In this page

1. Existence of a National Youth Strategy

2. Scope and contents

3. Responsible authority for the implementation of the Youth Strategy

4. Revisions/updates

Existence of a National Youth Strategy

The National Youth Strategy 2025-2030, adopted in May 2025 after more than three years since the last one, is an interdepartmental strategic document covering the entire area of ​​youth policy. It frames the entire topic of youth support policy in the Czech Republic and is based on the vision that "Young people have support and equal opportunities for the development of their potential and for a successful transition to adulthood, are a respected group in society and have interest and opportunities to participate in public affairs."

Between 1999 and 2020, there have been four Youth Policy Strategies in the Czech Republic. The first governmental Youth Policy Strategy was introduced in 1999 - 2002. The second strategy was valid in 2002-2007, the third was valid from 2007-2013 and the last was a National Youth Strategy for years 2014-2020 (Koncepce podpory mládeže na období 2014 – 2020, Governmental Decree no. 342 of 12 May 2014).

Each strategy was based on the evaluation of the previous document and its implementation, with inclusion of new needs, with the exception of the 2014 - 2020 Strategy, which was subject to a mid-term evaluation in 2017, with a final evaluation conducted in 2021 by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports. 

The 2020 OECD Report Governance for Youth, Trust and Intergenerational Justice. Fit for All Generations? (OECD 2020) marked the previous Czech Youth Strategy as the 6th most successful worldwide, based on its inclusiveness, budgetary allocation and monitoring and evaluation procedures.

Scope and contents

The target group of the Strategy is young people aged 15–30. The Strategy also takes into account that this is a heterogeneous group of people with different characteristics and needs. These vary depending on the environment in which young people live (be it region or, for example, socio-economic status), age, gender, ethnicity, migration experience and all other identities, including religious beliefs, with which young people identify. Special attention is paid to young people with limited opportunities.

What young people are currently addressing and needing at the time of the Strategy's development is based on the following framework Strategy of support:

1) Development of full potential

Young people have internal potential and talents that can be beneficial both for themselves and for society as a whole. It is therefore necessary to ensure that young people from all backgrounds and in all circumstances have the opportunity to fully develop their potential through targeted support for the development of talents and key competencies (knowledge, skills and attitudes) based on their diversity and needs.

2) Transition to adulthood

The transition of young people from adolescence to adulthood is characterised by specific features such as uncertainty, instability, the search for identity and autonomy. In terms of supporting young people in their transition to adulthood, it is necessary to focus in particular on their entry into the labour market and to strive to improve the position of young people in the labour market, in particular young people who are in vulnerable situations and/or form a group of young people with limited opportunities.

3) Social inclusion and wellbeing

The social inclusion and wellbeing of young people are inextricably linked by linking physical, mental and emotional health with social relationships, personal, work and civic fulfilment, including gaining a subjective experience of life satisfaction and a positive outlook on the future. These two areas of young people's lives need to be supported beyond economic objectives, especially for young people who are in vulnerable situations and/or face limited opportunities. At the same time, it is necessary to strengthen resilience, entrepreneurship and the ability to take responsibility for one's life.

4) Young people's trust in public institutions and young people's partnership with public administration

Trust in government and public institutions reflects trust in the state as such. Its level is crucial for managing social crises, which is why it is important to monitor and strengthen it. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (hereinafter OECD), a global trend of declining citizens' trust in public institutions, politicians and the media can be observed in the long term, even in countries with a long tradition of democratic governance. The Czech Republic is also significantly affected by this trend. Therefore, it is necessary to focus on creating a legal, institutional and administrative environment to strengthen young people's trust in government and public institutions and young people's participation in influencing public affairs.

5) Public administration processes for effective support of young people

The effectiveness of providing facilities, assistance and support to young people, especially those who find themselves in an adverse life or social situation or are at risk of it, depends not only on increasing the availability and quality of services, but also on a close connection with intergenerational solidarity, which contributes to the resilience of society as a whole. Support for young people in this area should be aimed at strengthening the administrative and technical capacity for the provision of services targeted at young people and at the same time at supporting intergenerational solidarity through coordinated cooperation at all levels of public administration.

The strategic objectives of the Strategy are developed into specific objectives and measures. During the validity of the Strategy, two-year Action Plans will be created, which will specify specific activities for their achievement, for the periods 2025–26, 2027–28, 2029–30.

