Afghanistan Scout Association

Da Afğānistān Sarandoy Tolanah
Afghanistan Scout Association
Country	Afghanistan
Founded	1931
Membership	34,000 (approximate)
Website afghan-scouts.org

The Afghanistan Scout Association (Pashto: د افغانستان څارندوی ټولنه‎ Da Afghānistan Sārandoy Tolena, usually shortened to Zarandoi) was officially founded in 1931 in Afghanistan by a royal decree. The site of Robert Baden-Powell's second posting in 1880, Afghanistan was a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement from 1932 until the Afghan government dissolved the Scout Association in 1947. Afghan Scouting was formed again from 1964 to 1978 and recognized by the World Organization of the Scout Movement.

The organization was established during the reign of Mohammed Nadir Shah, with approximately 300 members. In 1947 the organization was forbidden by the government, which had accused the Scouts of being fire worshipers, as during a camp they had made music and sung around a campfire.

Scouting was reestablished in 1956, rebuilt in the context of the democratization efforts of Mohammed Zahir Shah, who had just become ruler in his own right after thirty years of ceding power to his paternal uncles, Sardar Mohammad Hashim Khan and Sardar Shah Mahmud Khan.

The organization, named Da Afğānistān Zaranduy Tolanah (DAZT), was readmitted to the World Scout Conference on June 1, 1964, counting a membership of between 2,000 and 7,000 Scouts, both boys and girls and adult leaders.

The viewpoints of king Zahir Shah at that time were practiced by the organization. The administrators added further obligations to the general principles of the Scout movement, obligation to king, nation and country. Discipline and obligation were welcome educational goals for governing, and Scouting was organized very tautly and almost militarily compared with other nations. The government used this organization for the stability of the state; however the organization made a large contribution to youth work in Afghanistan, above all that of responsibility, self-reliance, sense of community and equal rights, as well as behavior toward girls and women.