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Gifts for Peace is a key part of Scouting's worldwide centenary in 2007. Each of the 155 national Scout organisations has been asked by the World Scout Committee to prepare activity aimed at helping a culture of peace to develop locally and globally. We reported on progress in planning the project at the World Scout Conference last September in Tunisia and there will be another presentation or display at the World Scout Jamboree in 2007.

The UK Scout Association has decided on three Key Gifts at national level. These build on our good record in the past and enable us to do things at national level and to encourage local action too.

We will refine our Member Programme to include greater focus on personal values and peace, emphasising the Promise and Law. This will ensure that our Programme remains relevant to young people. We will work with others to devise appropriate educational methods.

We want to increase:

• the percentage of young people in each age range who are Scouts
• the level of acceptance of Scouting's values by young people generally
• the level of engagement with government and/or other youth organisations nationally and locally
• the amount and quality of practical programme materials for adults to use with young people.

Work is already well in hand on providing more ideas for programmes and the Programmes Online web site will be a key part of this.

We will build upon our international contacts and networks and encourage more young people to form partnerships with Scout communities across the world, using as a basis the Marrakech Charter. We will also improve our sharing of such experiences throughout our Association.

We want to increase:

• the percentage of our Membership involved in partnership projects
• the number of partnership project agreements entered into
• the quality of the outcomes from projects

The programme opportunities offered in Scouting are wide and varied, but can be further developed by joining in partnership with other specialised agencies such as Oxfam, UNICEF and Comic Relief. We are currently working with Mencap, which supports people with learning difficulties, in providing specialised training. This is an area we aim to grow.

We are developing our existing projects - in Africa, Russia and South Eastern Europe and we can point to the fact that the response of UK Scouting to the Tsunami Scout Aid appeal was the most generous of all associations. We are also working to support the Amahoro Project - a peace project in the Great Lakes area of central Africa and there will be opportunities for members to be involved in this.

We will widen the diversity of our UK Membership and reach out to displaced groups and indigenous minority groups. By being more diverse, the Movement will be more relevant to local communities, drawing upon the widest range of views and experiences. This mirrors the aim of Scouting in providing opportunities for all young people in our communities.

We want to increase:

• the percentage of members from minority groups compared with the percentage in the wider community
• the percentage of our Members who are girls/women
• gender and cultural diversity of key national committees and in key national appointments
• the number of flexible approaches to the provision of Scouting for minority groups
• the number/range of faith celebrations in Scouting.

Our Association will be fully co-educational by 1 January 2007. 'One Movement working together' is a project promoting co-education which, taken with (for example) our Equal Opportunities Policy, will help challenge prejudice. Many readers will have seen the media coverage of the Muslim Scout Fellowship's organisation of the first British Scouts' contingent to the Hajj - the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca. We want to do more.

But all this will be only part of the picture. There are already many examples of great work which helps to develop a culture of peace:

• Specific projects are currently being developed to extend Scouting in new communities, particularly in Birmingham, East Lancashire, Leeds, Glasgow and Greater London
• Many schools struggle to provide opportunities for young people who are not academically inclined and become disaffected or even school refusers. Currently there are two projects where the Scout method is used to provide practical vocational opportunities more relevant to the young people in question
• And many Groups use the International Friendship Group Award to provide a framework for activities

To help you think of a project or learn more about the UK Scout Association's Gifts for Peace, here are a couple of resources

• Flyer
• UK Presentation to World Scout Conference
• Scout Pax