how to facilitate
and support the delegates to achieve their aims. As you’ll have seen if you read this blog
whilst we were in the US last year, I had a fascinating time meeting chaperones
from across the world, sharing experiences, talking about the challenges we
face and learning about how we can work effectively with our young people to
bring about change.
Amy and Issi
formulated a draft plan whilst we were at the GWF, deciding which MDG they
wanted to focus on. Their ideas
continued to evolve and develop in the months after we returned to the UK.
Amy, Issi and I
presented our experiences to the Guiding Development Committee in November,
which was attended by the Chief Guide Gill Slocombe, Girlguiding’s
International Commissioner Caroline Davis and many others. It was wonderful to hear about the impact the
GWF had on the delegates and I was so proud of them. They then spent the day developing their
ideas with Jen Buche, Project Coordinator for Programme, and I dashed to my Dad’s 80th
Birthday celebration!
I subsequently
met with Jen Buche at Girlguiding Headquarters, after a run-in with an angry
squirrel in St James’ Park on the way. I
don’t trust squirrels. They look so
innocent, but have vicious teeth. Be
aware.
We talked about
the girls’ ideas and about how to take it forward. It had been agreed that we could develop a Go
For It. If you’re not a Guide Leader,
this won’t mean a lot, so let me explain. In a Guide unit, patrols choose challenges
called ‘Go For Its’ which they work towards during a number of ‘patrol times’. There are a plethora of Go For Its for the
patrols to choose from, ranging from old favourites such as ‘Go For It
Glamorama’, to quirky new ones such as ‘Go For It Streets Ahead’ – you can see
the full list of GFIs here.
The process of
developing our ‘Go For It’ then began, with various meetings with the four of
us, where we worked out who was going to write which sections. Many e-mails passed between us over the
subsequent months – ideas, suggestions, reminders. Gradually, we developed the content, all
around the theme of encouraging girls to live a political life and to make
their voices heard locally and beyond.
We wrote activities about characteristics of a good leader, famous
women, political engagement, how government works, lobbying etc., then shared
our ideas with each other, constantly commenting and developing.
We had lengthy
discussions about the name of the GFI; we wanted something which would appeal
to the Guide age-group; a name which was appealing but at the same time would
indicate the serious subject matter. We
went through hundreds of options, with the help of the CHQ staff who made
suggestions. Eventually, Go for It ‘Be the Change’ was born and it will
soon be available for you to download from the Girlguiding website. It is now in its very final stages of
production, along with a lovely badge which the delegates’ helped to design.
So, the delegates' Take
Action plan is complete. We can’t wait
to see what happens once the resource is downloadable and Guides start working
on the activities. If you are a Guide
Leader, be sure to download it and tell your unit about it. Tell everyone in your District, your Division, your County. These girls are the future, and we need to
seriously address the political gender imbalance and encourage our girls and
young women to get involved in politics at all levels, to make their voices heard, to stand up and represent people.
No pressure, but it is up to you.
There is going to be an article about GFI Be The Change in the next Guiding magazine, so look out for it, and spread the word!
Thank you to
everyone who supported us with the Girls’ World Forum, especially to Caroline
Davis. It has been a great adventure and
it was a privilege to be the Chaperone for two amazing young members of
Girlguiding. Developing the Go For It
was an exciting process, and I can’t wait to hear about Guides’ experiences of being the change!
Helen
Beecher Bryant
Chaperone
- Girlguiding delegation to the Girls’ World Forum 2012
