Compass 2032 – The Future of Girl Guiding
The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) launched Compass 2032 at the World Conference 2021. Compass 2032 captures WAGGGS’ collective vision for the next twelve years; to build an equal world where all girls can thrive. It is shaped by the future girls want to see, and we will achieve it if the young people looking for this future are the ones leading our work to get there. Working towards Compass 2032 is a shared responsibility for all Girl Guide and Girl Scout Organisations.
The starting point for Compass 2032 was girls’ and young women’s wishes for the future and reflections on Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting. When asked what future they want for girls, the most common response was “equal”. Compass 2032 sets our destination and our direction.
This builds on the strengths of over a century of non-formal education and the empowering leadership opportunities girls and young women find in Guiding. It also acknowledges we need to be braver and more agile to re-imagine Girl Guiding as the most inclusive, relevant, and impactful.
A GIRL-LED MOVEMENT is a Movement by, and for, girls and young women. A girl-led Movement is where leadership is shared between generations, where girls of all ages have space to exercise leadership and play a meaningful role in decision making at local, national and international levels.
Girl Guiding in Australia creates opportunities for girls and young women to learn by doing, have fun and practise leadership, so they can reach their full potential and make their world a better place.
Through Girl Guiding girls and young women learn to believe in their power to help themselves and others. This resilience and agency enable them to thrive in a changing world, not as future leaders but as leaders today.
150+ International Guiding Organisations share common values and a powerful non-formal educational method that turns the experiences they offer into transformational learning opportunities. Girl Guiding in Australia exists because all girls and young women deserve fair opportunities to practice leadership and develop the skills they need to thrive.
Listening to girls
Girls and young women across the world feel uncertain about their future and face growing inequalities and environmental emergency. Their families and communities have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, there is growing gender-based discrimination and violence, and mental health issues are rising.
However, the dreams of girls and young women have not changed. They want to thrive in a world that’s fair for everyone, where they aren’t held back by any aspect of who they are, what they believe, or where and how they live. Girls and young women want a safe space to explore their identity and beliefs. They want the confidence and resilience to face the pressures and challenges of growing up in an insecure world. And they want the relevant skills and opportunities to make a difference.
Many member countries of WAGGGS, took part in the research that found that girls and young women seem to be more conscious of inequalities than before.
80% of girls think the world will be a better place for girls in 30 years’ time. However, when asked “what do you think the world will look like for girls and young women in your country in 2032”, many said they expect more extremism and corruption in politics (20%), greater humanitarian crisis and higher poverty rates (20%), more serious environmental issues (38%) and that gender inequality remains or regresses (50%).
The top issues girls and young women want to see tackled in the world are:
- Environmental sustainability
- Equality, particularly gender, racial and socio-economic equality
- Greater peace and security
Research undertaken at the 2023 Australian Jamboree shows our girls are aligned with this – 69% of those taking the survey said Environment was a focus for them and 57% listed Diversity and Inclusion of key importance.
According to the international research, 62% think they have the power to tackle these, with Girl Guides and Girl Scouts citing their ability to influence and being a leader as the factors that give them confidence to address the issues that matter to them.
The top challenges girls said make it harder to be a girl today are:
- Gender inequality
- Pressure to be someone you are not
- Feeling unsafe
- Lack of confidence and self esteem
The Future Girls Want
When asked what future they want for girls, the most common response was “equal”.
An equal world is one where everyone has an equal opportunity to make the most of their lives and talents. A vision describes the world we want to see and an equal world is our ultimate aim; a world where everyone has equal opportunities and benefits from equal treatment and support.
Girls mostly connected equality to gender, race, socio-economic background and location. However, if equality is the end goal, equity is the means to get there.
Equity means giving more to those who need it, according to their own circumstances, to ensure everyone has the same opportunities. Equity rebalances power in society, so nobody is marginalised and all groups can meaningfully participate in decision making. This allows us to design systems and institutions to support true social justice. This leads to fair societies where everyone’s human rights are respected and every and any girl, regardless of who she is or where she is from, has fair opportunities to thrive; to enjoy a full, healthy life and reach her potential. By working towards equity, an equal world becomes possible.
Responding to Girls
EQUITY
To contribute to the equal world girls want, the Girl Guides must model equitable practices at all levels. We will mobilise to support equity in our societies, advocate for equal rights, and challenge injustice in our communities. We will use our non-formal educational method to update our offer to young people to ensure it takes the different needs and situations of young people in our society into account and delivers the outcomes they need to thrive.
We must also acknowledge the interdependence between equity and sustainability. By focusing on education for global and ecological citizenship we can support the values, attitudes and skills needed to develop a society that is actively committed to building a more equal and sustainable world.
GIRL LED
What matters is understanding to what extent Girl Guide organisations are girl-led today and challenging ourselves to ensure we are more girl-led by 2032. We will recognise and celebrate girls’ and young women’s leadership in the Movement and continue to grow the spaces where girls and young women can practise leadership at all levels.
EVERY AND ANY GIRL
Girl Guiding will be a Movement that can meaningfully contribute to creating an equal world if young people from marginalised groups feel welcome and safe. Every and any girl and young woman should feel Girl Guiding is a place where she can be herself, explore her identity and her beliefs, and find opportunities to thrive. We must prioritise inclusion, which means putting time and resources into understanding and responding to inequitable access to Girl Guiding in our different communities. A meaningful commitment to strengthening inclusion will demand significant changes in our organisations.
FEELS CONFIDENT TO LEAD
Leadership is a shared journey that empowers us to work together and bring positive change to our lives, the lives of others, and our wider society. A good leader is a lifelong learner who consciously deepens their understanding of different contexts, draws on different wisdoms, and uses that learning to collaborate with others and make a difference.
We will continue to champion a wider understanding of leadership as something every and any individual can practise, in ways unique to them, and in all the spaces of their lives. We will encourage girls and young women to recognise themselves as leaders at all ages, explore different ways to lead in their lives and societies, create a diversity of spaces and opportunities where they can practise leadership within Girl Guiding, and support them to apply what they have learned to empower other girls and young women both inside and outside the Movement.
EMPOWERED TO CREATE A BETTER WORLD TOGETHER
Girl Guides can recognise their own agency, learn to share leadership and work together to make a difference as active global citizens. The world needs girls and women in leadership; girls and women who will raise each other up and, with the support of an intergenerational network, put their values into action and find their own ways to bring positive change to their world.
Our International Vision and Mission is:
‘An equal world where all girls can thrive. By 2032 we will be a girl-led Movement where every and any girl feels confident to lead and empowered to create a better world together’
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