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1. Mechanisms and actors

Mechanisms and actors

On 18 September 2025, on the basis of a Regulation issued by the Minister of Education, the Youth Policy Council (Rada do spraw Polityki Młodzieżowej) was established.

Main tasks of the Council:

• Supporting the Minister of Education in implementing the actions referred to in § 2 of Regulation No. 4 of the Prime Minister of 26 February 2025 on the coordination, by the minister responsible for education and upbringing, of activities in the field of youth policy;
• Co-developing, consulting, and monitoring the implementation of the National Youth Strategy, including formulating recommendations for changes resulting from evaluations and implementation analyses;
• Identifying key challenges and needs of young people, as well as areas requiring coordination or intervention;
• Supporting the Minister of Education in ensuring effective interministerial, interinstitutional, and international cooperation for young people by facilitating the exchange of information and good practices, and by coordinating actions directed at youth, including creating synergies between existing programmes and initiatives;
• Initiating and supporting research, analyses, and innovative solutions concerning the situation of young people, the effectiveness of public policies, and emerging social trends;
• Creating spaces for dialogue and cooperation between young people, institutions implementing youth policy, and non-governmental organisations, including organising debates, forums, and thematic events.

Sectoral and cross-sectoral programmes and projects with young people as beneficiaries include:

• The Programme “Family 800+” (Program Rodzina 800+) which started on 1 April 2016. Under the programme, parents and guardians of children under 18 may be granted support amounting to PLN 800 for every child. Until 31^st December 2023 The programme was called "Family 500+" (the benefit amount was PLN 500).
• The Programme “Government Program First Business - Support for Starters” (Rządowy Program Pierwszy Biznes - Wsparcie w starcie) is run to support the development of entrepreneurship. This programme allows higher education students in their final year, those who graduate from either high school or higher education, as well as registered unemployed persons to apply for low-interest loans to start a business or create a job for an unemployed person. In 2024 the amount of the loan is above PLN 140,000. The programme has been implemented in all provinces.
• The Student Credit Fund (Fundusz Kredytów Studenckich) set up at Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego offers student loan interest subsidies. Loans can be awarded to students (under 30 years old) or doctoral students (under 35 years old).
• The Young Leaders Program (Program Młodych Liderów) provides young people over 16 years old paid internships in public institutions. The program aims to create modern public administration with the help of young, ambitious and creative people.

Projects implemented as part of the Operational Programme Knowledge, Education, Development have played a vital part in the development of youth policies, including activities aimed at preventing unemployment and boosting young people’s employability. Young people under 30, including those with disabilities, who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) are the final recipients of support offered as part of those projects.

The Children and Youth Parliament (Sejm Dzieci i Młodzieży) is one of the first initiatives aimed at increasing young people’s social engagement and arousing their interest in involvement in public life. The first session of the Children and Youth Parliament took place in 1994 on the initiative of the Polish Parliament Chancellery and the President of the Polish Humanitarian Action, Janina Ochojska. Young deputies debated the issue of “War as a threat to a happy childhood”. The Children and Youth Parliament is held every year on 1 June, which is International Children’s Day.  By 2019, 25 sessions of the Youth Parliament have been held. In recent years, the Children and Youth Parliament has debated the following issues: public space (2015), memorial sites (2016), local heroes in the public domain (2017), members of the 1st Polish Parliament (2018), members of the 2nd Polish Republic during the occupation (2019), the values and ideals of Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński (2021) and the values of the soldiers of the Armia Krajowa and the National Armed Forces important for young people (2022). In 2018 the XXIV session of Children and Youth Parliament was postponed from 1 June 2018 to 27 September 2018. In 2020 the Parliament was not held due to the pandemic of coronavirus. Resolutions adopted by the Children and Youth Parliament are recommendations submitted to educational institutions in Poland, however, the implementation of those recommendations is not monitored. Resolutions adopted by the Children and Youth Parliament are not binding. The organisers of the 30^th session (2024) of the Children and Youth Parliament are the Parliament Chancellery (Kancelaria Sejmu) and the Ministry of Education. 

