Olave Baden-Powell and Olivia Burges formulated the idea in September 1923, during the latter's stay at Pax Hill.

As Olave Baden-Powell wrote in 1923: "Some two years ago it was suggested that the Girl Guides Association should hold a big gathering similar in character to the great International Jamboree held by the Boy Scouts in 1920.

This plan did not materialise owing to the undesirability of having great numbers of girls brought together en masse before the public eye"  So instead of an event for the public, the proposal was that "Guides and Guiders from all parts of the world will like to meet together for a friendly gathering, to get to know one another and to see and to learn how the work of the great sisterhood is progressing in different lands.

The camp was held in Gödöllő, Hungary from 25 July to 7 August 1939, and attended by some 5,800 Girl Guides from around the world.

At the 15th World Conference of WAGGGS it was decided to mark the centenary of the birth of Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of Guiding, by holding a World Camp with four locations — Doe Lake, Ontario, Canada; Quezon City, Philippines; Lac de Conche, Switzerland; and Windsor Great Park, England, from January 19 to February 2, 1957.