Scouting and Guiding in France


The Scout movement in France consists of about 80 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

The Fédération du Scoutisme Français is the national member of both the World Organization of the 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, with the help of Vichy regime, by the 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:
The Conférence Française de Scoutisme has about 35,000 members grouped in three co-educational associations:
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:
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:
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.