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Governance

Main public actors at community-level (Flemish Community)

Youth work policy in Flanders forms an integral part of the broader youth policy framework. Responsibility for youth work lies with the Flemish Community and, more specifically, with the Minister of Youth and the Department of Culture, Youth and Media. The Flemish Government sets the legal framework for youth work, defines sector-specific priorities, and provides structural and project-based funding to the youth work sector.

Within the Department of Culture, Youth and Media, Team Youth is responsible for both transversal youth and children’s rights policy and for Flemish and (supra)local youth work policy. Team Youth ensure the substantive and administrative follow-up of youth and children’s rights policy and implements youth policy as a socio-cultural matter. In doing so, it stimulates and supports a diverse and accessible range of non-commercial socio-cultural activities for children and young people, primarily through subsidies to associations and local authorities, in accordance with the Youth Decree of 23 November 2023. In concrete terms, the responsibilities of Team Youth and the Department of Culture, Youth and Media include:

• the preparation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of legislation and policy instruments, such as the Flemish Youth and Children’s Rights Policy Plan (JKP);
• funding support structures, youth organisations, youth projects, youth hostels and youth accommodation centres;
• funding or investing in youth work infrastructure;
• providing material support to youth work initiatives;
• collecting and disseminating information on youth (work) policy;
• representing Flanders in international forums. At the international level, Team Youth is involved in both bilateral and multilateral cooperation. Bilateral cooperation mainly takes place through exchange programmes within the framework of cultural or partnership agreements with other countries or regions. In addition, Team Youth participate in multilateral forums with a youth policy agenda, including the Benelux, the European Union, the Council of Europe and the United Nations.

The Flemish Youth Decree of 23 November 2023 regulates the instruments for implementing a Flemish youth and children’s rights policy and for supporting Flemish and supra-local youth work. The Youth Decree of 23 November 2023 defines that the Flemish Government establishes a Flemish Youth Council and subsidises four intermediary organisations. These organisations form an important link between children and young people, the youth work sector and the government and other policymakers.

• Flemish Youth Council (cf. Article 9): ‘The Flemish Youth Council aims, on its own initiative or at the request of the Flemish Government or the Flemish Parliament, to provide advice on all matters concerning youth. The Flemish Youth Council also aims to represent young people. The Flemish Government is required to seek advice on draft decrees and draft regulatory decisions of the Flemish Government that implement the Flemish youth and children’s rights policy plan, referred to in Article 4. Such advice is not binding. … The Flemish Government provides clarification and explanation to the Flemish Youth Council regarding its decisions on the advice that pertains to the competences of the Flemish Government. … The Flemish Youth Council consists of at least 16 and at most 24 members, of whom at least one third are under 25 years of age at the start of their mandate. No more than two thirds of the members may be of the same gender.’
• The four intermediary organisations (cf. Article 10-13):
  • An association (in practice this is ‘De Ambrassade’) tasked with developing, supporting, and informing subsidized youth organizations, promoting professionalization and innovation, supporting the Flemish Youth Council, and collaborating on youth information initiatives (cf. Article 10).
  • An association (in practice this is ‘STEKR’) responsible for promoting knowledge and research on children’s rights, reporting on their implementation in Flanders, and informing children and youth about their rights, in collaboration with public and private partners (cf. Article 11).
  • An association (in practice this is ‘Bataljong’) that supports children’s and youth participation in local youth policy, assists local youth officers and aldermen, and promotes knowledge, quality, and innovation in the field (cf. Article 12).
  • JINT, to implement European youth programs, promote international exchange and cooperation for young people and youth workers, and support the development of youth work and the Flemish youth and children’s rights policy in alignment with European frameworks (cf. Article 13).

In addition, the Youth Decree of 23 November 2023 contains provisions to apply for a total of eight types of subsidies (four structural and four project-based) of which the following support youth work explicitly: 

• the recognition and subsidization of supra-local youth work for special target groups: professionalized youth associations for children and young people with disabilities and professionalized youth associations for children and young people in socially vulnerable positions;
• project subsidies for experimental youth work;
• project subsidies for supra-local voluntary youth work with children and young people with disabilities;

The general distribution of responsibilities

Belgium is a federal state with three communities (Flemish, French and German speaking) and three regions (Flemish, Brussels and Walloon). The Belgian Constitution allocates competences to these entities differently. The federal Belgian government has only limited authority over youth-related matters—for example, certain aspects of judicial youth protection—but there is no comprehensive youth policy at the federal level.

