The Interamerican Region is the divisional office of the World Scout Bureau 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. WOS ...

, headquartered in Ciudad del Saber, Panama. The Interamerican Region services

Scouting Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpacking ...

in the Western Hemisphere, both

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

. Until the 1960s, the "Inter-American Scout Advisory Committee" serviced only Mexico, Central and South America, with

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

serviced through the then-named "Boy Scouts International Bureau" in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, Ontario, Canada. Even today, the Interamerican Region exists more for the benefit of countries south of the

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The length of the Rio G ...

, as evidenced by the website being only in Spanish until 2011; consequently, the

and

did not participate as vigorously in regional activities as do other national organizations around the world, however this is changing in the 2010s. The headquarters of the Interamerican Region moved progressively southward from its inception until 2010, starting in

Havana, Cuba Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

, from 1946 to 1960; moving briefly to

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley Inter ...

, in 1960; immediately relocating to

Mexico City, Mexico Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley of Mex ...

, between 1960 and 1968; then to

San José, Costa Rica San José (; meaning "Saint Joseph") is the capital and largest city of Costa Rica, and the capital of the province of the same name. It is in the center of the country, in the mid-west of the Central Valley, within San José Canton. San ...

, between 1968 and 1992;

Santiago, Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital (political), capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated Regions of Chile, region, t ...

, from 1992 to 2010, most recently relocating to

Ciudad del Saber Panama's Ciudad del Saber (Spanish for ''City of Knowledge'') is a government-sponsored cluster of academic organizations, technology companies and non-governmental organizations, managed by the foundation of the same name. It is located just acros ...

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

. The Scouts of the nations in the

Caribbean basin In Geography, the Caribbean Basin is generally defined as the area running from Florida westward along the Gulf coast, then south along the Mexican coast through Central America and then eastward across the northern coast of South America. This ...

host their own subregional jamborees. The Interamerican Region contains one of the five countries with no Scouting organization,

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

, due to political constraints within the country. This region is the counterpart of the Western Hemisphere Region of 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 Girl Guides, female-oriented and female-only Guiding and Scouting organizations in 152 countries. It was established in 1928 in Parád, Hungary, ...

(WAGGGS).

Regional Scouts administered directly by WOSM

The needs of Scout youth in the Region in unusual situations has created some interesting permutations, answerable directly to the

World Scout Bureau 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 ...

. For years there was an active

Boy Scouts of the United Nations The Boy Scouts of the United Nations existed from 1945 through perhaps the early 1980s as the Scouting association serving the families of diplomats and staff of the United Nations, active in both Geneva and at Parkway Village in New York. The or ...

with several troops at Parkway Village in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, with but 14 members in 1959. Also directly registered to the World Bureau were the 900 member

International Boy Scouts of the Canal Zone The Boy Scouts of the Panama Canal Zone were founded in 1947, recognized by the World Organization of the Scout Movement in 1955, and had 970 members in 1957. The organization had ties to the Boy Scouts of the United Nations, and existed at least ...

Interamerican Scout Committee

The Interamerican Scout Committee is the agency that directs and manages the Region based on the objectives, policies and lines of action established by the Interamerican Scout Conference. The purpose of the committee is: * Approve the Regional Plan. * Acting as an advisory body of the World Scout Committee in matters relating to the Region. * Stimulate, promote and support global, regional and subregional events in the Region. * To act in the name and representation of the Interamerican Scout Conference between its sessions. The committee is composed of eight elected members so that there is no more than one member of the same National Scout Organization. These members serve on a voluntary basis, serve three years in their positions. The Regional Director of the Interamerican Scout Organization is the Executive Secretary of the Committee. Currently (2022 - 2025) the 10 members are:

Pan-American Region Scout Jamborees

The Region has run or sponsored region-wide jamborees in its member countries. Past Jamborees include: * 1st Pan-American Jamboree-

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

1965 * 2nd Pan-American Jamboree- Asunción, Paraguay 1970 * 3rd Pan-American Jamboree- Bogota, Colombia 1974 * 4th Pan-American Jamboree-

Porto Alegre, Brazil Porto Alegre (, , Brazilian ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of 1,488,252 inhabitants (2020) makes it the twelfth most populous city in the country and the center of Brazil's fift ...

