International Union of Students

The International Union of Students (IUS) was a worldwide nonpartisan association of university student organizations. The IUS was the umbrella organization for 155 such students' organizations across 112 countries and territories representing approximately 25 million students. This was recognised by the United Nations granting the IUS a consultative status in UNESCO. The primary aim of the IUS was to defend the rights and interests of students to promote improvement in their welfare and standard of education and to prepare them for their tasks as democratic citizens. It collapsed in the 2000s due to an unreliable membership system and a lack of grassroots engagement. The aims of the IUS were spelled out in the 1946 preamble to the organization's Constitution: The purpose of the International Union of Students, which is founded upon the representative student organizations of different countries, shall be to defend the rights and interests of students to promote improvement in their welfare and standard of education and to prepare them for their tasks as democratic citizens. According to the IUS's entry in the UNESCO Non-Governmental Organization list, the priority work areas of the IUS were: "Exchange of information, defence of students' status, peace, environment, development, human rights". The IUS worked through: Issuing Student Statements Circular News Letters and Calls for Action to members Celebration of the International Students' Day on November 17 Organizing Student Conferences The logo and flag of the IUS is a burning torch and an open book set against the red and blue outline of a stylized globe. It symbolizes youth's persistent quest for knowledge. The International Union of Students was founded in Prague on August 27, 1946. Student organizations from 62 countries participated in its founding envisioning a more inclusive successor to the short lived 1941-1944 International Council of Students (also known as the International Students' Council) which was set up on the initiative of the British National Union of Students to maintain open lines of communication with student organizations in allied countries during World War II.