5.5 National strategy to increase youth participation
On this page
On this page
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Existence of a national strategy to increase young people's political and civil society participation
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Scope and contents
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Responsible authority for the implementation of the strategy
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Monitoring and evaluation
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Revisions/ Updates
Existence of a national strategy to increase young people's political and civil society participation
There is no specific state policy strategy to increase youth participation in political and civil society.
Participation is one of the priorities of the Youth Strategy for years 2014-2020 (Koncepce podpory mládeže na období 2014-2020, Governmental Decree no. 342 of 12 May 2014) approved by the Government. Its fourth priority is called: Involving young people in the decision-making process and participation. For moreon the Youth Strategy 2014-2020 see details in Chapter 1.3.
Scope and contents
An effective youth-related policy is based on active cooperation between all interested participants and thorough consultation with young people.
Strategic and operational goals of Youth Strategy 2020 were developed on the basis of broad consultation with experts in the form of roundtables (2011-2013), and on discussions with experts and youth at the National Conference on Youth (November 2013), and take into account the outcomes of the structured dialogue with young people through the Czech Council of Children and Youth project “Kecejme do toho – Have your say” (CZ link, EN link).
Youth participation became one of the 13 Strategic goals as well, specifically the Strategic Goal no. 8: To promote active involvement of children and young people in decision-making processes and in influencing social and democratic life.
For the scope see the table below which shows the strategic objectives and concrete planned measures within the Strategic Goal no. 8:
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OG A: To motivate children and youth towards active, informed and responsible participation in public life, including discussion |
Responsibility |
Co-resp. |
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Measure: |
1. To stimulate interest in dialogue between children, youth and their partners in public life |
MEYS |
MC |
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2. To expand the options for involving children and youth in public life, with emphasis on supporting youth initiatives at a local level |
MEYS |
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3. To stimulate feedback on the impact of child and youth participation in public life |
MEYS |
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4. To support educational activities to develop competencies in children and young people for their involvement in public life, including civic education |
MEYS |
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5. To share good practices in the area of involving children and young people in public life |
MEYS |
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OG B: To ensure that children and young people are aware of the possibilities of participation |
Responsibility |
Co-resp. |
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Measure: |
1. To initiate mapping of channels providing information of the options for participation of children and youth |
MEYS |
MC |
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2. To support the production and use of information channels between non-profit organisations, schools, educational facilities and young people themselves in the area of participatory democracy |
MEYS |
MC |
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OG C: To support children and young people in the use of diverse opportunities for participation, including new forms of participation |
Responsibility |
Co-resp. |
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Measure: |
1. To promote cooperation in the area of participation at all levels |
MEYS |
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2.To reinforce civic education programmes, particularly those targeting first-time voters, to improve political literacy |
MEYS |
MC |
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3. To promote sharing of national and international examples of good practice |
MEYS |
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4. To motivate children and young people to become involved in specific forms of participation, particularly structured dialogue for youth and school parliaments |
MEYS |
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Legend: MEYS – Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, MC – Ministry of Culture
SG - Strategic goal, OG - Objective goal
Source: National Youth Strategy 2014-2020
Responsible authority for the implementation of the strategy
The government authority responsible for the implementation, coordination and monitoring of the Youth strategy is the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports in cooperation with other ministries in charge of different elements (social affairs, health, culture etc.).
There is a political aim of evidence-based Youth Policy-making within the national Youth Strategy 2020, however no real systematic structure of public youth research is in place (situation in 2016).
For details on the situation with the Youth Strategy 2014-2020 see Chapter 1, especially 1.3.
Monitoring and evaluation
Effective involvement of young people in the decision-making process in the areas of implementation and evaluation of Youth Strategy 2020 should be ensured by a National Working Group for Structured Dialogue with Youth established in January 2014, whose leadership was entrusted to the Czech Council of Children and Youth. Structured dialogue with Youth thus became a vital part of the Czech National Youth Policy, and covers not only the processes within the EU but also national processes and agendas.
The first monitoring report on the implementation of the Youth Strategy was discussed by the Government on 3rd May 2017, however it was not published until October 2017.
Revisions/Updates
The current strategy was preceded by previous strategies with the similar scope and goals, see Chapter 1 on Youth Policy Strategies.
The current strategy did not undergo any revisions/updates since its first introduction. No revision or update is planned until the respective period is over in 2020. From May 2020 there is expected to be a new generation of the governmental Youth Strategy in the post-2020 period.