On this page

1. Policy/legal framework

The new Flemish Youth Decree of 23 November 2023 (Decree 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 and provisions for implementing a Flemish youth and children’s rights policy and for supporting Flemish and supra-local youth work. 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).

2. Funding

How youth policy is funded

Each year, the Flemish Government prepares the budget for the forthcoming year. This budget proposal is submitted to the Flemish Parliament and discussed in the relevant parliamentary committees. The Flemish Parliament must approve the budget before the Flemish Government can proceed with expenditure. The approved budget also includes the financial allocations for youth policy.

What is funded?

In 2026, the proposed budget for the youth programme is about 72,5 million euros. This is about 0,1% of the total budget of the Flemish Government. 

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

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.

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

Financial accountability

Youth organisations play a key role in implementing youth policy in Flanders. They are generally funded through specific subsidy regulations or grant schemes, with the eligibility criteria and types of organisations that may receive funding clearly defined in legislation.

Youth organisations receiving an operational grant under the Youth Decree of 23 November 2023 are required to submit an annual financial report and an auditor’s report to the Flemish administration. The auditor must be a member of the Institute of Auditors. The deadlines and formal requirements for these reports are determined by the Flemish Government.

Use of EU fonds

The Youth and Children’s rights policy Plan (JKP) sets out the Flemish Government’s vision for policies concerning children and young people aged 0 to 30. However, the JKP does not (directly) use funds of the European Union (EU).  

Some youth organisations or youth associations are supported through the EU funds. EU funds that have been used are: 

• Erasmus+ is the EU funding programme for education, training, youth and sport in Europe. The 2021-2027 programme places strong emphasis on social inclusion, the green and digital transition and promoting youth participation in democratic life. Erasmus+ Youth is the youth section within Erasmus+. Through Erasmus+ Youth, the European Union supports international meeting and exchange for and by young people and youth workers from youth organisations in leisure time.
• The Operational Programme for the implementation of the European Social Fund (ESF) in Flanders in the 2014-2020 period supported initiatives to increase employment and improve social cohesion in Flanders. The ESF programme laid down the priorities for the expenditure of 1 billion euro. 600 million euros was financed through the Flemish budget and 400 million euros through the European budget. 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.

In memory: as foreseen in the Youth Decree of 23 November 2023, JINT is the intermediary organisation 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. see section on the Youth Decree).

2. Cooperation

As previously mentioned, the five main instruments of the Youth Decree of 23 November 2023 are: 1/ a Flemish Youth and Children’s rights policy Plan (cf. Article 4); 2/ a Horizontal and vertical consultation on youth and children’s rights policy (cf. Article 5); 3/ 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); 4/ an impact assessment of new legislation on children and youth (JoKER) (cf. Article 7); and 5/ 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). 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) with the subsidization of inter-municipal partnerships being of importance to the funding and implementation of local youth work.

Furthermore, and with an expected impact on collaboration with youth work, the Flemish Government definitively approved the amending decree to the Decree on Out-of-School Care and Activities (BOA) on 23 January 2026, thereby completing the regulatory framework for its implementation. The BOA Decree aims to better align all out-of-school provision—ranging from childcare to youth, sports and cultural activities—into a single, coherent framework that ensures accessible, high-quality provision close to children. Local authorities remain the coordinators of this offer and are responsible for recognition and quality monitoring. For youth work organisations, a key point is that no additional recognition is required to access BOA subsidies if they are already recognised under existing youth or other policy frameworks, although local authorities may set additional, transparent conditions.

In the past and the present, through the Flemish Administration and the Department of Culture, Youth and Media, the Flemish Government has also stimulated and supported cooperation between various organisations in the field such as the subsidized organizations experimental projects and the subsidized organizations innovative projects for example. 

Finally, the Flemish youth and children’s rights policy also has a national, European and international dimension and involves cooperation at these levels. On the one hand, Flanders works closely with other countries and regions on youth work and youth and children’s rights policy in a bilateral context. On the other hand, Flanders participates in the youth and children’s rights agendas of numerous multilateral fora, such as the European Union, the Council of Europe and the United Nations. Substantive discussions and political decisions at these levels can also have an impact on Flemish youth and children’s rights policy—for example, on the Flemish Youth and Children’s Rights Policy Plan, the former Master Plan on Diversity in and through Youth Work, and the monitoring of compliance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Conversely, the Flemish Government also helps shape European and international youth and children’s rights agendas.