Youth Policy in Greece

The National Authority that forms and supervises the implementation of the youth strategy in Greece, is the General Secretariat of Demographic and Housing Policy, part of the Hellenic Ministry of Social Cohesion and Family. Its mission is planning, coordinating, monitoring and evaluating policies, actions and programmes in the respective fields, with no discrimination or exclusion. Its main purpose is:

• to offer modern skills, adapted to the actual needs of the labor market,
• to increase employment in new, high quality jobs,
• to better organise and improve competitiveness of the Greek economy,
• to promote personal development,
• to upgrade citizens' rights,
• to ensure the rights and equal opportunities of young people, for their smooth integration into the educational, social and economic life of the country.

The Youth and Lifelong Learning Foundation (INEDIVIM), considered as the national agency for youth and supervised by the General Secretariat of Vocational Education, Training and Lifelong Learning, aims to implement actions, programmes and projects for Lifelong Learning and Youth, with an emphasis on supporting youth innovation and mobility.

The Strategic Plan for Vocational Education Training, Lifelong Learning and Youth 2022-2024, issued by the ΜοΕ in January 2022, states the basic principles of the Policy Strategy for Youth. The issues of national youth policy, concern areas of activity and governmental initiatives that respond to the interests and problems exclusively of young people, with a target group aged 15 to 29.

National youth policy is based on the principles of Active Participation and Equal access to Opportunities, in synergy with other youth policies, such as Education & Training, Employment and Social Policy.  For its implementation, the cross-sectoral approach is fundamental, in order for young people to be heard in all policy areas of concern, with an emphasis on young people with fewer opportunities, as socio-economic exclusion leads to democratic exclusion.

In order to achieve the objectives of cross-sectoral cooperation, the General Secretariat of Vocational Education, Training and Lifelong Learning issued in March 2022 the Ministerial Decision 30964 about the Formation of an Inter-ministerial Working Group for Recording Youth Policies, at the MoE. The Inter-Ministerial Working Group aims to record the existing policies of each Ministry concerning young people and act as a hub for gathering all relevant information, as well as to record the implementation of policies to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SBAs) in areas related to the country's youth.