1.4 Youth policy decision-making
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Structure of Decision-making
The decision-making process of youth policies includes other institutions / ministries such as: Ministry of Education and Science, Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, Employment Service Agency, Education Development Bureau, National Agency for European Educational Programmes and Mobility, Local Self-Governments etc. Based on the adopted Law on Youth Participation and Youth Policies, the Law envisages the establishment of a National Advisory body for youth policies, which is defined to have an advisory and supervisory role regarding youth policies and activities for youth. The structure of this body will be composed of 9 representatives of the youth sector, and no more than 8 representatives of state institutions, based on articles in the Law.
According to a decision of the Government, in July 2021, at this session, the Government reviewed and adopted the information on the establishment of a National Advisory Body for Youth Policies and tasked the Agency for Youth and Sports, the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Local Self-Government, the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Education and Science, Ministry of Health and Ministry of Finance, to appoint a representative to the National Advisory Body for Youth Policies, by June 30, 2021.
At the local level, the Local Self-Government is responsible for decision making. The decision making is based on the existence of Local Youth Strategies (where adopted). Most of the Local Self-Governments integrated Local Youth Councils as an advisory body within the municipalities.
According to the Law on Youth Participation and Youth Policies, all municipalities in North Macedonia are obligated to establish Local Youth Councils, as well as adopt a Local Youth Strategy, within a year of its adoption, however there have been delays in the implementation. So far, we have established Local Youth Councils in only 19 municipalities, which is 23% from the total number of municipalities within the country. According to the Law on Youth Participation and Youth Policies, Article 16 states that Local Youth Councils should be established in 81 municipality, which is the total number of municipalities within the territory of North Macedonia.
Following the adoption of the Law, the Agency for Youth and Sports together with the OSCE Mission to Skopje in June 2021 published a Manual for Local Youth Councils, a document aimed to support the creation of Local Youth Councils, as well as inform the Municipalities and the members of the Councils what their roles are.
Structured Dialogue is one of the most comprehensive and useful European practices for dialogue between young people and decision-makers on issues of their concern as well as for increasing the cooperation between young people and decision makers. Unfortunately, in the Republic of North Macedonia there is still no national working group for Structured Dialogue and there is no publicly available information whether and to what extent young people in North Macedonia use this mechanism.
Following the example of the European Parliament and other Western European parliaments, the Parliament of the Republic of North Macedonia has established a Club on Youth Affairs and Policies. The Club is an informal body in the Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia, composed of members of all parliamentary parties whose goal is to realize the interest of the youth in the Republic of North Macedonia, in cooperation with youth organizations, informal youth groups and youth wings of political parties.
Main Themes
The priorities set in the National Youth Strategy 2023-2027 comply with the priorities defined with the EU Youth Strategy – Investing and Empowering.
The strategy reflects the views and priorities of the youth for the present and the future of the country and is based on the strategic determination of the Government to work with and for young people, striving to provide conditions in which young people reach their full potential. The Strategy is a strategic document that results from commitments defined by the Law on Youth Participation and Youth Policies and represents a key mechanism for promotion of youth policies and recognition of the needs of the youth in the country.
The following priorities are included in the National Youth Strategy:
- Youth participation
- Youth information
- Youth work
- Education
- Culture
- Health
- Entrepreneurship and pre-employment support
- Security (violence)
All intended goals and measures aim to provide adequate support for all vulnerable groups of young people and better recognition of their specific needs. Within thematic areas, everything translated and a large number of horizontal topics and challenges such as: gender equality,
improving the environment, dealing with crises and shocks (such as COVID-19), and
digitalization. To define the goals and measures, policies and principles were taken into account which are framed in the European Youth Strategy 2019-2029 as well as the Sustainable Development Goals of United Nations.
The National Agency for Youth
The Agency of Youth and Sport was established in 2000.
The AYS is the main public authority at national level in charge of youth. It is a governmental body with its own budget and responsibilities. Although it is not a ministry, it is an independent structure that is not under any other particular governmental ministry and responds directly to the Prime Minister.
The AYS has three departments:
- The Department for Sport,
- the Department for Normative, Legal and Economic Issues,
- and the Department for Youth.
The Department of Sport oversees the organization of sports, ensures legal compliance, supports sports associations, and develops competition systems. It facilitates special programs for talented students, monitors sports activities, and contributes to the national sports development program. Additionally, it recognizes top amateur athletes, ensures health standards in sports, plans and monitors financing, engages in international cooperation, and conducts administrative and technical work within the Sports Council. Moreover, it supports sports-related publishing activities and conducts analyses for sports development.
The Department of Youth performs activities related to the spheres of interest and needs of the young population in the country and the recognition of the role of youth in the development of the Republic of Macedonia, as a positive driving force and promoter of new values of society and the state, adhering to the National Strategy for youth which defines the following priorities for action of state institutions and youth associations of citizens: social development and social integration of young people through quality formal and non-formal education;
economic development of young people through youth entrepreneurship; improving the quality of life of young people and active participation of young people in public life and decision-making processes at national and local level.