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1. Policy legal framework

From 1 January 2024 onwards, a new Youth Decree came into force, integrating four previous decrees. The Youth Decree is the core legislation concerning youth policy and youth work policy. It serves as a framework to develop youth policy instruments and to support youth work organisations at the regional and subregional level in Flanders. 

Youth work is defined in this decree as "the social-cultural work based on non-commercial objectives for and by young people between three and thirty years old, organised during leisure time, under educational guidance and to promote the general and integral development of youth, who participate in it on a voluntary basis."

“Youth work” or ‘youth worker’ is not defined or included in any other legislation or national policy document.

2. Funding

How youth policy is funded

Every year, the Flemish government estimates the budget of the next year. This budget allocation is presented to the Flemish Parliament and is discussed in parliamentary committees. The Flemish Parliament must accept the budget allocation before the Flemish government can use the budget for expenditure. The budget allocation also contains the means for Youth Policy. 

What is funded?

In 2023, the budget for the youth programme was 65.662.000 euro. This is 0,1% of the total budget for the Flemish community in 2023 (62.555.985.000 euro), or 0,4% of the budget for Education & Training (18.082.598.000 euro). In more detail, these resources were used as follows:

• 35.782.000 euro for youth (work) organisations who work on national level;

• 9.018.488 euro for youth work organisations on a sub-regional level, intermunicipal collaborations and the Flemish Community Commission (Brussels)

• 4.376.211 euro for the supporting organisations for youth work and the Flemish Youth Council

• 2.714.000 euro for innovative and/of experimental projects

As mentioned, youth tourism is an important part of Youth policy. The financing is as follows: 

• 10.445.512 euro for youth accommodation and hostels (incl. General Service for Youth Tourism)

• 527.789 euro for supporting organisations in the field of youth tourism

In relation to 2024, the Youth Decree coordinates the procedures to apply for a total of eight types of focused subsidies, and to grant these subsidies. The attention to inclusive and exclusive activities, depending on children’s needs, ensures that a wide range of youth work is supported.

The decree regulates the admission to (structural funding) and the structural funding of:

• regional youth work organisations like youth movements, holiday camps, organisations in the field of cultural education or children’s help lines,

• professional youth work organisations that work with children with disabilities and with disadvantaged children at the subregional level,

• structural cooperations between local governments in the fields of youth policy and youth work,

• and support organisations for youth work.

The decree also regulates the funding of temporary projects:

• experimental projects,

• projects executing the Flemish Youth Policy Plan,

• projects youth centres at the subregional level,

• and projects by voluntary organisations that work with children with disabilities.

Financial accountability

Youth organisations play an important role in the implementation of Flanders’ youth policy. Youth organisations or youth associations usually receive funding based on specific funding regulations or grant schemes. The criteria for types of organisations funded is described in the Flemish Parliament Act of 20 January 2012:

• Nationally organized youth associations

• Associations for participation and information

• Cultural education associations

Youth organisations or youth associations receiving an operational grant on the basis of the Flemish Parliament Act of 20 January 2012 on ‘conducting a renewed policy on youth and children’s rights’ need to submit a financial report and a report of an independent auditor, who’s a member of the institute of auditors, to the Flemish administration every year. The date and formal requirements of the reports defined by the Flemish government. 

Use of EU fonds

The Flemish youth and Children’s Rights Policy Plan does not (directly) use EU funds. Some youth organisations or youth associations are supported through EU funds. EU fonds that have been used are:

Erasmus+:

Erasmus+ is the EU funding programme for education, training, youth and sport in Europe. The Erasmus+ budget of 2023 has been reviewed and brings 4.43 billion euro to support the education sectors, with a specific support on Ukrainian learners and staff. Within Erasmus+ there are different sections: one for education and training, one for sport and one for youth and projects. The youth section of Erasmus+ is called Youth in Action. It funds projects for and by young people and youth organisations. It has a separate budget and specific project possibilities. In 2016, the Youth in Action-programme in Flanders has a budget of 2.445.718 euro. The Flemish government has designated JINT vzw to coordinate and to implement the youth programme in Flanders. JINT vzw is in charge of information and promoting, training, funding and assessment. 

European Social Fund+

On 1 July 2021, the European Social Fund+ integrated the former European Social Fund (ESF), the Youth Employment Initiative (YEI), the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD) and the EU Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI). This merger attempts to use the funding in an efficient and more coherent manner. With a budget of over €99 billion (current prices) for the 2021-2027 period, the ESF+ will invest in the following priority areas:

• Supporting young people who have been particularly affected by the COVID-19 crisis - ESF+ resources will help these young people find a qualification, a good quality job, and improve their education and training.

• Helping children in need by allocating ESF+ resources to targeted actions to combat child poverty, and supporting the most vulnerable in society suffering from job losses and income reductions, including providing food and basic material assistance to the most deprived. 

• Reskilling and upskilling people for the transition to a green and digital economy.

• Capacity building for social partners and civil society organisations.

• Transnational cooperation for promoting social innovation across the EU.

• Direct support to social innovation through the Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI) strand.

2. Cooperation

In late 2020, Bataljong, De Ambrassade, Jint and Kenniscentrum Kinderrechten (KeKi) were commissioned to jointly set up a new support structure for integrated youth work and youth provision locally. This project is called ‘Komaf’. The goal of this project is to lower more barriers to leisure in order to realise more youth work and youth offerings for more children and young people locally.