10.2 Administration and governance of youth work
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Governance
The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports is the central state authority in the field of Youth and Youth Work.
Till the end of 2019, there was a section of Sports and Youth with Youth department dealing with Youth Work support and Youth Policy issues. For the following three years, only a Youth Development Support Unit existed within a larger Section for Education and Youth. From January 2023, the full fledged Youth Department has been re-established within the same section with two units for Youth Work support and Youth Policy issues.
At the level of the Parliament of the Czech Republic, there are several structures dealing with youth. In the Chamber of Deputies (Lower Chamber) overall Committee on Science, Education, Culture, Youth and Sport of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic (Výbor pro vědu, vzdělávání, kulturu, mládež a tělovýchovu) exists. Until 2013 there was also the specific Subcommittee on Youth and Sport (Podvýbor pro mládež a sport). After the elections 2017 and with the new Chamber of Deputies an independent Subcommittee on Youth and Leisure-time activities was set up, continuing also after the elections in 2022. There are also other youth-issues related bodies, such as Subcommittee on foster care and Subcommittee for crisis situations in Family. Many of the Youth sector issues are also discussed in other committees as Constitutional, Budgetary, Foreign affairs etc.
In the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic (Upper Chamber), the main body is a Committee for Education, Science, Culture, Human Rights and Petitions of the Senate of the Czech Republic (Výbor pro vzdělávání, vědu, kulturu, lidská práva a petice Senátu ČR)
For further details about the governmental actors involved in the governance of youth policy see Chapter 1.4.
Cross-sectoral cooperation
Cross-sectorial cooperation in the Youth field is limited. Several ways to improve this have been tested in the past, including the work of the so called Chamber of Youth within the Ministry of Education Youth and Sports, where representatives of several ministries participated alongside Youth NGO leaders. In February 2023, the Ministry has decided to enlarge the Council for Youth, Non-formal and Leisure-based Education with a number of representatives of several ministries also dealing with youth issues. The reason for that is the development of the new National Youth Strategy.
On the level of Youth Policy see details in Chapter 1.4.