MoP clocks 10 million service hours as Scouts engage for peaceful elections in Africa
Monday, May 20, 2019
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Even as the final results of the anxiously awaited Kenyan elections are yet to confirm a clear winner, Scouts in the country have been extensively advocating for peaceful behaviour amongst citizens. Not so long ago, Scouts from Ghana in western part of Africa implemented a nationwide project also to ensure peaceful elections. With these latest projects and several hundred others registered on the online platform scoutmessengers.org, the flagship initiative of World Scouting – Messengers of Peace (MoP) - has exceeded 10 million hours of community service from Scouts around the world. This morning, the MoP platform says ‘Scouts across the world have provided 10,240,526 service hours on creating a better world!’
Extreme violence following the previous national elections in Kenya (2007) saw over a 1000 people killed and hundreds of thousands left homeless and displaced. For several days, the premises of World Scout Bureau Africa Regional Office had turned into a refugee camp with slum dwellers scampering for safety in fear of their lives. This time around, the Scouts have done their best through Messengers of Peace to ensure a safe build up to the elections.
For the last ten years Ghana has been successful in conducting peaceful elections but conflicts arising in the last one year have created instability in some regions putting at risk the good work of many years. Ghana is widely regarded as one of the most promising countries in Africa and has been in the list of fastest growing economies in the continent for several years now. The Ghana Scout Association undertook a Messengers of Peace project to educate young people in peace and leadership, and to promote active citizenship of the youth to prevent violence. Ghana Scouts also brought together several other youth organisations to join hands with the Scouts in spreading the message of peace in the community.