In 2025, the Children and Youth Parliament (Sejm Dzieci i Młodzieży) was held according to the format introduced during its jubilee 30th edition. First, 153 primary schools from across Poland were randomly selected, and in each of them three willing students—one from the sixth, seventh, and eighth grades—were then chosen. A new feature was a simple task to be carried out in the local community as part of the young deputies’ preparation for the SDiM session.

The edition was held under the slogan “Let’s talk about civic education”. Students were given space to discuss this topic first in their schools and later during the parliamentary session. The aim of the project was to select, through voting, the issues related to civic education that children and young people consider most important.

As a result of the vote, the following topics were selected within three thematic areas:

1. “Understanding civic attitudes”: Shared values such as patriotism understood as respect for the homeland, national symbols, Polish history, memorial sites, and national holidays.
2. “Needs related to civic education in and outside of school”: Gaining knowledge about practical procedures (e.g., how to write a petition, vote, handle official matters, or prepare a formal meeting).
3. “Civic aspirations and dreams”: Addressing problems that hinder youth civic engagement, such as transport exclusion, difficulties entering the labour market, and lack of investment in sports infrastructure.

Poland develops various initiatives with young people in mind. At local and regional level most of those initiatives are implemented by non-governmental organisations which may obtain funding for public tasks targeting young people by way of open calls for proposals launched by local governments. The Public Benefit Activity and Voluntary Service Act mentions one task in the area of public tasks which directly targets young people; that is activities on behalf of children and youth, including recreation activities for children and young people. It should be noted that the main areas of the activity of non-governmental organisations in Poland (161 000 organisations, including 117 000 associacions and 44 000 foundations) in 2024 were:

• sport, tourism, recreation, hobbies (35%),
• culture and art (15%),
• education and upbringing (14%),
• social services and social security (7%),
• healthcare (6%)
• local development (6%),
• environmental protection and ecology (4%),
• cultivation of national identity (3%),
• others (10%).

Examples of activities implemented for the benefit of young people by non-governmental organisations at nationwide levels include:

• The programme “Equalise opportunities” (Program “Równać szanse”) initiated in 2001 and aiming to “equalise young people’s chances for a good start into adulthood”. The programme targets people aged 13-19 living in localities with a population of up to 20 000. Under this programme, non-governmental organisations, libraries, community centres and informal groups may apply for subsidies to implement projects contributing to the development of young people’s competences and skills. As part of all editions of the programme over 3 500 projects have been implemented with the participation of over 150 000 people. The programme is implemented by the Civis Polonus Foundation (Fundacja Civis Polonus) and funded by the Polish-American Freedom Foundation whose contribution to the programme amounts to USD 18 777 000.
• The programme PROJECTOR - Student Volunteers  (PROJEKTOR - wolontariat studencki) – implemented by the Educational Enterprise Foundation (Fundacja Edukacyjna Przedsiębiorczości). The programme is authored and funded by the Polish-American Freedom Foundation. The programme aims at “prevention of exclusion and the activation of children and young people coming from Polish small towns and villages by developing their passions and interests, and discovering the talents and potential not only of students but also of project participants”. As part of the programme, student volunteers implement educational projects for the benefit of younger people living in villages and small towns. Since 2003, over 16 000 students have implemented over 43 600 programme-related educational projects in 3 200 polish schools for 456 000 school students. The contribution of the Polish-American Freedom Foundation to the programme PROJECTOR - Student Volunteers amounts to USD 8 640 462.

The programme “Exempt from Theory” (“Zwolnieni z teorii”) an educational program under which pupils and students can prepare and implement own social projects with the support of the platform and mentors. Project teams compete against each other, earning points and badges for their respective achievements. Authors of project receive certificates and the best projects awards and distinctions. The first edition of the program took place in the school year 2014/2015. Young people in the program “Exempt from Theory” realized 7 551 social projects.