Forthcoming policy developments

The new Youth Policy of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina 2025–2034, which should be adopted at the end of 2025, identifies youth work as a key priority, with plans for ministry restructuring and funding. In Republika Srpska, the Youth Policy 2023–2027 focuses on the recognition of youth work for 2025–2026.

According to the "2025 Enlargement Package" (EU, 2025), reforms include harmonization of standards for youth work across entities.

Ongoing debates

The importance of youth work as a profession in Bosnia and Herzegovina is mainly reflected in the fact that Bosnia and Herzegovina is going through a transition process over twenty years after the war, which, among other things, results in high youth unemployment (46.7%), departure of young people from Bosnia and Herzegovina, radicalization of young people according to religious and ethnic-national principles and other phenomena bad for the lives of young people. Due to all these phenomena, it is necessary to strengthen the youth sector in Bosnia and Herzegovina in order to include young people in its activities to better contribute to the challenges of the transition period, and help young people overcome the transition from childhood to adulthood in order for Bosnia and Herzegovina to have at its disposal citizens who carry universal values ​​such as multiculturalism, empathy, peace, social progress, equality and others, which are the values ​​that all cultures cherish.

The youth sector in Bosnia and Herzegovina has evolved from peacemakers to a social factor involved in all important processes concerning young people in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also more widely through various youth bodies at the regional and European level. So, in the period from the end of the 1990s until today, many youth organizations, youth networks, but also youth councils at all levels of government were established, which became an unavoidable interlocutor for decision makers in Bosnia and Herzegovina when it comes to segments of society important for young people.

An aggravating factor for the further development of the youth sector is the Bosnia and Herzegovina political structure (two entities and Brčko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and 10 cantons in Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina), and the lack of youth bodies, as well as a youth policy and strategy at the state level. In addition, there are relatively new challenges for youth organizations, such as emigration and the departure of young people from Bosnia and Herzegovina, growing youth radicalism, high youth unemployment and others.

It is very important that, in addition to foreign donors and the domestic government structure, they dedicate more care to young people through the formation of a state body for youth care, improvement of the political climate in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and introduction of necessary changes in the education system in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Debates focus on recognizing youth work as a profession, given youth unemployment (46.7%) and emigration. "Voices of Youth 2024" (UNICEF, 2025) highlights the need to strengthen youth work in preventing radicalization.

The agreement of the three youth councils in Bosnia and Herzegovina (2024) opens perspectives for national recognition. According to the "Bonn Process 2023 – State of Play" (2023, updated 2025), debates include quality standards and certification.

A significant ongoing debate revolves around the implementation of the Youth Guarantee, an EU initiative that aims to ensure that all young people under 30 receive a good-quality offer of employment, continued education, an apprenticeship or traineeship within four months of becoming unemployed or leaving formal education. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Ministry of Civil Affairs is coordinating the development of a national plan for the implementation of the Youth Guarantee, with technical support from the International Labour Organization (ILO). In the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a pilot phase is planned for 2026 in two municipalities, as well as in the Republika Srpska. A pilot phase will also be implemented in the Brčko District, which, in addition to the entity ones, has developed an Action Plan for the Implementation of the Youth Guarantee in Brčko District. The first Action Plan covers the period from 2024 to 2027, and full implementation is expected after the evaluation of the pilot project. Youth organizations and experts emphasize that effective youth work will be key to reaching and activating young NEETs during and after the pilot project, potentially integrating non-formal education providers as key partners in service delivery.