Policy/legal framework

BiH does not have a national youth law that would define youth work. The RS Law on Youth Organization (Zakon o omladinskom organizovanju RS), the FBiH Youth Law (Zakon o mladima FBiH) and the BD Youth Law (Zakon o mladima BD BiH) define the youth work framework in BiH. The RS Law on Youth Organization had two revisions. The first revision was in 2008 and the second one in 2011. The FBiH and BD BiH youth laws have not undergone any revisions. 

Funding

At national level, the Ministry of Civil Affairs administers the budget allocated to administrative and staff costs for the Ministry and for the Commission for Coordination of Youth Issues in BiH. This part of the budget cannot be separated from the total operational allocations. Youth issues are the responsibility of entities and programs for young people, and youth organizations are funded by the relevant institutions responsible for youth issues. 

The RS Youth Policy has been in place since 2006 and its implementation has been implemented by the RS Ministry of Family, Youth and Sports through financing youth organizations and programs for young people. The RS Ministry of Family, Youth and Sport provides support, funding and co-funding projects of youth organizations through annual public calls. 

The FBiH Budget has a budget line dedicated for youth called “Transfer for Youth”, which is governed by the FBiH Ministry of Culture and Sport, as support to youth organizations. 

The BD BiH has a budget for youth projects financed through open calls and a permanent budget line called “Support to youth club network”, where members of youth club network in BD BiH receive funds on an annual base. 

Cooperation

At the national level, the Ministry of Civil Affairs administers the Commission for Coordination of Youth Issues in BiH. This is the only state level body that coordinates the cooperation of both entities and BD BiH. 

The most recent development is that all three youth councils in BiH signed a cooperation agreement that would enable the youth councils to advocate for youth issues with the Ministry of Civil Affairs at the state level. 

As part of the General Mobilization project implemented by the PRONI Centre for Youth Development in partnership with the NGO Nešto Više and the Government of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton (HNK), the Youth Policy of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton 2023-2028 and the Action Plan for 2023 have been developed and adopted. The overall goal of this project is to strengthen and enhance the capacity of youth civil society organizations to participate in reforms for the education and employability of youth in Bosnia and Herzegovina.