The Association of Scouts of Azerbaijan ( az, Azərbaycan Skautlar Assosiasiyası), (ASA) the national Scouting organization of

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of t ...

, was founded in 1997, and became the 150th member of the

World Organization of the Scout Movement The World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM ) is the largest international Scouting organization. WOSM has 173 members. These members are recognized national Scout organizations, which collectively have around 43 million participants. WOSM ...

on 20 August 2000. In 2017 it was admitted as a full member in the

World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS ) is a global association supporting the female-oriented and female-only Guiding and Scouting organizations in 152 countries. It was established in 1928 in Parád, Hungary, and has its ...

. The coeducational association has 1,748 members as of 2012, about 35% are girls.

History

ASA was founded on October 11, 1997, when Namik Jafarov, former president of the association, gathered the first members of the new movement and held the first Scout camp in

Nabran Nabran is the municipality of the capital city of the Khachmaz region which is located in Khachmaz Rayon of Azerbaijan, close to the Russia-Azerbaijan border. It has a population of 300,000. The municipality consists of the following villages Nabra ...

. On August 20, 2000 ASA was invited to join WOSM and the Eurasia Scout Region. Branch offices exist in

Shaki Rayon Shaki District ( az, Şəki rayonu) is one of the 66 Administrative divisions of Azerbaijan, districts of Azerbaijan. It is located in the north of the country and belongs to the Shaki-Zagatala Economic Region. The district borders the districts ...

Barda Rayon Barda District ( az, Bərdə rayonu) is one of the 66 districts of Azerbaijan. It is located in the center of the country and belongs to the Aran Economic Region. The district borders the districts of Tartar, Agdam, Aghjabadi, Zardab, Agdash, an ...

, Nakhchivan, Ismailli Rayon,

Khachmaz Rayon Khachmaz District ( az, Xaçmaz rayonu; lez, Хъачмаз район) is one of the 66 districts of Azerbaijan. It is located in the north-east of the country and belongs to the Guba-Khachmaz Economic Region. The district borders the districts ...

Zaqatala Rayon Zagatala District ( az, Zaqatala rayonu; av, Закатала мухъ, translit=Zakatala muq; Tsakhur: Закаталайни район) is one of the 66 districts of Azerbaijan. It is located in the north of the country and belongs to the S ...

Aghjabadi Rayon Aghjabadi District ( az, Ağcabədi rayonu) is one of the 66 districts of Azerbaijan. It is located in the centre of the country and belongs to the Aran Economic Region. The district borders the districts of Khojavend, Agdam, Barda, Zardab, Bey ...

, Ganja, and Yevlakh Rayon. As of 2004, there are 1,356 registered Scouts and leaders. Half of the registered Scouts live in the capital city of Baku. The remainder is spread throughout the countryside. Scouts of Azerbaijan participated in the 1998–1999

World Scout Jamboree The World Scout Jamboree is a Scouting jamboree of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, typically attended by several tens of thousands of Scouts from around the world, aged 14 to 17. The first World Scout Jamboree was organized by Th ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

, as well as several regional National Jamborees, and the second Eurasian Scout Conference, held in Baku in September, 2004. The Scouts are members of the National Assembly of Youth Organizations of the Republic of Azerbaijan (NAYORA). There was a parliamentarian interest group to create an Association of Azerbaijan Girl Guides, but this lapsed prior to 2003. A delegation from the

visited Azerbaijan between 29–31 January 2016 and discussed the possibilities of membership in the WAGGGS by 2017. Members of the WAGGGS delegation met with the president and national committee of ASA, Baku, Sheki, and Bilasuvar Scout groups, NAYORA president Seymur Huseynov, Deputy Minister of Youth and Sport of the Republic of Azerbaijan Intigam Babayev, and Head of the Department İndira Hajiyeva. In January 2019, a new fourth iteration of branding for the ASA was launched, which incorporates the Azerbaijan carpet of Gasimushagy subgroup, '' ophrys caucasica'', and

clover Clover or trefoil are common names for plants of the genus ''Trifolium'' (from Latin ''tres'' 'three' + ''folium'' 'leaf'), consisting of about 300 species of flowering plants in the legume or pea family Fabaceae originating in Europe. The genus ...

as stylized form of the heraldic

trefoil A trefoil () is a graphic form composed of the outline of three overlapping rings, used in architecture and Christian symbolism, among other areas. The term is also applied to other symbols with a threefold shape. A similar shape with four ring ...

, used as the main element in the logo of most

Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting A Girl Guide or Girl Scout is a member of a section of some Guiding organisations who is between the ages of 10 and 14. Age limits are different in each organisation. The term Girl Scout is used in the United States and several East Asian co ...

organizations. The rebrand has political overtones as both rug and foliage are unique to the region now covered by the ''de facto''

Karabakh Karabakh ( az, Qarabağ ; hy, Ղարաբաղ, Ġarabaġ ) is a geographic region in present-day southwestern Azerbaijan and eastern Armenia, extending from the highlands of the Lesser Caucasus down to the lowlands between the rivers Kura and ...

2019-2021

Ideals and program

The

Scout Motto The Scout Motto of the Scout movement is, in English, "Be Prepared", with most international branches of the group using a close translation of that phrase. These mottoes have been used by millions of Scouts around the world since 1907. Most of ...

is ''Daima Hazır'', ''Be Prepared'' in Azeri. The Azeri noun for a single Scout is ''Skaut''. The Scout emblem incorporates the tricolor blue-red-green colors of the

flag of Azerbaijan The national flag of Azerbaijan ( az, Azərbaycan bayrağı), often referred to in Azerbaijani language, Azerbaijani as ( en, Tricolour flag), is a horizontal tricolour (flag), tricolour that features three equally sized bars of bright blue, ...

with two five edged stars rounded by rope and tied in a

reef knot The reef knot, or square knot, is an ancient and simple binding knot used to secure a rope or line around an object. It is sometimes also referred to as a Hercules knot. The knot is formed by tying a left-handed overhand knot between two ends, ...

at the bottom. The Scout uniform consists of a khaki-colored shirt with shoulder straps, with adjustable sleeves, khaki-colored trousers or shorts, with a brown belt, and a tricolor blue-red-green neckerchief with a white border edge. * 6–12 Cub Scouts * 12–18 Scouts * 18-above Rovers and Leaders The

Scout promise The Scout Promise (or Oath) is a spoken statement made by a child joining the Scout movement. Since the publication of ''Scouting for Boys'' in 1908, all Scouts and Girl Guides around the world have taken a Scout (or Guide) promise or oath to li ...

is "On my honor I promise that I will do my best, to do my duty to my community and Azerbaijan, to help other people at all times, to obey the Scout Law."

References

External links

Yahoo group for Scouting in Azerbaijan
* https://web.archive.org/web/20100620093107/http://girlscouts.org/who_we_are/global/overseas/usagos_resource_bulletin_spring2006.pdf * https://web.archive.org/web/20071223014119/http://www.nayora.az/members.html * http://www.aworc.org/bpfa/res/crep/az00001.html * http://azeriscout.narod.ru/images/hex454.jpg * http://azeriscout.narod.ru/images/hex6.jpg * http://www.scout.az {{WAGGGS, europe World Organization of the Scout Movement member organizations World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts member organizations Scouting and Guiding in Azerbaijan Organizations established in 1997