Talk:Philippe Da Costa

Background information


Vice-Chairman Philippe Da Costa as its new Chairman, and also elected John Gemmill as a new Vice-Chairman. Thérèse Bermingham continues to serve as a Vice-Chairman. Philippe Da Costa, supported by the two Vice-Chairmen, then chaired the rest of the committee meeting.

Outgoing Chairman, Herman Hui explained that he had made his decision to resign in the best interests of the Movement, following the turmoil that the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM) has recently experienced, which had led to the departure of the former Secretary General Eduardo Missoni last November. Herman felt that stepping down at this time – the first opportunity that he had had to meet with the full World Scout Committee since last November – would help the WOSM to "turn the page" on recent events and look forward with renewed confidence to the World Scout Conference in Korea in July 2008, and the next triennium.

The World Scout Committee put on record its most sincere appreciation to outgoing Chairman Herman Hui for his service to the World Scout Committee and to World Scouting since 2002, and his chairmanship since 2005. They commended him for his courageous decision to step down and the dignified manner in which he had dealt with the many recent pressures on him personally and on the Committee as a whole.

A message from the new Chairman, Philippe Da Costa, appears below.

“I would like to particularly acknowledge Herman Hui's devotion to our Movement. During difficult moments, he acted as a Scout, faithful to the values and principles of Scouting, looking to safeguard the unity of the Movement and the World Scout Committee.

The present circumstances encourage us to look towards the future by analysing the recent events. We must resolutely continue on the path of unity, serving youth and the ideals of our Movement.

Conscious of its responsibilities, and fully determined to prepare for the future, the World Scout Committee encourages dialogue and commits itself with a firm belief in the improvement of the Movement's way of functioning, so as to better serve National Scout Organizations.

The World Scout Committee encourages each and every one to play an active role in creating the conditions for change that are expected to contribute towards a better world.

The World Scout Committee wishes to remind all members of our loyalty towards Baden Powell's intuition and invites one and all to continue our tradition of social innovation by adapting our organisation to new challenges for a new century of Scouting.”

The agenda of the World Scout Committee meeting dealt with a number of important issues, notably proposals for the future governance of WOSM which will be considered by the World Scout Conference in July. Details of these proposals will be sent to all National Scout Organizations in the coming days.