Happy World Thinking Day 2009!

19 February 2009

I am very happy to share my first World Thinking Day message with all of you. This is a very special day in our calendar as Girl Scouts and Girl Guides all around the world think of each other and give thanks and support to each other in many different ways.

This year’s theme is girls worldwide say "stop the spread of AIDS, malaria and other diseases". It links directly to our new Global Action Theme: girls worldwide say "together we can change our world." The theme encourages girls and young women to make a personal commitment to change the world around them and affirms WAGGGS’ commitment to achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals.

The messages and stories posted on the World Thinking Day website reveal that Girl Guides and Girl Scouts all over the world have been showing their commitment to the theme and have prepared lots of activities to raise awareness of these illnesses. Thank you all for your work!

If you have not already done so, I encourage you to take an active part to support WAGGGS in these efforts by completing the activities that you can find on our website about HIV and AIDS, malaria and other diseases. And don’t forget you can purchase the official World Thinking Day badge from our online shop.

It is also wonderful to see how many of you have been thinking of your sister Girl Guides and Girl Scouts across the world, asking questions and sharing information as well as fundraising money for the World Thinking Day Fund.

World Thinking Day helps to raise funds to support the work done by WAGGGS and the International Girl Guide and Girl Scout Movement. The funding provides high quality training so girls and young women across the world can develop international leadership skills and make friends from every corner of our world. The World Thinking Day Fund is also used to develop non-formal educational programmes and to support the work of our Member Organizations, to carry out projects and advocacy campaigns and to sponsor young delegates at international events such as the UN Commission on the Status of Women, which begins shortly after Thinking Day in New York. Your help is needed just as much today as it was in 1932, when the Fund was created to provide financial support for the work of WAGGGS.

Our future World Thinking Day themes will all be tied to the UN Millennium Development Goals. In 2010, the theme will be girls worldwide say “together we can end extreme poverty and hunger”.

Next year’s Thinking Day will be very close to 10 April 2010, the start of our celebrations of the Centenary of Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting. What an exciting moment! In the meantime, please share your thoughts, ideas and details of your projects for World Thinking Day 2009 and inspire others!

Yours in Guiding and Scouting
Margaret Treloar