Last weekend, from the 2nd until the 5th of December, we officially closed one of the busiest periods of the year with our Council of Members 2022, that took place in Hanenbos, a suggestive youth center in the middle of the Flemish woods in Belgium.
Some might say that two days are not enough to discuss all the topics we have on our plate, but our Membership worked hard to make the most out of it, without giving up on some fun!
But what are the highlights of our COMEM?
The OBESSU family keeps growing! We welcomed a new organisation in the network. Unija srednjoškolaca Crne Gore (UNSCG), the student union from Montenegro, has joined OBESSU as a Candidate Member.
But that’s not it! The student unions from France (MNL) and Türkiye (TOS), previously also Candidate Members of OBESSU, became officially full Members, getting now the right to vote!
And voting was certainly the most popular activity of this COMEM! We have voted on several documents, but below you can find the most important ones:
- We have approved the Work Plan 2023-2025 and Implementation Plan for 2023 finding agreements on the priorities and topics we are going to work on in the next years. Democracy and active political participation will be the milestones of 2023.
- We have two new policy papers on Curricula for the 21st century proposed by our Working Group, andEducation Funding and Student Welfare, proposed by the Board.
- We have adopted an urgent resolution expressing solidarity and demanding actions regarding Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Among the other topics discussed, we cannot not mention the upcoming European Elections 2024, vote@16, inclusion within and outside OBESSU, Vocational Education and Training and overall the shrinking civic space of student unions and how we can take it back!
Lastly, we officially said goodbye to our Board Member Rares, who will now represent students' voices in the European Youth Forum Board.
This COMEM definitely showed a desire for participation of school students not only in what concerns their education, but in all the aspects that concern us as an active part of the society, as well as a strong desire for cooperation between countries.
We could not be more happy to share this weekend with you, in the great company of Rob O’Donnell and Lucija Karnelutti, former Board Members of OBESSU, who chaired our COMEM in the most smooth and fun way.
It is now time to take some rest, before starting to implement all the activities and ideas discussed! We cannot wait to meet all our Members again in Summer, for our General Assembly 2023.