Baden-Powell’s Last Message about doing a “good deed to create Peace in the world” was in 1941. Today’s tradition of tying a knot at the end of your Scout scarf signifies that you have completed your good deed of the day. For Baden-Powell, Peace and service have always been at the core of scouting. At the first experimental Scout camp with 4 patrols on Brownsea Island, Baden-Powell introduced the Scout Promise for the first time, with one of the elements being “I’ll do my best to help others”. In 1923, he wrote a report entitled "Education in Love in place of Fear" to emphasise the role scouts could play in creating a culture of peace. His idea was also reinforced during the 1st World Scout Conference organised in France, where Baden-Powell shared his vision: “Scouts can gather in a Global Network of service”.

WOSM was awarded the “UNESCO Prize for Peace Education” for its work on creating a culture of peace through youth education.

The Mission of Scouting was adopted at the 35th World Scout Conference in South Africa: “To contribute to the education of young people, through a value system based on the Scout Promise and Law, to help build a better world where people are self-fulfilled as individuals and play a constructive role in society”.

The World Scout Committee (WSC) met in the framework of the Arab Region Scout Conference in Saudi Arabia. During the meeting, a generous offer from the Saudi Arabian government was presented to support Scouting efforts in community service. After much reflection and discussions within WOSM, the World Scout Committee embraced the donation of HM King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. WOSM, preparing for the Centenary of Scouting, formally incorporated a “Community Service” element as part of the Centenary activities to promote service actions to be undertaken by Scouts around the world.

The “Gifts for Peace” concept was adopted by the 36th World Scout Conference in Greece. It was decided that “Gifts for Peace” would be the core programme for the Centenary of Scouting during 2007, and that each National Scout Organization should present a Gifts for Peace project illustrating accomplishments by young people starting in 2005. By 2007, “Gifts for Peace” had now registered more than 120 projects, where 10 million Scouts engaged in a variety of activities in different areas like health, environment, violence prevention, dialogue and interreligious dialogue.

In the process of developing a new set of actions to further develop Gifts for Peace, a team consisting of representatives from the WSC, WSB and WSF - inspired by a statement by HM the King of Saudi Arabia that said “Scouts are Messengers of Love, Good and Peace” – developed a new inspirational framework called “Messengers of Peace”. With the formal agreement of the World Scout Committee, Messengers of Peace was officially adopted and launched as the 2nd phase of the Gifts for Peace initiative. More than 30 NSOs, represented by youth members, participated in the launch event and a peace camp for cultural exchange.

The Messengers of Peace Heroes Award is created to recognise exceptional Scouts, volunteers and professionals, as heroes for their outstanding work towards a better world. Each year, heroes are highlighted with a prize and ceremony to inspire other scouts to pursue great community service.

By 2012, WOSM’s Global Messengers of Peace was managing the Support Fund and Grant Applications from the 6 WOSM Regions, and more than 2 million US dollars were granted to NSOs to develop service initiatives and capacity building programmes. The Global Messengers of Peace Network was initiated started with the Regions and NSOs, promoting service as one of many ways to build a peaceful community. With the use of social media networks and online resources, the site scoutmessengers.org started registering non-funded service actions. Within 3 months of activity and by the end of 2012, more than 8 million service hours were reported. All National Scout Organizations were introduced to the Messengers of Peace concept and there was a regional and national commitment to promote service efforts as a means to achieve social impact in society.

The development of a Global Network strategy was initiated to align Messengers of Peace with the World Youth Programme Policy, proposed Triennial Plan 2014-2017 and WOSM Vision 2023. An average of 3 to 5 million service hours are registered each month. The first Better World Magazine is released during the 40th World Scout Conference gathering life-changing projects and stories of scouts around the world, creating positive change in society as active citizens.

The Messengers of Peace initiative now has three components that mutually reinforce each other: The MoP Fund, the MoP Network, and the MoP programme. The MoP programme allows scouts to earn the MoP badge that highlights scouting's efforts towards community service. World Scouting publishes various documents to support NSOs who are interested in the MoP programme, such as NSO guidelines, and a youth-friendly guide on how to become a messengers of peace. Hundreds of MoP projects are funded across the world.

“Scouts for SDGs is a mobilisation of 50 million Scouts that leverages the Scout Youth Programme and the Movement’s initiatives under the Better World Framework, including the flagship Messengers of Peace initiative, to raise awareness and take action towards the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Messengers of Peace programme and Network will provide education for sustainable development, which will contribute to the development of key competencies in young people and the achievement of 17SDG.”