Scouting and Guiding in France

The Scout movement in France consisted in 2005 of about 60 different associations and federations with about 180,000 Scouts and Girl Guides. Next to Germany, France is the country with the most fragmented Scout movement.

National recognized organizations

The national recognized organizations are grouped in two federations and one independent organization.

Fédération du scoutisme Français

Image:Foulard scouts de france.jpg|thumb|French Scouting uniform
The Fédération du Scoutisme Français is the national member of both the Scout Movement">Boy Scout">Scout Movement and the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts. The federation has about 120,000 members grouped in five co-educational associations.
Scoutisme Français was founded in 1940 under the Vichy regime. The new organization banned some clubs and gathered others under a broad umbrella. The new club included members from Eclaireurs de France, the Éclaireurs unionistes de France, the Scouts de France, the Guides de France, the Éclaireurs israélites de France and the Fédération française des éclaireuses.
The Members of the federation are:

Conférence Française de Scoutisme

The Conférence Française de Scoutisme has about 35,000 members grouped in three co-educational associations:

Association des Guides et Scouts d'Europe. The association is affiliated to the Union Internationale des Guides et Scouts d'Europe
Eclaireurs Neutres de France. Affiliated is a number of smaller associations, some of them Catholic:
*Europa Scouts
*Scouts et Guides Saint-Louis
*Scouts et Guides de Riaumont
Fédération des Eclaireuses et Eclaireurs. This federation groups about 15 to 20 independent local associations, some of them Protestant or Orthodox.

Scouts unitaires de France

The Scouts Unitaires de France were founded in 1971 in reaction to a pedagogic renewal within the Scouts de France splitting the former Scout troops in two new sections and implementing coeducation. The association is Catholic and counts about 23,000 members.

Regional or local recognized organizations

There are at least 50 independent Scouting associations in France outside the above-mentioned federations. Most of them are recognized by regional or local authorities, some via religious communities. They have an estimated membership of about 5,000 Scouts and Guides.
Notable among them are:

Association Française de Scouts et Guides Catholiques
Scouts de Doran, working towards national recognition
Scouts et Guides Godefroy de Bouillon
Ecuyers Saint-Michel
Fédération du Scoutisme Evangélique Français. Affiliated are a number of smaller associations.

Old Scouts

The Fédération des Associations d'Anciens du Scoutisme is the national member of the International Scout and Guide Fellowship.
The Members of the federation are:

Les Amitiés de France Anciens Scouts et Guides
Association des Anciens Éclaireurs et Éclaireuses
A3-Association des Anciens et Amis des Éclaireurs et Éclaireuses Israélites de France
Les Tisons, Anciens des Éclaireurs et Éclaireuses Unionistes
Réseau des Parents et Amis des Guides et Scouts de France

International Scouting units in France

Boy Scouts of America, served by the Transatlantic Council in Paris
Girl Scouts of the USA, served by USAGSO headquarters
The Scout Association, served by British Scouting Overseas, operates five groups in France.
Girlguiding UK, served by British Guides in Foreign Countries
Armenian Scouting, served by Homenetmen
Greek Scouting in Paris
Külföldi Magyar Cserkészszövetség operates one troop in Paris
Polish Scouting and Guiding, served by ZHP pgK
Russian Scouting, served by National Organization of [Russian Scouts (Scouts-in-Exile)|National Organization of Russian Scouts (NORS)] and Organization of Russian Young Pathfinders

History

At the end of 1937, France sent Scoutmaster Raymond Schlemmer to the Cambodian, Laotian and Vietnamese areas of Indochina to oversee the setting up of the Fédération Indochinoise des Associations du Scoutisme in all three regions.