Representatives of national Scout associations from around southern Africa will gather in Windhoek from 29 till 30 April to attend the 33rd annual Southern Zone Scout Conference, hosted by the Scouts of Namibia organisation.

Prime Minister Nahas Angula has accepted an invitation to officially open the two-day international event at the Windhoek Higher Technical School, where more than 80 delegates will hear reports from association officials, participate in discussions on good governance in Scouting and confer on such topics as the 2006 African Jamboree in Mozambique, the 2007 Africa Scout Conference in Rwanda and the 2007 worldwide Centenary of Scouting.

The theme of the conference is "Moving Yoputh Forward in the 21st Century".

A three-day workshop on world climate change led by Scout officials from Canada and South Africa will be held prior to the conference, while a four-day workshop on the effective management of national Scouting organisations will be conducted immediately after the zonal event.

The Chief Scout of Namibia, Mr Thomas Amutenya, said Scouts of Namibia is both excited and honoured to host such a prestigious multinational event.

There are more than 100 000 Scouts in southern Africa, including app. 1 500 in Namibia.

Conference delegates will come from Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Officials from the Africa Scout Region office in Nairobi, Kenya will also attend.

Amuyenya said he hopeds that the conference will help raise the profile of Scouting in Namibia and throughout southern Africa, where the movement has been in existence for nearly 100 years.

Scouting is a non-formal, non-political educational movement for boys and girls from all walks of life that aims to develop individual character and good citizenship.