The International Youth Organisation for Ibero-America (, OIJ) is an intergovernmental organisation with the purpose of advancing youth affairs in the Ibero-American region. The organisation is formed by 21 national youth organisations and ministries of the Spanish and Portuguese-speaking member states in Latin America and the Iberian Peninsula. It is described as the only international organisation that has a mandate devoted specifically to youth.
The headquarters of the organisation is located in Madrid, Spain.
History
The organisation was established in 1992 under the name Organización Iberoamericana de Juventud through a collaborative agreement between the Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI) and the Ibero-American Conference of Ministers of Youth. Its official statutes were approved at an intergovernmental conference held in Punta del Este in 1994, and its formal treaty as an international organisation was completed in 1996.
The organisation was granted observer status in the United Nations General Assembly through resolution 71/154, adopted in December 2016.
Activities
The organisation addresses matters of youth policy, rights, participation, and international cooperation through the operations of instruments such as the Ibero-American Youth Pact and the Ibero-American Youth Survey. The organisation promoted the Ibero-American Convention on Young People's Rights, signed in Badajoz in 2005, which is described by the United Nations as the first international treaty on the rights of youth.
Relations with other organisations
The OIJ is a constituent organisation of the Council of Ibero-American Organizations (COIB) alongside the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB), the OEI, the Ibero-American Social Security Organization (OISS), and the Conference of Ministers of Justice of the Ibero-American Countries (COMJIB).
Leadership
The Secretary-General is Alexandre Pupo Quintino of Brazil, succeeding Max Trejo Cervantes in May 2025.
References