The Girl Guides Cook Islands Association is the national Guiding organization of the

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...

. It served 1,111 members (as of 2003). Founded in 1928, the girls-only organization became an associate member 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, ...

in 1993 and a full member in 2014. Guiding began in the Cook Islands in 1928, when the first Guide company began in the capital,

Avarua Avarua (meaning "Two Harbours" in Cook Islands Māori) is a town and district in the north of the island of Rarotonga, and is the national capital of the Cook Islands. The town is served by Rarotonga International Airport (IATA Airport Code: R ...

Rarotonga Rarotonga is the largest and most populous of the Cook Islands. The island is volcanic, with an area of , and is home to almost 75% of the country's population, with 13,007 of a total population of 17,434. The Cook Islands' Parliament buildings a ...

, and the

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

s were regarded as a province of the Girl Guide Association of New Zealand. Ranger patrols were first set up in 1935 and the first brownie pack was registered in 1937. The first outer island company was started in

Aitutaki Aitutaki, also traditionally known as Araura and Utataki, is the second most-populated island in the Cook Islands, after Rarotonga. It is an "almost atoll", with fifteen islets in a lagoon adjacent to the main island. Total land area is , and the ...

in 1948. The 1950s were an era of growth, with the foundation of new companies both on Rarotonga and on the outer islands. The Cook Islands became a branch association of the GGANZ, membership increased, and leaders attended overseas training and other events.

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

funded a full-time trainer from 1956 to 1958. With good administration and a more active program, Guiding became fully accepted by the

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...

and supported by the churches. In 1986 the association fulfilled a longstanding ambition by obtaining its own

headquarters Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...

. Membership continued to grow and in 1992 a Deed of Transfer was signed making the Branch Association of the Cook Islands independent of the GGANZ.

References

* World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, World Bureau (2002), ''Trefoil Round the World''. Eleventh Edition 1997. World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts member organizations Scouting and Guiding in the Cook Islands Youth organizations established in 1928 {{scout-stub

See also

References