Person-related matters that affect people directly, such as education, healthcare, culture, and youth affairs, fall under the jurisdiction of the Communities (Flemish, French and German Speaking). Thus, youth policy is within the competence of the Communities. As a result, the most comprehensive youth policies and policy instruments are developed and implemented at the community level. Each community has autonomy and responsibility over its own youth policy. This means that youth policy is often adapted to the cultural and linguistic specificities of each community. Although youth policy is decentralised, there are efforts for cooperation between communities. Consultative bodies and partnerships have been set up to address common challenges and share experiences.

In Flanders, these powers are exercised by the Flemish Parliament and the Flemish Government – including the Minister of Youth –, which assume the responsibilities of both the Community and the Region, and which make decisions autonomously through decrees (e.g., the Youth Decree of 23 November 2023). The public authorities taking part in the implementation of the youth strategy are the Flemish Government, the Ministry in Charge of Youth, the Department of Culture, Youth and Media (more specifically the Department of Youth), other ministries and offices, as well as local authorities at municipal level and – although technically not ‘authorities’ - a wide variety of stakeholders and organisations in policy, practice and research (e.g., organisations subsidised by the Youth Decree of 23 November 2023).

The Flemish Government is responsible for implementing the Flemish Youth and Children’s Rights Policy plan (JKP hereafter). Some of its most important tasks regarding youth policy and youth work are the preparation, execution and evaluation of policy, following legislation, and the regulation and financing of youth work (cf. Youth Decree of 23 November 2023). The Flemish Government consists of ten ministers, who are in office for a five-year term. Youth governance and policy are under the competence of the Flemish Minister Melissa Depraetere who is in office since 30 September 2024. She is also the vice-Minister-President of the Flemish Government and Flemish Minister of Housing, Energy and Climate, Tourism and Youth. During her maternity leave in 2026 she was temporarily replaced by Hans Bonte. Since 2004, the Flemish Government has allocated the ‘coordination of the children’s rights policy’ and responsibility for ‘youth’ to the minister of youth.

The Department of Culture, Youth and Media - including Team Youth (cf. 1.4; the National Youth Agency) - is responsible for implementing the Flemish government's youth and children's rights policy. We support youth associations through operational and project subsidies. Associations can borrow tents inexpensively from our Camping Equipment Lending Service. We coordinate the development of the Flemish youth policy plan and closely monitor international youth and children's rights policy. The Department of Youth support the subsidization of the youth sector, the recognition of youth organizations, the training and certification of staff, the lending of camping equipment, the development of cultural and youth infrastructure, cultural education, and the provision of projects and tools for the youth sector.

The Flemish Government established assessment committees on youth composed of experts in youth, youth work and children’s rights to advise it on the allocation of variable operating subsidies to associations and on the granting of project subsidies. This is stipulated in Article 26 of the Youth Decree of 23 November 2023. The following committees advise youth policy on youth work:

• Assessment committees for nationally organised youth work;
• Assessment committee for experimental youth work;
• Assessment committee for professionalised youth work with children and young people with disabilities;
• Assessment committee for professionalised youth work with children and young people in socially vulnerable situations.

The new Flemish Youth Decree of 23 November 2023 on the youth and children's right policy and the support of youth work, which entered into force on 1 January 2024, is the core legislation concerning youth policy and youth work policy. The Youth Decree regulates the instruments for implementing a Flemish youth and children’s rights policy and for supporting Flemish and supra-local youth work. As mentioned, youth work is a transversal policy, which is to include not only the area of ‘culture, youth and media’ but also other policy field such as social inclusion, employment, health and housing. The Flemish Minister of Youth has a coordinating function for children’s rights. It is envisaged that other ministries and their department and agencies take their own responsibilities and defines tasks linked to the implementation of specific goals with a Flemish Youth and Children’s Rights Policy Plan, while the minister of Youth oversees the process and reporting in the Plan’s implementation to the government. The five main instruments of the Youth Decree are:

• A Flemish Youth and Children’s rights policy Plan (cf. Article 4);
• Horizontal and vertical consultation on youth and children’s rights policy (cf. Article 5);
• A network of the Points of contact for youth and children’s rights policy in all departments and agencies of the Flemish Authorities (cf. Article 6);
• Impact assessment of new legislation on children and youth (JoKER) (cf. Article 7);
• A ‘State of the youth’ progress report to monitor the situation of youth (cf. Article 8).

