According to UKRINFORM NEWS, the National Organization of Scouts of Ukraine (NOSU) may become a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM) on July 1, 2008. As Kostiantyn Yakovchuk- Besarab, the head of Plast’s executive body, the NOSU, which includes the Plast, Sich and Spok organizations, will obtain full WOSM membership if 5 percent of over 160 member countries are not opposed. He thinks that Ukraine’s membership in this global organization will enable Ukrainian scouts to represent our country at jamborees (international scout meetings), which will pave the way to establishing international contacts, communicating with foreign colleagues, and sharing experience in educating youth.
As Lina Ostapchuk, the press secretary of Plast, told The Day, the 11th Plast Convention drafted the organization’s development strategy for the next two years. It also awarded the head of Transbank Volodymyr Kosterin the title of Honorary Plastun. This title has been granted to only a handful of people: Academician Ihor Yukhnovsky, President Viktor Yushchenko, the leader of the Tartak band Sashko Polozhynsky, and a few others. The title is awarded to individuals whose activities correspond to Plast’s ideology of patriotism, Christian values, love of people and nature, and a healthy lifestyle, Ostapchuk explained.
On April 12 Ukraine celebrated Plast Day, marking the 96th anniversary of the Ukrainian scouting organization. Plast is a non- confessional and non-political youth organization founded in Lviv in 1911. It is a counterpart to the world scout movement that began in England in 1907. Ukrainian scouts borrowed their name from the plastuny, special scout units of the Ukrainian Cossack army in the 16th century. Today there are more than 10,000 scouts in Ukraine.
