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‘World Thinking Day helps girls and young women develop the skills needed and the empathy required to create a sustainable and equal future for all.’
Ireland, 21/02/2024 – Thousands of members of Irish Girl Guides (IGG) around the country are marking World Thinking Day by envisioning a sustainable future filled with peace and equality. By engaging in discussion, active, and arts-based activities they examine their impact on the environment and the resources they use, empowering them to become leaders for peaceful change in their communities as well as society at large.
Together with the 10 million members of Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting organisations across the globe and as members of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS), they celebrate World Thinking Day on Thursday, 22 February.
Celebrated by Guides and Scouts since 1926, World Thinking Day provides an opportunity for girls and women everywhere to act on global issues and to celebrate the bonds of friendship they share as members of the Guiding Movement, and to become a positive force for good around the world. The day was chosen to celebrate the birthdays of Lord Robert Baden-Powell and Lady Olave Baden-Powell, the founders of Guiding and Scouting.
The theme of World Thinking Day 2024 is ‘Our World, Our Thriving Future.’ Girls are asked to develop their environmental knowledge and skills and creatively imagine a more sustainable world. Through the World Thinking Day programme designed by WAGGGS, girls explore how environmental issues can be solved through new ideas and technology, help prepare for the challenges and opportunities of the future, and generate ideas of how we can positively contribute to the natural world in our lives.
“At Irish Girl Guides, we practice the principle of Leave No Trace,” said Amanda O’Sullivan, Chief Commissioner of IGG. “This not only means being considerate to the outdoors and the areas around us, but thinking of the world we leave behind for future generations. World Thinking Day helps girls and young women develop the skills needed and the empathy required to create a sustainable and equal future for all.”
Girls will follow the story of Miku, a character based on an Estonian folktale, charting her adventures and understanding her thoughts on how we can build a thriving future together.
“Understanding our environments is a critical part of our mission to enable girls and young women to develop their fullest potential as responsible citizens of the world,” Ms O’Sullivan continued. “On World Thinking Day, we remember we are all global citizens and have the ability to make meaningful change.”
World Thinking Day coincides with A-WEAR-Ness Day, a day for all of our members including Ladybirds, Brownies, Guides, Senior Branch, and Leaders to show their pride in Guiding as well as wearing their uniforms in schools, workplaces, and out in public. Through this, we enable our members to help spread the word of the movement and the story of Guiding to all.
IGG actively promotes diversity and inclusion and welcomes girls and young women from all walks of life ages 5-18. We also seek volunteer leaders ages 18+ in a variety of roles. To find out more, visit www.irishgirlguides.ie or telephone 01-6683898.
ENDS
Contact:
Christopher Jablonski, Communications Officer, Irish Girl Guides
Tel: 01-6683898 ext. 104
Email: communications@irishgirlguides.ie
Notes for editors:
Irish Girl Guides has about 10,000 members. Guiding started in Ireland in 1911 and operates throughout the 26 counties with 1,600 volunteer leaders providing an informal educational programme of fun and challenging activities that foster confidence and leadership skills in girls and young women, enabling them to develop to their full potential and to become responsible citizens. Girls from ages 5+ can choose to earn a wide range of badges, including Climate Action, Cultural Diversity, Cybersecurity, Disability Awareness, Engineering, Global Traveller, Healthy Mind, Life Below Water, Robotics, and STEM.
World Thinking Day is a day of international friendship, celebrated since 1926. Every year on 22 February, Girl Guides and Girl Scouts from around the world come together to celebrate the global Movement, to raise money to help share Guiding with more girls and young women around the world, and to collaborate to take action on global issues.
The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) is the world’s only movement for every girl and any girl and believe that each of them deserves to be the best they can be. The diverse movement represents ten million girls and young women from 150 countries. Free to make what they want from the movement, girls learn by doing, making friends and having fun. In safe, local spaces, girls develop the skills and attitudes to change themselves, their communities, and our world.