Forthcoming policy developments

Policy paper on Welfare, Public Health, Family and Poverty Reduction

A policy note is drawn up at the beginning of each coalition period. In the policy note, the minister indicates how he/she will realise the coalition agreement for his/her powers during the coalition period. A policy note thus contains the minister's strategic plans for implementing the coalition agreement.

The Policy Paper on Welfare, Public Health, Family and Poverty Reduction (Beleidsnota Welzijn, Volsgezondheid, Gezin en Armoedebestrijding) submitted by the Flemish Minister for Welfare and Poverty Reduction, Culture and Equal Opportunities Caroline Gennez. The Policy Paper covers 2024-2029. 

The Policy Paper consists of six strategic objectives: 

1. Integrated care and support in which citizen’s needs and requirements are central
2. Administrative simplification and streamlining of supply to improve service delivery
3. Guaranteeing and maintaining the quality of care and support
4. Promoting the attractiveness of working in the sector 
5. Focus on digitization, the use of data and data sharing to further optimize care and support
6. Realizing fundamental social rights and preventing and combating poverty

The Policy Paper outlines various strategies and objectives related to children and young people, specifically focusing on promoting healthy lifestyles, nutrition, and sexual health, as well as combating risky behaviors. 

• The Policy Paper focusses on preventive healthcare. The focus on children and young people is important in preventive healthcare, since preventive interventions in this target group are most cost-effective. They want to continue to invest in the Flemish Agency of Growing Up and Centres for Student Guidance (Centrum voor Leerlingenbegeleiding (CLB). They have a broad reach, including among vulnerable children and young people, regardless of the family context in which they find themselves.
• They want to take measures that commit to the prevention, early detection and early intervention of eating and weight problems, including in children and adolescents. 
• The Flemish Government wants to support primary schools and the relevant local social policy-if they want to provide collective support around healthy meals at school.
• There is continued attention to sexual health, given the increase in certain problems such as sexually transmitted infections (STIs). 

Policy paper on Sport (2024-2029)

A policy note is drawn up at the beginning of each coalition period. In the policy note, the minister indicates how he/she will realise the coalition agreement for his/her powers during the coalition period. A policy note thus contains the minister's strategic plans for implementing the coalition agreement.

The Policy Paper on Sport submitted by the Flemish Minister for Mobility, Public Works, Ports and Sport Annick De Ridder for the period 2024-2029 (Beleidsnota Sport 2024-2029). 

The Flemish sports policy for the 2024-2029 governing period is built around nine strategic objectives:

1. Stimulating sports
2. Quality and professionalization 
3. Sports coaches
4. Activations
5. Sports infrastructure 
6. Safe and inclusive sports environment
7. Elite sports
8. International sport policy
9. Anti-doping policy

The Flemish sports policy for 2024-2029 places a strong emphasis on youth, children, and adolescents, focusing on several key areas:

• Promoting Sport Participation and Stimulation: The policy highlights the importance of fostering a strong sports and exercise culture from a young age, recognizing that lifelong sports participation begins in childhood and adolescence. Efforts focus on increasing the transition to sports clubs and integrating sports and movement into daily life at school, at home, and with friends. The policy aims to respond to new trends to motivate youngsters, improve children's motor skills in preschool and primary education (complementing initiatives like Multimove), and foster collaboration between schools, municipalities, and clubs to ensure a smooth transition to local sports clubs. A yearly school sports competition (MOEV) and the SportKompas (a tool to help children find the right sport) are also highlighted. Specific attention is given to preventing dropout among teenage girls.
• Investing in Sports Infrastructure: The policy mentions investments in child- and youth-friendly sports infrastructure, including more artificial turf fields and opening up school sports facilities outside school hours. The creation of safe locations for youth cycling and inline skating is also mentioned.
• Utilizing Top Athletes as Role Models: The policy acknowledges the role of top athletes as role models for youth and intends to leverage this role to stimulate sports participation. Support for promising young athletes and elite athletes is a key element of the elite sports policy. Attention is also given to pivotal moments like the transition between education and work.

The policy paper on Youth (2024-2029)

A policy note is drawn up at the beginning of each coalition period. In the policy note, the minister indicates how he/she will realise the coalition agreement for his/her powers during the coalition period. A policy note thus contains the minister's strategic plans for implementing the coalition agreement.

The policy paper on Youth, submitted by the Flemish Minister for Housing, Energy and Climate, Tourism and Youth Melissa Depraetere for the period 2024-2029 (Beleidsnota Jeugd 2024-2029)

The policy paper on Youth is built around 5 strategic objectives:

1. Expertise- and knowledge development
2. Integrated policy approach
3. Qualitative culture- and youth infrastructure 
4. Strong youth- and children’s rights policy
5. Ensuring the uniqueness of youth work

The policy paper ensures that the Youth and Children’s Rights Policy plan will have a central role in the upcoming period (2025-2029). The Youth and Children's Rights Policy Plan (JKP) is a policy instrument of the Flemish Government coordinated by the Minister for Youth, who is also the coordinating minister for children's rights. The JKP contains the Flemish Government's vision of the policy to be pursued for children and young people aged 0 to 30. The Flemish Government selects 3 to 5 transversal priorities no more than 6 months after taking office. One year after the government takes office, the JKP is given final approval. Currently, for priorities have been approved:

1. Space to be young
2. Feel good about yourself
3. Living together in solidarity
4. The road to adulthood

The plan is made up of priorities, objectives and concrete actions. The Environment Analysis 2024 - Children and young people in Flanders and Brussels is a non-exhaustive compilation of recent figures and research on Flemish children and young people and was prepared by the Department of Culture, Youth and Media. The Youth Research Platform (JOP) and the Children's Rights Knowledge Centre (KeKi) contributed substantially from their respective fields of expertise on behalf of the department. This document forms the starting point for the process of drawing up the Flemish Youth and Children's Rights Policy Plan (JKP) 2025-2029 and acts as the reference document for the formulation of major priority challenges regarding policy for children and young people by the Flemish Government. 

From the situation analysis, children and human rights frameworks and other international policy frameworks on the one hand and two major consultation moments with stakeholders on the other, several recommendations were formulated. These recommendations are submitted to the Flemish Government and the Minister of Youth, who will now set the priorities for the next JKP. 

Ongoing debates