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1. Structure of Decision-making

2. Main Themes

3. The National Agency for Youth

4. Policy monitoring and evaluation

Structure of Decision-making

The main central authority responsible for the youth field is the Ministry of Labour, Family, Youth and Social Solidarity, established in December 2024. It resulted from merging the Ministry of Labour and Social Solidarity with the Ministry of Family, Youth and Equal Opportunities. Previously, the Ministry of Family, Youth and Equal Opportunities was established in January 2022 and was responsible for the youth field until 23 December 2024. Until December 2021 the main central authority for youth was the Ministry of Youth and Sport.

The Ministry of Labour, Family, Youth and Social Solidarity cooperates with other central administration bodies for organising and promoting the activities for young people, continuing the role of the Ministry of Family, Youth and Equal Opportunities.

According to the Government Decision on the organisation of the Ministry of Labour, Family, Youth and Social Solidarity, the ministry has the following responsibilities in the field of youth:

• ensures the implementation of the governmental programme and policies in the field of youth,
• establishes priorities, typology of projects / actions / activities for youth, budget for programs, projects, activities and elaborates action plans, procedures, methodologies, project calendars, monitoring and evaluation plans for youth activity;
• initiates, develops, implements and monitors youth legislation;
• carries out studies and analyses on youth and students issues;
• collaborates with central and local public authorities, institutional, social and organizational partners, internally and externally, in order to achieve the objectives in the field of youth;
• initiates, develops, organizes, finances, implements, monitors, evaluates programs, projects, activities and actions for domestic and international youth and finances projects on a competitive basis, in accordance with the law;
• establishes youth centres, in accordance with the law;
• elaborates and implements the plan for rehabilitation and extension of leisure centres and ensures the organization and administration of these leisure centres;
• ensures the organization, administration, rehabilitation and extension of student culture houses;
• provides specialist assistance to students and student association structures in the development of projects and programs aimed at boosting student participation, in its various forms, including by involving them in decision-making, stimulating student creativity, promoting student mobility in Europe and mitigating the impact of risk factors leading to marginalization and social exclusion;
• organizes directly or through subordinate institutions leisure activities, national camps, leisure camps, social camps, thematic camps for children, students and young people

Main Themes

The National Youth Strategy 2024-2027 covers a very large set of themes and a corss-sectoral approach is promoted. Therefore, the strategy identifies 12 key thematic areas that structure Romania’s youth policy. These themes address the most pressing challenges and opportunities for young people, ensuring a comprehensive and cross-sectoral approach.

1. Education & Lifelong Learning

• Improving access to quality formal education (schools, universities).
• Promoting non-formal and informal learning (workshops, online courses).
• Reducing early school dropout rates, especially in rural areas.
• Supporting vocational training and career guidance.

2. Employment & Entrepreneurship

• Enhancing youth employability through skills development.
• Supporting start-ups and young entrepreneurs (financial incentives, mentorship).
• Combating exploitative internships and unpaid work.
• Expanding "Youth Guarantee" programs for NEETs (Not in Education, Employment, or Training).

3. Social Inclusion & Poverty Reduction

• Addressing youth poverty (housing, income support).
• Supporting vulnerable groups (Roma youth, migrants, disabled youth, care leavers).
• Preventing social exclusion and discrimination.

4. Health & Well-being

• Promoting mental health awareness and support services.
• Preventing addictions (drugs, alcohol, smoking).
• Encouraging healthy lifestyles (nutrition, sports).
• Improving sexual and reproductive health education.

5. Housing & Living Conditions

• Facilitating access to affordable housing (rental, social housing).
• Supporting young families with housing programs (e.g., FamilyStart).

6. Culture & Creativity

• Encouraging participation in arts and cultural activities.
• Supporting young artists and creative industries.
• Promoting local traditions and heritage.

7. Research, Innovation & Digitalization

• Boosting youth participation in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math).
• Enhancing digital skills and cybersecurity awareness.
• Supporting young researchers and innovators.

8. Environment & Sustainability

• Engaging youth in climate action and green initiatives.
• Promoting eco-friendly behaviors (recycling, conservation).
• Supporting green entrepreneurship.

9. Civic Engagement & Active Citizenship

• Strengthening youth participation in decision-making (local councils, NGOs).
• Encouraging volunteering and community projects.
• Expanding youth councils and consultative bodies.

