Irish Girl Guides

BACKGROUND

Irish Girl Guides (IGG) has approximately 12,000 youth and adult members in the 26 counties of Ireland, supported by a small professional staff. A youth-driven, dynamic organisation, IGG offers a varied and exciting programme for girls and young women aged 5-30, and volunteer opportunities for women from age 18+.

The Mission of the Irish Girl Guides is to enable girls and young women to develop to their fullest potential as responsible citizens of the world. The IGG Journey Programme has a strong emphasis on the outdoors, environment, community responsibility, teamwork and global sisterhood. IGG welcomes girls and volunteers from all backgrounds, and promotes diversity, equity and inclusion.

As a member of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS), a worldwide movement of over 10 million girls and women in 150 countries, IGG is part of a global network with members learning from and with each other about global issues, campaigning and advocacy.

CURRENT PROJECTS

IGG’s Journey Programme is a non-formal educational programme framework through which Leaders deliver activities and challenges with young people earning badges through specified criteria.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) play an important part of the programme with Climate Action, Responsible Consumerism and Good Health and Well-being badges having been introduced in recent years.

IGG has three Special Focus badges specifically related to the SDGs. In 2017the SDG 3 Health & Well-being Special Focus Badge was introduced to encourage positive practice around maintaining good health while understanding the threats to oneself and others in a global context. In 2018 the SDG 13 Climate Action badge was launched in partnership with Trócaire to introduce IGG leaders to Trócaire’s development educational programmes and in 2020, with the support of Irish Aid, a Responsible Consumerism badge based on SDG 12 was launched with all members asked to reduce their use of single-use plastics and to encourage others to do the same.

Over 1,000 IGG members and Leaders will take part in summer camps in 2020 with a focus on living sustainably outdoors. One full day of programme at each event will relate specifically to SDG 13 and climate change.

At Bloom in 2019 Irish Girl Guides partnered with Earthology to create a ‘postcard garden’, which was made almost entirely out of recycled materials. A good proportion of this much-admired garden was made from eco-bricks (two litre plastic bottles filled with soft plastics) to expand the value of these plastic items.

IGG will continue to introduce new SDG badges to address different Goals in the coming years. Keep an eye on our website for updates – www.irishgirlguides.ie.