Speaking out on Youth Health

For 100 years, the Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting movement has been working to change the lives of girls and young women, to empower them to be responsible for their own lives, and their own health and well-being.  This is a key aim of our adolescent health campaign which began in 2005 and continues today in the form of our new Global Action Theme on the Millennium Development Goals.

In 2005 almost 2000 Girl Guides and Girl Scouts in the Europe Region took part in in our first global survey on adolescent health, They told us that HIV/AIDS, adolescent pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases and eating disorders were the most important health issues for WAGGGS to speak out and take action. 

Ensuring that young people are more actively involved in developing health policies from European to local level, and ensuring that they have access to comprehensive, objective, non-biased, gender and youth-specific information on their health is an important focus for our advocacy efforts.

WAGGGS is challenging girls and young women in Europe and around the world to educate, speak out and take action in each of these areas and raise awareness about the social, environmental, cultural and behavioural factors which impact adversely on young people’s health.  WAGGGS members in Hungary and Cyprus have developed peer-education projects, which provide information on the prevention of HIV/AIDS and STIs in a safe and supportive environment, empowering young people with the confidence to avoid risky behaviours and make informed choices about their health; In Malta, a resource pack on healthy eating “Get Going” was developed by the Maltese Guides in response to the high levels of childhood obesity recently identified there; Latvian Scouts and Guides developed a board game on the dangers of tobacco.   

The Europe Region WAGGGS is one of a small number of youth organizations working with the European Commission to develop the Youth Health Initiative, which aims to prioritize the health of children and young people in Europe and involve young people in tackling the health issues which affect them.

The Europe Region WAGGGS has also participated in a number of European level initiatives to combat HIV/AIDS, participating in consultations organized by the European Commission to develop strategies to promote safer sex for young people and in EU Conferences in Dublin and Bremen to raise awareness of the prevalence of HIV and AIDS in Europe and identify solutions.  

In 2007 the Europe Region organized an event in the European Parliament hosted by Catherine Stihler MEP to highlight how Member Organizations in Europe and around the world are taking the lead in the fight against HIV/AIDS