1981 * 5th Pan-American Jamboree-

1985 * 6th Pan-American Jamboree-

Villarrica, Chile Villarrica is a city and commune in southern Chile located on the western shore of Villarrica Lake in the Province of Cautín, Araucanía Region south of Santiago and close to the Villarrica Volcano ski center to the south east. Residents of Vi ...

1989 * 7th Pan-American Jamboree- La Calera, Colombia 1990 * 8th Pan-American Jamboree-

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

1992 * 9th Pan-American Jamboree-

Cochabamba, Bolivia Cochabamba ( ay, Quchapampa; qu, Quchapampa) is a city and municipality in central Bolivia in a valley in the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cochabamba Department and the fourth largest city in Bolivia, with a population of 630 ...

1994 * 10th Pan-American Jamboree- Muxbal, Guatemala 1996 * 11th Pan-American Jamboree-

Iguaçu Falls Iguazú Falls or Iguaçu Falls ( gn, Chororõ Yguasu , es, Cataratas del Iguazú, links=no ; pt, Cataratas do Iguaçu ) are waterfalls of the Iguazu River on the border of the Argentine province of Misiones and the Brazilian state of Paraná. ...

, Brazil 2001 * 12th Pan-American Jamboree-

San Rafael, Mendoza San Rafael is a city in the southern region of the Mendoza Province, Argentina. With more than 118,000 inhabitants (), it is the largest city in and the seat of San Rafael Department. The city is located 240 km from the provincial capital ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

2005 * 13th Pan-American Jamboree-

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

July 2010 (delayed due to concerns over the

2009 flu pandemic The 2009 swine flu pandemic, caused by the H1N1 influenza virus and declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) from June 2009 to August 2010, is the third recent flu pandemic involving the H1N1 virus (the first being the 1918–1920 Span ...

) * 14th Interamerican Jamboree-

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

January 4–12, 2013 (held concurrently with the 1st Interamerican Scout Camporee) * 15th Interamerican Jamboree-

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

2017 * 16th Interamerican Jamboree-

, Brazil 2020

Interamerican Scout Conferences

The Interamerican Scout Conference, the highest body in the Region, is made up of delegates from member National Scout Organizations (NSOs) and meets every three years. The purpose of the Conference is: * Stimulate the development of the Scout Movement in the Interamerican Region. * Promote cooperation among member NSOs. * Establish the objectives and basis of the Regional Policy. * Ensure that the policies established by the

are implemented in the Region. * Elect the members of the Interamerican Scout Committee. The World Scout authorities and observers from various governmental and non-governmental organizations, national and international, who have common interests with the Scout Movement, are invited to the Conference. Each NSO has the right to vote in the Conference sessions, and if one can not attend, the voting right can be given to another NSO.

List of Interamerican Scout Conferences

Pan-American Moot

*1st Pan-American Moot-

27 December 2008 to 4 January 2009 *2nd Interamerican Scout Moot- Tramandaí, Brazil 27 December 2013 to 4 January 2014 *3rd Interamerican Scout Moot - Cusco, Perú 27 July 2018 - 8 August 2018

Interamerican Leadership Training

The

Interamerican Leadership Training The Interamerican Region is the divisional office of the World Scout Bureau of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, headquartered in Ciudad del Saber, Panama. The Interamerican Region services Scouting in the Western Hemisphere, both Nor ...

(ILT) is a Leadership Training Course in the Interamerican Region of the

. Sponsored by the Messengers of Peace program, the training course goals are to strengthen Scouting in IAR through a collaborative effort of sharing, networking, training, and support. The course is held once a year hosted by one of the National Scout Organizations (NSOs) of the Region. The selected NSO is awarded the rights to host the ILT two years in a row.

Youth of the Americas Award

The Youth of the Americas Award is the only award conferred by the Interamerican Scout Committee. The award is given to persons who have made an impact at the international level.