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YouthWiki

EACEA National Policies Platform
Iceland

Iceland

1. Youth Policy Governance

Last update: 28 November 2023

Although youth affairs in Iceland is the responsibility of the Ministry of Education and Children (one of a few new ministries established after the 2021 parliamentary elections) and governed by a single act, the Youth Act No. 70/2007, the subject of youth is extremely wide and is embedded in many different political categories and societal establishments. Youth affairs are therefore shared throughout the political spectrum on the national and local level and rely to a significant extent on the involvement of both governmental and non-governmental organizations. When viewing the information in the following chapters it is also important to bear in mind some of the main characteristics of Icelandic governance which have been shaped throughout time: it is common practice in many categories of political undertaking that the Icelandic national authorities impose a wide frame through legislature and policies, but give a significant amount of autonomy to government agencies and non-governmental organizations for operations within this frame. A good example is the National Curriculum for the preschool, primary, and secondary school levels. Therefore, the reader will rarely find information on nitty-gritty policies and strategies. Furthermore, on some issues, there may be no official policies or strategies in place, but work is nonetheless being carried out by organizations and individuals, as in the case of volunteer work.