With less than a week left to go until World Thinking Day, it is time to think about what activities you can do to celebrate the day and work towards this year's theme of "We can save our planet".
World Thinking Day happens on 22 February. It is the day when Girl Guides and Girl Scouts think about their international sisters, as well as celebrating and giving thanks for the international Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting Movement.
This year's World Thinking Day is themed around UN Millennium Development Goal 7: environmental sustainability, so WAGGGS is asking you to mark the day with activities focused on the environment.
"We can save our planet"
About World Thinking Day 2012
The poorest people in the world are the ones who will most feel the effects of environmental degradation and climate change. Ensuring environmental sustainability is a critical foundation for ending this poverty. Girls and young women of all ages around the world are also differently and disproportionately affected by the consequences of environmental degradation and climate change.
The World Thinking Day theme for 2012 is Millennium Development Goal 7: “we can save our planet” and the aim is to raise awareness of the environment and the impacts our lifestyles and choices have on it, so together we can, as one Movement, speak out and take action to save our planet.
Environmental sustainability is the seventh of eight areas of focus made by 189 world leaders at the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000. It is part of the WAGGGS Global Action Theme; which encourages girls and young women to make a personal commitment to change the world around them by linking to an important agenda: the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals.
BRIEF HISTORY OF WORLD THINKING DAY
Each year on 22nd February , Girl Guides and Girl Scouts all over the World celebrate World Thinking Day. This day was created in 1926 at the 4th Girl Guide/Girl Scout International Conference hosted by Girl Scouts of the USA at Camp Edith Macy. Attendees to this conference agreed to have a special day when Girl Guides and Girl Scouts around the world think of each other and give thanks and appreciation for the International Friendship they find in Guiding. 22nd February was chosen as “this” day as it was the mutual birthday of Lord Baden-Powell founder of the movement and his wife Olave Baden Powell who served as World Chief Guide.
In 1972 during the 7th World Conference in Poland, it was agreed that in celebration, Girl Guides/Girl Scouts could show their appreciation and friendship during the World Thinking Day by not only extending warm wishes to others but also by offering a voluntary contribution to the World Association to support Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting in other countries.. The Chief Guide Olave Baden Powell wrote to all Girl Guides and Girl Scouts asking them to donate “just one penny” and thus the World Thinking Day Fund was formed. These funds assist the Guiding movement in many aspects but notably it assists member organizations with their projects and also support young women to develop leadership and advocacy skills through trainings.
Since 2009 each World Thinking Day has been themed on the Millennium Development Goals which raises awareness of the theme and encourages girls, young women and members of all ages to make a personal commitment to change the world around them. The theme lasts all year. This year’s theme is Millennium Development Goal (MDG-7) which is Environmental Sustainability and therefore Girls Worldwide Say…”Save our Planet”.
WORLD THINKING DAY BADGES
Click on the link below to watch a message from the WAGGGS World Board chairman Nadine El Achy.
http://www.worldthinkingday.org/en/news/21658
