Scout Universal Fund or U-Fund is a 50 year old mechanism in the Scout Movement to provide financial resources for small projects from needy countries to be supported by other Scouts (and friends of Scouting) from around the world. Over the years, hundreds of small projects such as rehabilitation of street children, income generation activities, youth programme development, HIV/AIDS awareness and advocacy, disaster reduction and awareness, peace education, etc. have been funded or seed funded.
Today, we live in a world of inequalities. Scouting is a global organisation with grassroots level presence in over 200 countries and territories with over 40 million Scouts, 3/4ths of whom live in the global south. Universal brotherhood, kinship and responsibility towards others are some of the core values of Scouting as instilled by its founder Lord Baden-Powell. U-Fund has helped promote solidarity and hope amongst young people by providing this mechanism to help and empower each other.
To help bridge the gap of inequalities, U-Fund not only creates a platform or a mechanism for those financially sound to be able to help their brother and sister Scouts coming but also builds hope and promise amongst those in very difficult circumstances, while engaging and supporting brilliant projects coming from needy young people. Currently, this project has a special focus on projects from the Africa Scout Region for the period 2011-2014.
Changing mindsets of young people in developed countries and building hope and confidence of those from underprivileged circumstances.
