| Full name | Organising Bureau of European School Student Unions |
|---|---|
| Founded | April, 1975 |
| Country | Europe |
| Affiliation | European Youth Forum |
| Key people | Viviana Galli, Secretary General |
| Office location | Brussels, Belgium |
| Website | www.obessu.org |
The Organising Bureau of European School Student Unions (OBESSU) is a European platform for cooperation between the national school student unions active in general secondary and secondary vocational education in Europe. All member organisations are independent, national, representative and democratic school student organisations.
OBESSU is also a stakeholder formally recognized by the Council of Europe and the European Union. Furthermore, OBESSU aims to establish partnership and cooperation between all educational stakeholders. OBESSU itself is full member of EUCIS-LLL and the European Youth Forum (YFJ).
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OBESSU was founded in April 1975 in Dublin, Ireland. Since then, OBESSU worked to network European school student unions. In recent years, OBESSU has tried to build up new school student union structures in the Balkans.
In April 2005, the 30th Anniversaire Celebrations of the foundation of OBESSU were celebrated in Dublin, Ireland and hosted by the Union of Secondary Students.
Currently OBESSU has 23 members and 3 observer organisations.
On the 7th of December 2011, OBESSU was awarded the 3rd Civil Society Prize during the plenary session of the European Economic and Social Committee for the ‘Light on the Rights’ Bus Tour project. The Civil Society Prize highlights outstanding initiatives and flagship projects by civil society organisations that have a positive impact on Europeans’ lives.
Obessu works in order to:
The OBESSU is structured with a General Assembly as the highest decision making body. The general assembly meets annually and decides about statutes, the political platform and the work program. At every second general assembly a new board is elected for a two year term. the board consists of 5 or seven members. Between each general assembly a council of members (COMEM) is held, which is the second highest decision-making body. The board is the highest decision-making body between the general assembly and the COMEMs. The board and the secretary general coordinate the daily work. OBESSU has a European secretariat based in Brussels. Currently, Viviana Galli has the position of secretary general.
OBESSU organises approximately 5 conferences per year all dealing with education-related topics. OBESSU also works to promote the 17th of November as the international day of students.