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EACEA National Policies Platform
Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina

1. Youth Policy Governance

1.3 National youth strategy

Last update: 28 November 2023

BiH does not have a national youth strategy. FBiH is developing Youth Strategy 2016 - 2020 (Strategija prema mladima Federacije BiH 2016 – 2020), and it is expected to be adopted by the end of 2016. For the development of the FBiH Youth Strategy, the FBiH Government established a Working Group in 2015. FBiH Youth Conditions and Needs is produced in 2013 and the Draft Youth Strategy is adopted by members of the Working Group in 2015. The FBiH Youth Strategy have not been adopted yet.

The RS National Assembly adopted the third RS Youth Policy 2016-2020 (Omladinska politika RS za period 2016 - 2020. godine)

The RS National Assembly together with the RS Ministry of Family, Youth and Sport established a Working Group to draft the RS Youth Policy 2022 - 2026.

BD in cooperation with the BD Youth Council and the BD Department of Professional and Administrative Affairs developed BD Draft Youth Strategy 2021 – 2025, and it is currently under consideration by the BD Government.

The FBiH Draft Youth Strategy 2016-2020 is focusing on seven priorities:

  • Work, employment and youth entrepreneurship
  • Youth Education and Science
  • Youth Social welfare
  • Youth health protection
  • Youth security
  • Culture, art and sport
  • Youth activism (participation, volunteering and mobility)

The RS Youth Policy 2016-2020 is focusing on five strategic priorities:

  • Employability
  • Active participation
  • Healthy lifestyles
  • Excellence
  • Leisure time

Strategic priorities are focused on five strategic objectives:

  • Improve youth employability
  • Improve possibilities for active participation of youth
  • Develop healthy lifestyles for youth
  • Assure support to youth excellence
  • Improve possibilities for quality youth leisure time

The BD Draft Youth Strategy 2021 – 2025 is focusing on five priorities:

  • Youth education
  • Youth work, employment and self-employment
  • Social care for young people
  • Health care for young people
  • Youth culture and sports

The Youth Policy issues at national level are in jurisdiction of the Commission for Coordination of Youth Issues in BiH. The Commission for Coordination of Youth Issues in BiH proposes and implements: solution for an institutional framework; preparation of recommendations for youth policy; initiatives towards government and parliaments in BiH, including recommendations for developing new and replacing or amending already existing legal solutions; organization of meetings with youths; initiatives regarding international and other institutions in question of importance to youth in BiH.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs has the competence over the work of the Commission for Coordination of Youth Issues in BiH. The 2009 decision of the BiH Council of Ministers reconstructed the composition and position of the Commission for Coordination of Youth Issues in BiH. Under the 2009 decision, the Commission for Coordination of Youth Issues in BiH became a standing body within the Ministry of Civil Affairs of BiH. This decision was taken to establish the conditions for a more effective and efficient performance of the Commission for Coordination of Youth Issues in BiH.

The RS Ministry of Family, Youth and Sport is the RS government authority responsible for the implementation, coordination and monitoring of the RS Youth Policy.  However, an Action Plan allowing systematic policy implementation, monitoring and evaluation was not adopted until September 2016.

The RS Ministry of Family, Youth and Sports, within its legal competence, prepares and submits to the National Assembly or the RS Government, in a form of a draft, legal and sub-legal acts as well as other act of interest for RS which are within the competence of the Ministry. The Ministry of Youth and Sport implements the youth related activities through the Youth Department.  The Youth ​​​​Department performs administrative and other professional tasks relating to the following: determination of National Action Plan and RS Youth Policy and taking care of its implementation; creation of conditions to address youth issues – youth employment, improvement of their social status, inclusion into society; implementation of youth projects; encouraging an active participation of the youth in society; establishment of youth centres; cooperation with youth organizations; international cooperation in the domain of organization and activity of the youth.

The FBiH Ministry of Culture and Sport carries out the administrative, expert and other tasks as laid down by the legislation related to the competencies of FBiH in the areas of: researching-scientific activity in the field of safeguard and use of cultural-historical heritage; museums, archives, libraries, publishing, theatre, music, fine arts, film and show business activities, activity of organizations and associations of citizens in the field of arts, culture, sport and youth; improvement of sport and physical culture; define development strategies in the area of culture, sport and youth, as well as other tasks laid down by the legislation governing this field.

The FBiH Ministry of Culture and Sport implements the youth related activities through the Youth Department. The Youth Department performs tasks related to: overall institutional mechanisms of government's care for young people, cooperation and coordination tasks with the youth sector and youth associations to study the needs and problems of young people, as well as defining and proposing a FBiH youth policy, establishing and maintaining comprehensive youth database in cooperation with other institutions in FBiH, activities related to informing young people and strengthening youth involvement in decision-making processes, defining, establishing and implementing a program of action for youth in the areas of competence of the Ministry, the planning of special funds in the budget to execute tasks arising from the FBiH Youth Law, monitoring the implementation of existing programs in the field of youth at the FBiH level, the coordination of international cooperation related to youth, definition of procedures and training certification of youth; developing analyses, reports, information, reports, studies, programs, plans, estimates and other technical, information, planning, documentation and analytical materials in the field of youth; professional processing the system solutions of importance to young people, and perform other tasks in order to protect the interests of young people.