The Ittihodi Scouthoi Tojikiston (, , ''Etehadih-e Eskauthai-ye Tajikâstan''), the national

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 of

Tajikistan Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Dushanbe is the capital city, capital and most populous city. Tajikistan borders Afghanistan to the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border, south, Uzbekistan to ...

, was founded in 1993, 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. ...

(WOSM) on April 18, 1997. The coeducational Ittihodi Scouthoi Tojikiston has 511 members as of 2011. Tajikistan is the only one of the three Persian nations thus far whose Scouting is recognized by WOSM (see

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

and

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

). In October 2023, the organization joined the

Asia Pacific Region Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

, as the Eurasian region was dissolved.

History

As far as is known, Scouting was not introduced to the region during the khanate period of the pre-Soviet era. Scouting started in Tajikistan in 1991, by two young citizens, one a Christian and the other a Muslim, following their participation in the Congress of the Federation of Russian Scouts that met in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

. In spite of the civil war which broke out in May 1992, Scout troops took root in

Dushanbe Dushanbe is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Tajikistan. , Dushanbe had a population of 1,564,700, with this population being largely Tajiks, Tajik. Until 1929, the city was known in Russian as Dyushambe, and from 1929 to 1961 as St ...

and in

Khujand Khujand, sometimes spelled Khodjent and formerly known as Leninabad from 1936 to 1991, is the second-largest city of Tajikistan and the capital of Tajikistan's northernmost Sughd province. Khujand is one of the oldest cities in Central Asia, d ...

, far from the conflicts. The return to relative calm at the beginning of 1995 allowed the expansion of Scouting into the countryside through the rural school system. A Scout troop has even been created in the prison for youthful offenders in Dushanbe. Starting in April 1992, a national Scout association was gradually formed with the help of the

Eurasian Region The Eurasian Scout Region (, ) was the divisional office of the World Scout Bureau of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, (in Russian ''Всемирной Организации Скаутского Движения'' or ''ВОСД'') he ...

. Ittihodi Scouthoi Tojikiston was officially registered in October 1993 and is the only non-governmental youth organization which is structured and active in the country, enjoying the support of the authorities, notably the National Commission for

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

and several foreign development agencies represented in the country. Ittihodi Scouthoi Tojikiston's credibility is largely due to its openness to all ethnic and religious groups, and also to its efficiency and effectiveness in working under very difficult conditions with extremely limited resources. The Scouts of Tajikistan have participated in various international Scouting events such as the World Jamboree in the Netherlands in 1995, the 1998 World Jamboree in Chile and the World Rover Moot in 1996. Several leaders have received their training abroad in France, Russia and the United States. The Scout Association of Tajikistan has 1,904 members (as of 2004), boys and girls, in 15 towns or areas, with several groups in three zones of conflict: Garm, Shaartuz, and the high valleys of

Gorno-Badakhshan Gorno-Badakhshan, officially the Badakhshan Mountainous Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region in eastern Tajikistan, in the Pamir Mountains. It makes up nearly forty-five percent of the country's land area but only two percent of its popul ...

, populated mainly with

Ismailis Ismailism () is a branch of Shia Islam. The Isma'ili () get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor ( imām) to Ja'far al-Sadiq, wherein they differ from the Twelver Shia, who accept M ...

. The noun for a single Scout is ''Скаут'' in both Tajik and

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

. The membership badge of Ittihodi Scouthoi Tojikiston incorporates elements of the

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

as well as the

flag of Tajikistan The national flag of Tajikistan () was adopted in November 1992, replacing the flag of the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic of 1953. The flag features an unequal horizontal tricolor of red, white, and green, with a yellow crown surmounted by an ...

Program sections

*Cub Scouts-7 to 11 *Scouts-12 to 15 *Rovers-16 to 20

Pioneer movement

Tajikistan also has a

Pioneer movement A pioneer movement is an youth organization, organization for children operated by a communist party. Typically children enter into the organization in elementary school and continue until adolescence. The adolescents then typically join the Yo ...

, the King Somoni Inheritance.

References

Sources

Partially distilled from Eurofax 56, May, 1997. Eurofax is the monthly newsletter of the European Region of the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM). It is produced by the European Scout Office and is distributed by fax to all member associations in the European Scout Region and the Europe Region

WAGGGS The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS ) is a global association that supports Girl Guides, female-oriented and female-only Guiding and Scouting organizations in 153 countries. It was established in the year 1928 in Parád, H ...

, and others. {{WOSM, eurasian Organizations based in Tajikistan World Organization of the Scout Movement member organizations Youth organizations established in 1993 Youth organizations based in Tajikistan

History

Program sections

Pioneer movement

See also

References

Sources