On 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 latest National Youth Work and Policy Programme for the years 2024-2027 based on the Youth Act and the Government Decree on Youth Work and on Youth Policy was published in April 2024. Consultation related to the writing process of the programme targeted at different stakeholders, including young people, took place in years 2022-2023. The consultation process included a survey and listening in on workshops for young people, regional and national level hearings for different kinds of stake-holder bodies related to youth policy, an official channel of writing statements and of commenting on the draft online (see more on the obligations and tradition of consulting young people in Youth Wiki/Finland 5.4 Young people’s participation in Policy-Making). 

Scope and contents

The National Youth Work and Youth Policy Programme coordinates the objectives and measures determined by the key ministries for promoting young people’s growth and living conditions, which are designed to contribute to the attainment of the objectives defined in the Youth Act during the programme period. The programme also describes how the monitoring and the evaluation of the programme is to be implemented. In addition, the programme includes a description of the situation of young people, based upon statistical data and research on children and young people.

One of the programme’s main goals is to establish the youth policy perspective as part of public sector decision-making. The programme will help the effective use of resources from various sectors aimed at improving the conditions in which young people grow and live. The core content of the programme is to set out more detailed objectives and measures necessary to achieve the goals defined in the Government Programme as well as other government strategies and programmes.

As mentioned in the Government Programme, the National Youth Work and Youth Policy Programme for the years 2024-2027 consists of measures aiming to prevent social exclusion among young people, and to address the gaps in wellbeing and mental health problems. 

In addition to the government’s youth policy objectives and their related measures, the programme includes objectives for the european and international activities of the youth sector and defines the priorities of Finland’s selected national youth work centres of excellence.

The programme encompasses all young people under 29 years of age, as referred to in the Youth Act. The key measures determined in the programme are, however, targeted at improving the living conditions of young people in the core group of youth, or roughly between 12 and 25 years of age.

On the basis of the Government Degree on Youth Work and Policy, which outlines the preparation of the National Programme for Youth Work and Youth Policy, the following aspects will be given due consideration in the preparation of the Programme: 

1) the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and Finland’s other international obligations related to the scope of application of the Youth Act;

2) the youth policy objectives established by the European Union and Council of Europe; and

3) the diversity of youth and the various minorities among young people.

Responsible authority for the implementation of the youth strategy

According to the Youth Act the Ministry of Education and Culture is primarily responsible authority that implements the National Youth Work and Youth Policy Programme in conjunction with various other ministries, such as Ministry of Justice, Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, and Ministry of the Environment.

The implementation of the programme is funded by the annual budgets of the ministries and different branches of the administration. Additional funding also comes from various other national and European programmes (i.e. the European Social Fund), as well as from the regional and local levels. 

Based on the Government Decree on Youth Work and Policy, the State Youth Council shall, once during each government term, prepare an assessment of the progress made in the implementation of the National Youth Work and Youth Policy Programme and make proposals for changes, as and when appropriate.

Youth work centres of expertise form a network that support the implementation of the objectives set out by the National Youth Work and Youth Policy Programme 2024-2027. For more information about youth work centres of expertise, see Youth Wiki / Finland 1.4 Youth policy decision-making.

Revisions/updates

According to the Youth Act the Government shall adopt a national youth work and policy programme every four years. The National Youth Work and Youth Policy Programme 2024–2027 builds upon four earlier programmes, referred as the 'Child and Youth Policy Programme' (2012–2015, 2016 and 2007–2011) and the National Youth Work and Youth Policy Programme (2017–2019 and 2020-2023). The first two were prepared in accordance with the earlier Youth Act (2006). The major difference between the two earlier programmes and the rest is that now the frame of reference upon which the writing process has been based is the actual government programme. 

The main objectives in the earlier programme 2020-2023 were related to social exclusion, as in the new programme, but also targeted issues of participation and themes related to trust, non-discrimination and security. Based on the Government programme, the new Youth Policy programme concentrates now more on solving the existing problems of young people’s social exclusion and growing malaise, which have also been identified as ‘the biggest challenges in Finnish society.’