1.7 Funding youth policy
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How Youth policy is funded
Youth Policy does not have a specific budget line in the Governmental Budget.
In 2021, the Agency of Youth and Sports had a budget of approximately 17 626 789 EUR. The following year, in 2022, the budget decreased to approximately 6 264 576 EUR. In 2023, the budget further reduced to approximately 5 223 214 EUR, marking the smallest budget in recent years.
Out of the 2023 budget, 300 001 220 MKD were allocated for sports, while 21 000 750 MKD were designated for youth-related activities.
The 2024 budget of the Agency for Youth and Sports is expected to decrease by 16%, i.e. 54 million MKD. The reduction is in all programs, but the most drastic is in the youth item, which is planned to be reduced by one third, from 21.8 million MKD in 2023, to 14.6 million MKD in 2024.
According to the National Youth Strategy 2023-2027, 8 priorities are defined and each includes a set of measures. Specific ministry or institution is responsible to implement the measures under each priority. Thus, the budget for the measures falls under the budget for those specific institutions/ministries.
No disaggregated data on budget for youth measures exists for the institutions except the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, responsible for youth employment.
According to the Action Plan for Youth Employment 2016 – 2020, the total planned amount for realization of the Action plan was 30.950.000,00 EUR. Since the Action Plan’s expiration, a new Action Plan for Youth Employment has not been adopted.
In the beginning of 2018, the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy together with the Employment Service Agency and the National Youth Council of Macedonia started the realization of the pilot project Youth Guarantee which measures are funded through the Operational plan for active programs and measures for employment and services on the labor market. The total cost of implementing the Plan for the implementation of the Youth Guarantee 2023-2026 is estimated to be approximately 55 710.570 EUR , with approximately 89% being financed from the national budget. The measures that are part of the third phase of Youth Guarantee are described in Operational Plan for employment 2023. The plan has a total of 1.972.045.915 MKD for funding, which is an increase in comparison with previous year, when the budget for implementation of the measures was 1.856. 923.390MKD.
However, a new Operational Plan for 2024 is published, which also covers the Youth Guarantee. In 2024, the implementation of the Youth Guarantee will continue to be implemented throughout the territory of the Republic of North Macedonia, with a special emphasis on NEET-young people (people who are unemployed, not involved in education or training). The planned coverage of participants in the Youth Guarantee in the entire territory of the Republic of North Macedonia is about 10 000 young people. The program will be considered successful if at least 30% of the people involved in GM successfully exit it within a period of 4 months, that is, they will be employed, re-involved in the educational process or will be included in active employment programs and measures. The budget for implementation of the Youth Guarantees, which covers 2000 young people is 3.127.245 MKD.
What is funded?
Employment measures for young people were funded in the Action Plan for Youth Employment 2016 – 2020. Since the Action Plan’s expiration, a new Action Plan for Youth Employment has not been adopted. In the Operational Plan for Active Labor Market Programs and Measures 2024 several employment measures are outlined. The measures are not exclusively provided for young people, but young people up to 34.
Additionally, the Law on Youth Participation and Youth Policies, as mentioned in the previous section, allocates national and municipal budgetary funds for the implementation of the Law. Based on the Law itself, those funds will go towards creation of mechanisms for youth participation (Local Youth Councils), youth policies (National Youth Strategy and Local Youth Strategies) and youth services (Youth Centers, Youth Officers, Youth Offices).
The local strategy for youth is implemented with budget funds from the municipalities, the municipalities in the city of Skopje and the city of Skopje. From the budgets of the municipalities, the municipalities in the city of Skopje and the city of Skopje for youth set aside funds in the amount of at least 0.1% annually.
However, it's noted that there have been challenges in ensuring these funds are consistently allocated and utilized effectively, making it difficult to track the flow of funds and their impact.
Financial accountability
In the Law on Associations and Foundations, Article 51 states that organizations are liable for their obligations with all their property and assets. In addition, the members of the bodies of the organizations are personally and unlimitedly liable for their obligations towards the organization, for misusing the organization's assets, for achieving goals that for them as individuals are prohibited or for the abuse of the organization as a legal entity to harm their creditors.
Use of EU Funds
By priority, IPA funds are used for the implementation of the Youth Employment measures, administered by the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy. No other data on usage of EU funds are available.
In addition, it’s worth mentioning the Western Balkans Youth Lab Project, a three-year EU funded (1,5 million EUR) and the Regional Cooperation Council that kicked-off in January 2020, which aims to provide opportunities for youth to participate in decision-making.
The project covers the Western Balkans six economies (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia and North Macedonia).
The RCC Western Balkans Youth Lab (WBYL) project aims to establish a lasting, organized dialogue between youth organizations and national administrations. The goal is to collaboratively develop policies that enhance youth participation in decision-making and improve the socio-economic conditions and mobility of youth across Western Balkans economies.