Student Unions

Countries

The membership of the Global Student Forum is structured alongside three categories; full membershipconsociate membership and associate membership.

The membership structure of the GSF aims to recognise the aspirations, needs and challenges of the diverse student representative bodies and collaborates with allies and networks that can help the Global Student Forum to advance its objectives.

Full Membership

Full membership can be granted to regional federations of national unions of students. Currently, there are five full member organisation.

  • All-Africa Students Union (AASU)
  • European Students Union (ESU)
  • Commonwealth Students Association (CSA)
  • Organizing Bureau of School Students Unions (OBESSU)
  • Organización Continental Latinoamericana y Caribeña de Estudiantes (OCLAE).

Consociate Membership

Consociate members of the Global Student Forum are national unions of students or national platforms that are not part of, or not represented by the full members of the GSF.

Consociate members have the following rights:

  • One position in the Steering Committee is reserved for the consociate member caucus. Representatives of consociate member organisations can stand for democratic caucus election into the Steering Committee every 2 years.
  • Consociate members have the right to participate in training and events, as well as subcommittees and working groups according to the respective rules of selection established by the Steering Committee.

Associate Membership

Associate Members are the international, regional, national or local student-led organisations and movements which do not meet the criteria for neither full nor consociate membership.

Associate members have the following rights:

  • One position in the Steering Committee is reserved for the associate member caucus. Representatives of associate member organisations can stand for democratic caucus election into the Steering Committee every 2 years.
  • Associate members have the right to participate in training and events, as well as subcommittees and working groups according to the respective rules of selection established by the Steering Committee.

Regional Member Platforms

All-Africa Students Union

The All-Africa Students Union (AASU) organizes all students in Africa – from the basic level to Institutions of higher learning; in essence, the Union is the umbrella organization for all students of Africa. Since its inception in 1972, AASU now has presence in 54 Countries in Africa. As the Continent’s largest students group, AASU played an important role in the struggle against colonialism and the ending of apartheid.

Today, AASU is at the forefront of the fights for equal access to quality education, quality assurance in higher education, harmonization of higher education systems – with key emphasis on mobility of academics and comparability of qualifications, democratic governance, defending students’ rights, promotion of gender and African culture, sustainable development, entrepreneurship, fostering of academic freedom, freedom of research and autonomy of higher institutions of learning, and the promotion of peace and democratic values, and other noteworthy objectives.

Commonwealth Students Association (CSA)

The Commonwealth Students Association (CSA) unifies and represents the needs and aspirations of national student councils and other student organisations in the Commonwealth.

It was launched in 2012 at the 18th Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers (18CCEM) in Mauritius, where student leaders gathered to make recommendations on the current issues in education and strengthen their role in the Commonwealth education sector.

The main aims of the CSA are ‘to promote unity among student organisations in Commonwealth countries; to protect the rights of Commonwealth students and to contribute actively to the development of student movements; and to create an environment for student unions and student movements to build their respective and collective capacities, to freely express and advocate’.

European Students’ Union

The European Students’ Union (ESU) is the umbrella organisation of 45 National Unions of Students (NUS) from 40 countries. The aim of ESU is to represent and promote the educational, social, economic and cultural interests of students at the European level towards all relevant bodies and in particular the European Union, Bologna Follow Up Group, Council of Europe and UNESCO. Through its members, ESU represents almost 20 million students in Europe.

Organizing Bureau of School Students Unions (OBESSU)

The Organising Bureau of European School Student Unions (OBESSU) is the platform for cooperation between the national school student unions active in general secondary and secondary vocational education in Europe. It was founded in April 1975 in Dublin, Ireland and brings together Member, Candidate and Affiliate Organisations from all over Europe. All Member Organisations are independent, national, representative and democratic school student organisations.

Organizacion Continental Latinoamericaca y Caribena de Estudiantes (OCLAE)

The Latin American and Caribbean Continental Organization of Students (OCLAE) represents thirty-eight Student Federations in the region, including organisations of the Secondary, University and Postgraduate sector, from 24 countries of the American Continent with more than 100 million members.