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1. Existence of a national strategy to increase young people's political and civil society participation

2. Scope and contents

3. Responsible authority for the implementation of the strategy

4. Revisions/ Updates

Existence of a national strategy to increase young people's political and civil society participation

Currently, Cyprus lacks a standalone national strategy specifically focused on youth participation.  Nevertheless, the National Youth Strategy 2017-2022 (NYS) (Εθνική Στρατηγική για τη Νεολαία 2017-2022) includes a whole action field dedicated to youth participation. More information on the Strategy can be found in Section 1.3 - National youth strategy. In practice, youth participation is promoted through the implementation of the EU Youth Dialogue, national youth consultations and conferences, and the institutional involvement of youth organisations in policy discussions. Financial support is provided through national funding schemes managed by the Youth Board of Cyprus (e.g. “Youth Initiatives”) as well as through Erasmus+ and the European Solidarity Corps. Implementation is monitored through action plans and reporting mechanisms under the National Youth Strategy.

It's noteworthy that a new strategy is currently in the planning stages and is anticipated to be adopted in 2026. This forthcoming strategy will be formulated to guide youth-related initiatives and actions until  2030.

Scope and contents

The objectives of the National Youth Strategy, for youth participation, are:

1. Assurance of youth participation in all decision-making stages for shaping policies that reflect the needs and views of the young people;
2. Empowerment of youth for active participation in democratic life.

Responsible authority for the implementation of the strategy

The Youth Board of Cyprus (YBC) is responsible for the coordination and monitoring of the implementation of the National Youth Strategy. However, all public services dealing with youth are responsible for implementing actions under the National Youth Strategy according to their field of competence. For more details on the mechanism of the Strategy can be found in Chapter 1.

Revisions/Updates

No revisions have been made to the current strategy to date. A new National Youth Strategy covering the period until 2030 has been developed and expected to be adopted in 2026.