24th World Conf report.doc
Version date: Oct. 10, 2005
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ISGF 24
th
World Conference 2005
Conference Report
Presentation of the Triennial Report
By Jean-Luc De Paepe, Vice-President
Bis repetita placent as Latin people used to say.
I will not of course read again the paper Riccardo and myself drafted for this Conference.
Those of you who had not the courage to read it will save some time and will be delighted to
get this summary. For the faithful, regular and attentive readers of the papers coming from
the World Committee and the World Bureau, the punishment will be lighter as they will
benefit from the executive summary we are going to deliver right now. Everyone should get
what was promised and should obtain satisfaction.
What was I saying?
First of all, this three-year activity report relates to the ISGF World Committee and not to
ISGF as such. The ISGF report would be quite different. It would include all the reports from
the Fellowships, the World Committee and the regional committees. Such a report would be
worthwhile but is not part of our mission.
This three-year period was, as you know, quite unusual. It started in Vancouver under the
presidency of Helen Barker and ended in Lillehammer under the presidency of Riccardo della
Rocca. Between the beginning and the end, we had a duumvirat of almost one year during
which Riccardo and myself, acting both as Vice-Presidents, led the Committee in a two-
headed way after the resignation of Helen Barker. We already said and wrote, even better
we think and acknowledge, that all the members of the World Committee assume their
responsibilities for not having been able nor capable to prevent such an unexpected leaving.
Problems of understanding, misunderstandings, discrepancies in conceiving the work and
the responsibilities, different thinking patterns and deteriorating interpersonal relationships,
all those elements, amongst others, led to the decision, maybe instinctively made,
communicated by mail on the 6th of January 2004. It is a bit like what happens in a family
when the father leaves instead of trying to manage a family where the harmony and the
relationships have become difficult and where the cohesion is sucked up by a juice extractor.
Nobody knows the truth about this case and each of us has to appraise the situation
according to his/her conscience. We had, let's remember it, challenges to implement and
objectives to achieve; they had been entrusted to us by the Vancouver Conference. We also
had one goal to achieve : to turn ISGF into a more financially independent and international
organization, with a more modern and efficient management; an organization open to the
world, with an increased membership, willing to serve, through its many talents, Scouting and
Guiding, local and national communities.
We described in our report some success stories. Let me sum them up :
1. Development of a comprehensive strategic plan. To live, survive and move ahead, an
organization, just like any human being, needs a Strategy based on three successive
questions.
a) The Mission : what are we ? who are we ? Why are we together ? Restating our
mission is not useless.
b) The Vision : In a foreseeable future (ten or fifteen years) what are we going to do
together ?
c) The objectives : Fortified by our essence and existence, endowed with a realistic
vision, how are we going to implement our strategy ? Always with the same
practical motto `Think globally, act locally'. This Conference should help us to
