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1. How youth policy is funded

2. What is funded?

3. Financial accountability

4. Use of EU Funds

How youth policy is funded

​Youth organizations have three main financial sources: 

• the Children and Youth Fund,
• the National Cooperation Fund,
• the EU youth programmes.
   

The Children and Youth Fund's [Gyermek és Ifjúsági Alapprogram (hereinafter referred to as GYIA)] budget from 2018 to 2023 was HUF 80.0 million each year (about EUR 205 000), which was higher than the 2017 budget and the planned budget for 2024 (which is HUF 69.6 million, about EUR 178 000). 

The National Cooperation Fund's [Nemzeti Együttműködési Alap (hereinafter referred to as NEA)] budget for 2023 was HUF 11.05 billion (about EUR 28.3 million). The earmarked budget for 2024 is HUF 13.9 billion (about EUR 35.6 million).

It must be noted that in the case of the first two sources, only a part of the budget is channelled into youth policy. GYIA also funds children's projects, while NEA is a general funding scheme for civil society.

What is funded?​

Since some frameworks can have similar aims with their activities, but certain frameworks might entail diverse aims, it is not really possible to group the different budget lines by topics.

The budgetary allocations for the last year and planned for 2024:

National Cooperation Fund

The National Cooperation Fund (Nemzeti Együttműködési Alap) provides the source for the support of civil society organisations and the Bethlen Gábor Fund (Bethlen Gábor Alapkezelő Zrt.) is responsible for the management of the applications. The budget of the National Cooperation Fund belongs to the Prime Minister's Office (Miniszterelnökség).

The budget lines indicate the specific directions of support:

• support for the participation of Hungarian civil society organisations in international civil network and national/international events and festivals support for international membership fees, support for programmes promoting European integration;
• support for scientific research, monitoring activities, and registration tasks related to the civil society;
• support for activities and institutions related to the provision of services, consultancy, education, development and support related to civil society
• support for the production of publications, electronic and printed professional media that deal with the civil society
• project co-financing support for civil society organisations;
• providing grants to organisations distributing donations, in accordance with the decision of the Council of the National Cooperation Fund and the decisions of the bodies to ensure automatic funding based on uniform evaluation criteria;
• supporting civil interest representation activities.

Children and Youth Fund

The other main source of funding, with an allocation of HUF 70 million (about EUR 178 000), is the Children and Youth Fund (Gyermek és Ifjúsági Alapprogram).

According to the Act LXIV of 1995 on the GYIA (1995. évi LXIV. törvény a Gyermek és Ifjúsági Alapról) the following objectives may be supported from the revenue sources of the Fund:

At the field of health and social environment:

• programmes to promote the physical, mental and spiritual development of children,
• prevention and awareness-raising programmes on the dangers of drugs, alcohol, tobacco and other substances harmful to health,
• programmes to promote the integration of children and young people with fewer opportunities,
• the development and operation of an information and analysis system capable of monitoring changes in the social situation of young people.

At the field of participation:

• programmes to promote knowledge of the country, local knowledge and patriotism,
• programmes and initiatives relating to education for democracy, the exercise of democratic functioning and citizenship education,
• initiatives to promote youth participation in the European integration process and the development of European relations,
• programmes of institutions and non-governmental organisations active in the field of youth which build on participation, democratic decision-making and cooperation.

At the field of environment protection, communities and competencies:

• programmes to promote the preservation and protection of the natural and built environment,
• community initiatives of young people, initiatives and activities of their own organisations and groups,
• programmes to promote young people's own problem-solving skills.

Financial accountability

Financial accountability of national and EU projects is administered through the System of Electronic Tender Management and Cooperation (EPER). The monitoring is administered by the National Cultural Grant Management Office (Nemzeti Kulturális Támogatáskezelő). It also coordinates the external audits of the

• State Audit Office of Hungary,
• Hungarian State Treasury,
• Directorate General for Audit of European Funds.

In National Cooperation Fund (NEA) projects, the beneficiaries submit a financial and a content report, and there are on-the-spot checks as well. The monitoring of Children and Youth Fund (GYIA) is carried out by the Council of the Fund, which 'contributes to the monitoring and evaluation tasks' in line with Regulation 2/1999 of 24 September [2/1999. (IX. 24.) ISM rendelet módosítása].

Use of EU Funds

Although there is detailed information on EU grants, it is almost impossible to filter out and summarise the grants that were specifically dedicated to youth policy.

The main EU funded project of the 2014-2020 budgetary cycle was the Youth Guarantee programme (Ifjúsági Garancia program), which used a total of around HUF 200 billion (around EUR 512 million) from different projects. The Programme is continued in 2024, under the name of Youth Guarantee Plus (Ifjúsági Garancia Plusz), and funded through the Economic Development and Innovation Operational Programme Plus. The whole budget of the operational programme (that also includes other objectives) consists of 19.1% national budgetary sources, while 80.9% of the budget is financed by the European Social Fund and the European Regional Development Fund. (For more related information, please see sub-chapter 3.2 Administration and governance.)

Please refer to the specific sub-chapters for more detailed data on spending.