Union Nationale des Étudiants de France


The National Union of Students of France is the main national students' union in France.
It works to represent the interest of students for national and local governments, political parties, the government bodies concerned with higher education and their administration of the universities. The organisation is also active on the international arena, particularly within the European Students' Union.

History

1907: UNEF foundation by the merging of many AGEs from different towns at a meeting held in Lille
1946: Adoption of the Charter of Grenoble which define the student as a "young intellectual worker". Since then, the UNEF has considered itself to be a part of the labour movement. The creation in France of the students' social security and welfare systems are the result of UNEF activism
1950s: The UNEF led the protest for independence of Algeria
1968: May 68 revolt. On 27 May the meeting of the UNEF, most outstanding of the events of May 68, proceeds and gathers 30.000 to 50.000 people in the Stade Sebastien Charlety.
1971 to 2001: The UNEF was split between UNEF-SE and UNEF-US, which later evolved into UNEF-ID .
1986: The UNEFs led a victorious strike against student fees and selection at college admission
1995: Major protests against a government project of minimum wage for youth lower than for other salaries
2001: The UNEFs eventually reunified under the name 'UNEF'.
2001: Yassir Fichtali elected new chairman
2005: Bruno Julliard elected new chairman
2006: The UNEF played a major role in students' contestation of the prime minister Dominique de Villepin's Contrat première embauche.
2007: Jean-Baptiste Prévost elected new chairman
2011: Emmanuel Zemmour elected new chairman
2014: William Martinet elected new chairman
2016: Lilâ Le Bas elected new chairman

Democracy

Today, the UNEF is still composed of the different AGEs. There is one AGE in each town where a university is located, except in Paris, where there is an AGE by university. Membership is individual: every student can choose to join the AGE of his/her home town.
The UNEF holds a national conference every two years. National conference is the sovereign body of the UNEF and decide the UNEF policy.
Conferences are contested by factions:
The conference also elects an administrative commission to be the UNEF 'parliament' between conferences. The commission elects the National Board, the executive body.

Creation

The UNEF has created many national federations:
The UNEF has also participated in the creation of different bodies related to students:
In the international background of allegations against Harvey Weinstein by The New York Times and The New Yorker, the French daily newspaper Le Monde published in November 2017 two detailed articles on alleged sexual harassment and predation supported by former UNEF presidents, Jean-Baptiste Prévost and Emmanuel Zemmour. In an editorial, more than 80 UNEF female members and militants have come forward to accuse the Union of "sexual violence". In December 2017, the president of the UNEF chapter in Nice, Paul Morançay resigned for covering up rape claims. Most members of the chapter have since resigned.
In spite of multiple "pressions", the daily newspaper Libération published in February 2018 a long article with sixteen testimonies of female activists who have suffered from rape, sexual harassment and abuse within the organisation.