Interamerican Scout Region (World Organization of the Scout Movement)

InterAmerican Scout Region
Map of members or potential members of the Interamerican Scout Region, note several Pacific island chains are linked to the IASR through mainland political ties
OwnerWorld Organization of the Scout Movement
HeadquartersCiudad del Saber, Panama
Website
https://www.scout.org/interamerica
 Scouting portal

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 North and South America. Until the 1960s, the "Inter-American Scout Advisory Committee" serviced only Mexico, Central and South America, with Canada and the United States serviced through the then-named "Boy Scouts International Bureau" in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.[1] Even today, the Interamerican Region exists more for the benefit of countries south of the Rio Grande, as evidenced by the website being only in Spanish until 2011; consequently, the United States and Canada 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, from 1946 to 1960; moving briefly to Kingston, Jamaica, in 1960; immediately relocating to Mexico City, Mexico, between 1960 and 1968; then to San José, Costa Rica, between 1968 and 1992; Santiago, Chile, from 1992 to 2010, most recently relocating to Ciudad del Saber, Panama.

The Scouts of the nations in the Caribbean basin host their own subregional jamborees.

The Interamerican Region contains one of the five countries with no Scouting organization, Cuba, 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 (WAGGGS).

  1. ^ John S. Wilson (1959). Scouting Round the World (First ed.). Blandford Press. p. 239. ASIN B000AQMKTI.