Scouts and Habitat for Humanity ink Asia-Pacific partnership

10,000 Scouts to participate in home construction and other events over the next five years

MANILA (October 15, 2015) Two global organizations well known for volunteerism, Habitat for Humanity, and the Scouts, signed a five-year partnership agreement today. The agreement was signed by Rick Hathaway, Habitat for Humanity’s Vice-President, Asia-Pacific, and J. Rizal C. Pangilinan, Regional Director of the World Scout Bureau, Asia-Pacific Regional Office. Both organizations have regional offices located in Manila.

“This partnership is between two organizations that have a lot of common ground,” said Rick Hathaway. “We both have leadership opportunities for youth. Both organizations respond to natural disasters, and we both use service to promote peace.”

The Scouts have already supported Habitat for Humanity as volunteer builders in past years. Future events where Habitat and the Scouts will work together include the following:

1. Scouts Build – Beginning in 2016, a new building event will see 10,000 Scouts building homes with Habitat for Humanity in communities across the Asia-Pacific region. The build aims to further the vision of Scouting’s founder Baden-Powell to provide global service and create a better world. It will unify Scouts across the region with one solid community service activity. This event will serve as a dynamic reflection of the Messengers of Peace program in Scouting, and will contribute to the Scouts’ goal of one billion community service hours by 2020.
2. Disaster response – The Scouts plan to continue to respond to future natural disasters in the region. They will also conduct Disaster Preparedness and Risk Reduction training courses, and support fundraising activities for Scouts-supported projects. The Scouts and Habitat for Humanity have worked on disaster response programs together in the past. In Nepal, Scouts joined Habitat for Humanity teams to remove rubble in damaged communities following the April 25 and May 12 earthquakes.
3. Special events and initiatives – Habitat for Humanity will provide opportunities for the Scouts to be represented in special events and initiatives organized in the Asia-Pacific region. These include events such as the Asia-Pacific Housing Forum, Young Game Changer, Habitat Young Leaders Build, and other special home-building activities.

“As a Habitat for Humanity staff member, and as a Scout volunteer, I’m pleased to see that both of these organizations will be working together in the future,” said Rick Hathaway.

Habitat for Humanity International’s vision is a world where everyone has a decent place to live. Anchored by the conviction that safe and affordable housing provides a path out of poverty, since 1976 Habitat has helped more than 5 million people through home construction, rehabilitation and repairs and by increasing access to improved shelter through products and services. Habitat also advocates to improve access to decent and affordable shelter and offers a variety of housing support services that enable families with limited means to make needed improvements on their homes as their time and resources allow. As a nonprofit Christian housing organization, Habitat works in more than 70 countries and welcomes people of all races, religions and nationalities to partner in its mission. Habitat has supported an estimated 2 million individuals in the Asia-Pacific region, where it has been active since 1983.