4.2 Administration and governance
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Governance
Social inclusion is a broad term and is interwoven into the policy fields of many ministries in some form, such as the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture, the Ministry of Welfare, the Ministry of Industry and Innovation, and the Ministry of Health. The Ministry of Education, Science and Culture is, however, responsible for policymaking in the youth field, as stipulated in chapter 1.
Various NGOs work to facilitate social inclusion among children and young people. Erindi is such an organization. Their main operation consists of a consultation with parents and children up to 18 years of age. They also provide assistance and consultation to schools in dealing with many forms of communicatory issues, including school atmosphere and bullying. In addition, they offer crash courses for young people on self-image.
SAMFÉS (Youth Work Iceland) is a consortium of youth centers in Iceland. Founded in 1985, its main objectives include, increasing cooperation between Icelandic youth centers, participating in international cooperation in the youth field, facilitating societal and democratic participation of young people, to advance professionalism in the youth field by promoting education related to youth work and influence regulation and policymaking for youth in Iceland. Youth Work Iceland operates a youth board, into which 18 representatives from various youth centers are elected every year along with 9 substitute representatives. The youth board plays a key role in projects and decision-making on behalf of the organization and the representatives have a chance to attend both conferences and meetings concerning youth work both in a domestic and international context.
In general, ministries at the top level of government are responsible for policymaking that facilitates social inclusion. Various public and non-public actors influence policymaking to vary degrees.
Cross-sectoral cooperation
No existing rules dictate cooperation between sectors, but in general, policymaking takes place at the top level within the ministries, possibly in cooperation with other ministries or local authorities where applicable, influenced in varying degrees by public and non-public actors.