Beslidhja Skaut Albania, also known as Organizata Skautiste Shqiptare Beslidhja Skaut Albania, is a

scouting Scouting or the Scout Movement is a youth social movement, movement which became popularly established in the first decade of the twentieth century. It follows the Scout method of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activi ...

organization in

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

. It was founded in 2004 and became a member of the

World Organization of the Scout Movement The World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM ) is the largest and, after the Order of World Scouts (formed in 1911), is the second-oldest international organization in the Scout Movement, having been established in 1922. It has 176 members. ...

in 2005, with membership terminated in 2014. The coeducational Beslidhja Skaut Albania has 1,730 members as of 2011. The Albanian Scouting movement also previously recognized by the World Organization of the Scout Movement was Besa Skaut Albania, the Organization of Albanian Honorable Scouts, until 2005.

History

Scouting in Albania traces back to 1920, when it was first founded. In 1922, Albania was among the founders of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, remaining active until 1937 when

Zog of Albania Zog I (born Ahmed Muhtar Zogolli; 8 October 18959 April 1961) was the leader of Albania from 1922 to 1939. At age 27, he first served as Albania's youngest ever Prime Minister (1922–1924), then as president (1925–1928), and finally as King ...

banned Scouting in Albania. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the

Socialist People's Republic of Albania The People's Socialist Republic of Albania, () was the Marxist-Leninist state that existed in Albania from 10 January 1946 to the 29 April 1991. Originally founded as the People's Republic of Albania from 1946 to 1976, it was governed by the P ...

had the Pionieret e Enverit, the Pioneers of

Enver Hoxha Enver Halil Hoxha ( , ; ; 16 October 190811 April 1985) was an Albanian communist revolutionary and politician who was the leader of People's Socialist Republic of Albania, Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985. He was the Secretary (titl ...

, a local variant of the Pioneers. Scouting quickly returned to Albania in 1989 after communism collapsed in the country, in

Sarandë Sarandë (; sq-definite, Saranda; ) is a List of cities and towns in Albania, city in the Republic of Albania and the seat of Sarandë Municipality. Geographically, the city is located on an open sea gulf of the Ionian Sea within the Mediterrane ...

by Dolores and Mihal Dhima, International Commissioner and Chief Scout of Besa Scouts Albania, respectively. In July 1999, WOSM accepted Albania again as a member. The membership of Besa Skaut Albania was terminated by the World Scout Committee in 2005, and new membership was granted to Organizata Skautiste Shqiptare Beslidhja Skaut Albania, an offshoot of the older organization. In November 2014, WOSM terminated membership of Beslidhja Skaut Albania for their inability to fulfil its basic constitutional and educational requirements, with a statement supporting the establishment of a new National Scout Organisation in Albania.

Ideals

The Beslidhja

Scout Motto The Scout Motto of the Scout movement is, in English, "Be Prepared", with most international branches of the group using a close translation of that phrase. These mottoes have been used by millions of Scouts around the world since 1907. Most of t ...

is ''Ji Gati'', "Be Prepared" in

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

. Other organizations use ''Pergatitu'', ''Always Prepared'' in Albanian. The Albanian noun for a single Scout is ''Skaut''.

References

External links

* (Albanian) {{in lang, it
Scouting in Albania
Organizations established in 2004 Scouting and Guiding in Albania