10.2 Administration and governance of youth work
On this page
On this page
Governance
The Central State Office for Demography and Youth is responsible for the development of youth work policy in Croatia. Also formally involved in the governance of youth work is the Advisory Board for Youth of Government of the Republic of Croatia (Savjet za mlade Vlade Republike Hrvatske). This is a cross-sectoral advisory body to the government with the purpose of participating in the development of youth policy, which also extends to the field of youth work. The Advisory Board is based on a quasi-co-management principle and has members from the ranks of relevant ministries and public institutions, academia and youth (work) organizations. Additionally, during the last decade the relevant ministry has periodically set up (and dissolved) various working and expert groups on youth work, involving different youth organizations, youth workers and other experts in consultations about issues related to youth work.
Youth work is not a mandatory policy area within the competence of regional and local authorities. The National Youth Programme offers broad recommendations to regional and local authorities but it is up to them to decide if and how they will tackle different areas of youth policy, which includes youth work. Some regional and local authorities opt to focus on youth work in their strategic documents and many offer some kind of support to local youth work organizations, usually in terms of grants and public spaces for youth work activities. Thanks to initiatives such as Europe Goes Local - Supporting Youth Work at the Municipal Level, there is a growing number of local authorities which recognize the importance of youth work and are willing to support it.
Cross-sectoral cooperation
There are no specific mechanisms for cross-sectoral cooperation in the field of youth work, except the aforementioned Advisory Board for Youth of Government of the Republic of Croatia which has members from other relevant ministries (education, employment, health, etc.).