The Strategy is based on the OECD Recommendations for Improving Opportunities for Young People and is based on the principles of modern youth policies of the European Union, the Council of Europe and the United Nations. It was developed in a participatory manner in direct cooperation with the Youth Panel of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports and with a wide range of stakeholders. The suggestions received were a valuable input for the development of the entire document, and in addition, they brought valuable feedback to the currently implemented policy of supporting young people at the time of the Strategy's development. At the same time, they also drew attention to the ongoing challenges that need to be addressed in the long term.

The Strategy defines three strategic objectives that will be implemented in the period 2025-30 through several specific objectives and measures.

• Strategic objective 1 Systematically consider young people in policymaking
• Strategic objective 2 Strengthen the active citizenship of young people
• Strategic objective 3 Develop a system of non-formal and informal education and youth work

First and second strategic objectives should help set up relevant processes that will contribute to ensuring that the youth support policy in the Czech Republic operates effectively, in a coordinated manner and with regard to the latest trends.

The third strategic objective focuses on an important segment of youth support policy, namely supporting key actors in working with young people. It significantly contributes to addressing the challenges that young people face. Strategic Objective 3 mainly covers activities outside the area of ​​formal education and thus complements other key strategic documents of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, which are the Strategy of the Education Policy of the Czech Republic until 2030+ and the Strategic Plan of the Ministry of Education for the Area of ​​Higher Education for the Period from 2021.

Responsible authority for the implementation of the Youth Strategy

The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports is the central state authority in the youth field. 

Action Plans are being created for the draft part of the Strategy, for the periods 2025–26, 2027–28, 2029-30. Action Plans specify specific activities set in a timetable for achieving partial measures, including setting output indicators. Action Plans also allow for a flexible response to the changing needs of young people and related and new challenges in the field of supporting young people.

The Working Group for the Implementation of the Strategy allows managers and co-managers to cooperate in creating Action Plans, in regular monitoring of their implementation, and in creating a follow-up strategic document.

Action Plans are approved by the management of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MEYS) with the opinion of the Council for Youth, Non-Formal and Leisure-Time-Based Education, which is an interdepartmental advisory body to the MEYS.

The implementation of the Action Plans is continuously monitored and after their expiry, the fulfilment of their objectives is evaluated by the MEYS in cooperation with the managers of individual measures. This evaluation is submitted for opinion to the Council for Youth, Non-Formal and Leisure-Time-Based Education and for information to the management of the MEYS.

After the expiry of the Strategy, an evaluation of the fulfilment of the strategic objectives will be conducted, which will use both information from regular monitoring and qualitative inputs, in particular interviews with representatives of young people and other stakeholders.

Responsible authorities range from ministries and their directly controlled agencies to the Office of the Government and its sections depending on the relevant subtopics and by some issues to regional or local Authorities.

Since the end of 2013 no state agency has directly focused on youth. Until the end of 2013, responsibility was with the National Institute for Children and Youth (in operation since the 1950s with different competences and names). Before the end of its existence most of the tasks of the Institute were transferred to other state agencies. In January 2022, a new department for Youth and Non-formal and Leisure based education was created within the National Pedagogy Institute of the Czech Republic, which ceased to exist by the end of 2023.

The Erasmus+ Youth Programme and the European Solidarity Corps Program are managed by the Czech National Agency for International Education and Research. 

Revisions/updates

In 2027 and 2030, monitoring of strategic documents and other initiatives across ministries and regions in the area of ​​youth support will take place. Special emphasis will be placed on whether and how individual strategic documents or other initiatives respond to the ongoing challenges defined by representatives of young people and other stakeholders

The impact evaluation of the previous National Youth Strategy 2014-2020 on the target group was carried out through national youth reports at the mid-term in 2017 and by the final in 2021. Both reports are not publicly accessible. 

On 12 February 2018 the Supreme Audit Office of the Czech Republic published its audit report about the finances in the Youth sector. This report was very critical to the implementation and evaluation of the Youth Policy and the Youth Strategy. The report  concludes that the Strategy does not have real indicators, that the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports did not have an outline of the implementation tools in other sectors and that the Mid-term evaluation from May 2017 contained mistakes and misleading information.

Further, the Supreme Audit Office is of the opinion that the Youth Strategy could not be evaluated on the impacts of its target populations according Governmental decision due to missing indicators. The youth department opposed the report in some aspects. However, the argumentation is not publicly available.