Swiss Scout Movement receives prestigious award
Keystone-SDA
The Swiss Scout Movement has been recognised for its achievements in promoting tolerance, respect and living together in peace. It has received this year’s prize of CHF200,000 ($227,000) from the Brandenberger Foundation.
In her laudatory speech, Switzerland’s President Viola Amherd said that the Swiss scouts and guides are a living example of values in action, as the foundation and the Swiss Scout Movement announced on Sunday. They teach us to go through the world with an alert mind, to take responsibility and that true strength lies in achieving great things together.
Christina Egli, co-president of the Swiss Scout Movement, stated that the Scout Movement is an educational movement that contributes to the personal development of its members and thus promotes tolerance and peace.
The Swiss Scout Movement was formed in 1987 from the merger of the Swiss Scout Association and the Association of Swiss Girl Guides and Girl Scouts. Today, it claims to be the largest children’s and youth movement in Switzerland with around 51,000 members organized in 22 cantonal associations.
The globally active scout movement was founded in 1907 by British officer Robert Baden-Powell. Today, the global organisation comprises 153 national scout organisations with around 60 million young people and five million volunteers. The general secretariat is located in Geneva.
With its prize, the Dr. J. E. Brandenberger Foundation aims to honor individuals and institutions that contribute to improving the material or immaterial living conditions of people. The prize was awarded for the 34th time on Saturday in Bern. The foundation was established by Irma Marthe Brandenberger in memory of her father J.E. Brandenberger, the inventor of cellophane.