The Youth Decree also provisions the Flemish Youth Council and subsidises four intermediary organisations (De Ambrassade, STEKR, Bataljong, JINT) (cf. Youth Decree of 23 November 2023, Article 9-13). Noteworthy, local public authorities also have competences in the youth field. Five provinces and 300 local authorities fall within the administrative supervision of the Flemish Region. Since the Flemish Parliament Act on local and provincial youth (work) policy came into force in 1993, steps were taken towards a decentralised and complementary youth policy. Most local authorities nowadays have youth services or at least one officer who is responsible for youth matters. Bataljong supports children’s and youth participation in local youth policy, assists local youth officers and aldermen, and promotes knowledge, quality, and innovation in the field (cf. Youth Decree of 23 November 2023, Article 12). The Youth Decree also supports the subsidisation of inter-municipal partnerships on the one hand and local youth councils on the other hand. Furthermore, there is increasing cooperation between municipalities and their youth associations. Youth work associations do not stop at the municipal border and often also reach children and young people from neighbouring municipalities. In some places there is cooperation across borders and so we also find intermunicipal youth work.

Finally, the Flemish government also funds several (non-public) organisations that take part in the development of policies, programmes or actions related to youth work’s contribution to global processes of policymaking. The Youth Decree of 23 November 2023 contains provisions to apply for a total of eight types of subsidies (four structural and four project-based) of which the following support youth work explicitly: 

• the recognition and subsidization of supra-local youth work for special target groups: professionalized youth associations for children and young people with disabilities and professionalized youth associations for children and young people in socially vulnerable positions;
• project subsidies for experimental youth work;
• project subsidies for supra-local voluntary youth work with children and young people with disabilities;

Cross-sectoral cooperation

Youth policy and youth work in Flanders is fully decentralised at the Community level. The Flemish Parliament and the Flemish Government hold autonomous competence for youth and children’s rights policy and youth work, primarily exercised through the Youth Decree of 23 November 2023. As outlined in other chapters, youth policy (and youth work) is inherently transversal: it extends beyond the policy area of Culture, Youth and Media and intersects with domains such as social inclusion, employment, health, housing, education and spatial planning.

Although the Minister of Youth bears political responsibility, youth policy is structurally embedded across the Flemish administration. Each policy domain appoints a contact point for youth and children’s rights, coordinated by the Department of Culture, Youth and Media, while the Flemish Minister of Youth acts as coordinating minister for children’s rights. Each ministry and its department and agencies are expected to assume responsibility for actions within its own competence and to define tasks linked to the implementation of the Youth and Children’s Rights Policy Plan (JKP). The Minister of Youth oversees overall coordination and reports to the Flemish Government on the Plan’s implementation. Within this framework, each ministry and minister is responsible for defining and implementing actions that contribute to the objectives of the Youth and Children’s Rights Policy Plan (JKP) 2025–2029 within their respective policy domains. The Minister of Youth fulfils a coordinating role, safeguarding coherence across policy areas and reporting to the Flemish Government on the overall progress and implementation of the Plan.

This institutional design explicitly supports a cross-sectoral approach, ensuring that youth (work) perspectives are systematically integrated into policy domains such as education, health, housing and social policy. Advisory bodies, intermediary organisations and local authorities contribute to policy preparation and implementation, while local governments enjoy broad autonomy and receive integrated funding, enabling them to pursue transversal youth policy across sectors without strict earmarking or detailed reporting obligations.

As a result, youth (work) policy in Flanders occupies a distinctive position. On the one hand, it is a categorical policy, targeting a specific population group: children and young people. On the other hand, it is intrinsically cross-cutting, intersecting with a wide range of sectoral policy domains, including sport, culture, social policy, education, spatial planning, health and housing. Flemish youth policy therefore rests on the premise that a group-based policy approach is both possible and necessary. This approach is not self-evident, given that public administration is traditionally organised along sectoral lines. A group-based policy, by contrast, takes the lived realities of young people as its starting point, addressing their lives in a holistic manner and across policy boundaries rather than through isolated sectoral interventions.