10. Rural Youth Development

• Reducing urban-rural disparities in education, jobs, and services.
• Supporting agricultural entrepreneurship in rural areas.
• Expanding youth centers and mobile services in villages.

11. Digital Transformation & Media Literacy

• Closing the digital divide (internet access, tech skills).
• Fighting misinformation and cyberbullying.
• Encouraging responsible social media use.

12. International Mobility & European Integration

• Increasing participation in Erasmus+, European Solidarity Corps, and exchange programs.
• Strengthening cross-border youth cooperation.

Cross-Cutting Priorities:

• Gender equality (empowering young women in leadership, STEM, and entrepreneurship).
• Anti-discrimination (protecting minority and marginalized youth).
• Inter-institutional cooperation (government, NGOs, EU funds).

The National Agency for Youth

There is no National Agency for Youth organised in Romania. In 2010 the National Agency for Youth and the National Agency for Sports merged and become the Ministry of Youth and Sports, as provided by the Government Ordinance on the measurements to reorganise some activities in the field of youth and sport no. 15/2010. In January 2022 the administration of the youth field was transferred to the Ministry of Family, Youth and Equal Opportunities and in January 2025 to the Ministry of Labour, Family, Youth and Social Solidarity.

Policy monitoring and evaluation

The monitoring and evaluation of the National Youth Strategy 2024-2027 is structured around clearly defined procedures, performance indicators, and responsible institutions. Progress will be tracked, according to the text of the strategy, through an annual action plan and regular reports, assessing the implementation of objectives and the effectiveness of interventions at both central and local levels, based on performance indicators included in the strategy. Data collection and analyses are planned to support  evidence-based decision-making, while institutional cooperation is intended to strengthen transparency and accountability in the strategy’s implementation.

On the other hand, monitoring of projects and actions under the Ministry of Youth and Sports Programmes for Youth was only done from the financial/budget point of view. Records are not centralised for evaluation purposes. This practice creates difficulties for the subsequent evaluations, as experienced in 2016 and 2022 when the programmes and the strategy evaluations had been conducted. In the absence of a monitoring and evaluation plan of the Youth Strategy 2015-2020, all evaluations (carried out until December 2021 by the Ministry of Youth and Sports and since 2022 by the Ministry of Family, Youth and Equal Opportunities) were ad-hoc and not periodical. Moreover, the results of the evaluation conducted in 2016 have not been used for the design of future Youth Programmes, as their framework remained unchanged in 2017 and the following years compared to 2016 and the previous years.

On the other hand, The Ministry of European Investments and Programmes conducted evaluations regarding the European programmes targeting young people and the implementation of the Youth Guarantee:

• an evaluation report on the European Social Fund interventions targeting youth was commissioned in 2014 and delivered in 2015;
• the first evaluation report on the Youth Employment Initiative implementation until the end of 2015 and lessons learned from European Social Fund projects targeting NEETs was commissioned by the in 2015 and delivered in 2016.
• The second evaluation report on the Youth Employment Initiative has been conducted and published in 2019.
• The third evaluation of the Youth Employment Initiative and other measures targeting young NEETs was integrated in the evaluation of the Evaluation of the Operational Programme Human Capital, focused on specific objectives regarding employment, published in December 2020.
• The forth evaluation of the Youth Employment Initiative and other measures targeting young NEETs was integrated in the evaluation of the second Evaluation of the Operational Programme Human Capital, focused on specific objectives regarding employment, conducted and published in 2023.

These reports where only used in programming and organising the implementation of the European Social Fund 2014-2020 and European Social Fund Plus 2021-2027 programmes. The Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Ministry of Family, Youth and Equal Opportunities were not citing or quoting these reports when publishing decisions on policy activities, their annual programmes or their own projects.

The culture of monitoring and evaluation public policies is rather week in Romania. As a result, among the different policy fields relevant for the young people, evaluations are only common for the EU funded programmes financially supporting a policy or public project. In these cases, evaluations are used for the programming of EU funded programmes, rather than for the design of national policies.

All evaluations carried out in the field of youth are commissioned research papers or evaluation reports, providing empirical evidence to the decision makers. Consultation of young people targeted by policies and programme is carried out to ensure empirical data. 

The EU Youth Dialogue is an important process for the consultation of young people and the results are taken into account in planning public projects by Government bodies at central/national level. However, the consultation of young people through the EU Youth Dialogue was rather week in Romania in 2022-2023 and there is no link between the results of the EU Youth Dialogue and the policy and EU programmes evaluations.