10.2 Administration and governance of youth work
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Main actors
As described in more details in Chapter 1.4 Youth policy decision-making, the Ministry of Tourism and Youth (MTY) together with its Youth Council represent the main youth policy actors at the national level. They provide the overall support to youth work through, among other things, implementation of national policies and the preparation and implementation of a national youth strategy, action plans and programmes, as well as through public calls for project funding aimed at supporting youth work programmes. In 2021, under the mandate of the Youth Council and following the initiative of NAPOR, it was created a Expert group for implementation of the Bonn Process and reporting the progress in the field of youth work to the European institutions.
The National Association of Youth Workers (NAPOR) is one of the major actors in the non-governmental youth sector in Serbia consisting of 47 youth organisations and organisations for the youth, and 36 individuals who practice youth work throughout Serbia. It was established in 2009 as a vocational and representative union of organisations, whose mission is to create and develop conditions for quality assurance and recognition of youth work to develop the potential of young people and youth workers who contribute to the well-being of the local community and society. NAPOR conducts training for youth workers and awards their certification, adding to the recognition of youth workers as professionals.
Local Youth Offices - bodies at the local level, within local municipalities, responsible for coordination of local youth policies in all areas relevant to young people, and in accordance with the specific needs of their local communities. In 2014, Local Youth Offices created a joint organisation - the National Association of Youth Offices (NAoYO) which aims at realization of common interests of municipalities and cities in the field of local youth policy including improvement of the quality of work, visibility, networking and exchange of experience of youth offices at all levels.
Since 2014, the Foundation Tempus has been responsible for implementing the education component of the Еrasmus+ programme for education, youth and sport. Following the beginning of preparatory measures for Serbia’s full participation in this programme in July 2016, the Foundation Tempus also became responsible for the youth component of this programme, providing support to projects related to youth work and youth workers.
General distribution of responsibilities
Under the framework of the Strategy for Youth in the Republic of Serbia for the period from 2023 to 2030 and related Action Plan (2023-2025), youth work issues has been set as one of the priorities being incorporated within the first specific goal – “Youth work is standardised in the system of non-formal education and is continuously implemented“. MTY holds the central role in realisation of the Strategy including the measures and activities related to youth work. MTY is responsible for realisation of the six measures developed under the first specific goal including 36 specific activities. The process itself requires a high degree of cross-sectoral cooperation since implementation of the envisaged activities will be realised in close partnership with other organisations including state institutions at all governance levels, youth organisations, as well as actors from the civil and research sector.
Coordination mechanisms and intersectoral coordination is achieved through the bodies of self-governing local communities responsible for implementing the public interest in the youth sector at a local level.
Provincial Youth Council stimulate and coordinate activities related to the development and implementation of youth policy and propose measures for their improvement at the level of Autonomous Province of Vojvodina (APV). Provincial Youth Council is established and coordinated by the Provincial Secretariat for Sports and Youth. Action Plan for Youth in AP Vojvodina (2023-2025) has been adopted in 2023. It follows the strategic approach of Strategy for Youth in the Republic of Serbia (2023-2030) under which the first specific objective refers to standardisation and continuous implementation of youth work within the system of non-formal education. The central role in realisation of the Action plan falls under the mandate of the Provincial Secretariat for Sports and Youth.
Local Youth Councils are holders of youth work and youth policy, and the entities of public interest in the youth sector at the local level.
Local Youth Offices are seen as the main drivers of youth work at the local level. Level of support for youth work varies from municipality to municipality.
National Association of Local Youth Offices mediates between Local Youth Offices on one side and public authorities and civil society on the other. It was established to network, exchange experiences and good practices of Local Youth Offices, provide ongoing support to the local coordinators and to provide additional resources for the work of Local Youth Offices to ensure the quality of youth policy at the local level in cooperation with local and national partners, institutions and organizations, competent ministries and other bodies dealing with youth policy.
The description of the cross-sectoral cooperation between the main public actors is given in Chapter 1.5 Cross-sectoral approach with other ministries.
Since youth work, as interdisciplinary concept, requires intensive cooperation between different public policy actors, Strategy for Youth in the Republic of Serbia (2023-2030) specified roles and responsibilities of the main partnering institutions throughout the implementation process. Apart from MTY holding the central position, responsibilities of the partnering institutions mainly refer to providing support in implementation of the specific activities as well as in data collection based on their mandate and capacities. The main partnering institutions per six measures defined within the first specific goal include as follows:
Measure 1.1 Developed system of professional development of youth workers;
Ministry of Economy, Agency for Qualifications, Business Registers Agency, Office for Dual Education and the National Qualifications Framework, NAPOR, Local self-government units, civil sector organisations, educational institutions;
Measure 1.2 Established system of quality assurance of youth work programmes and nonformal education of young people;
The Ministry of Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue, Ministry of Information and Telecommunications, Provincial Secretariat for Sports and Youth, Office for Dual Education and the National Qualifications Framework, Office of Information Technologies and e-Government, Agency for Qualifications, Local self-government units, civil sector organisations, NAPOR;
Measure 1.3 Youth work programmes are implemented continuously in cooperation with local partners;
Minister of Rural Welfare, Provincial Secretariat for Sports and Youth, Local self-government units, NAPOR, civil sector organisations:
Measure 1.4 Youth work is recognised in the system of formal and non-formal education and among young people;
Ministry of European Integration, Ministry of Economy, Local self-government units, educational institutions, TEMPUS Foundation, RYCO, NAPOR, research agencies, international organisations, civil sector organisations;
Measure 1.5 Research and knowledge management in the field of youth work and non-formal education of young people are continuously conducted;
Statistical Office of the RS, Provincial Secretariat for Sports and Youth, Local self-government units, Business Registers Agency, research agencies, scientific institutes, educational institutions, civil sector organisations, international organisations;
Measure 1.6 Harmonisation of youth work with international standards. Ministry of European Integration, TEMPUS Foundation, RYCO, civil sector organisations, international organisations;
More details on the specific measures and the role of partnering institutions could be found in the Section 10.3 Support to youth work