Youth Policy is mainly funded through:

• State budget (through public calls of line ministries)
• Budget of local self-governments (through local public calls)
• EU funds
• Other - membership fee, donations, provided services, etc.

The Government of the Republic of Serbia annually drafts a proposal of the Law on Budget for the next year. The National Assembly adopts the Law on Budget, together with the budget lines allocated for the youth sector and for the Ministry in charge of youth.

What is funded?

The Ministry responsible for youth annually allocates government funding to other governmental institutions, non-governmental organizations (including youth organizations and their associations), municipal youth work initiatives, and other actors engaged in youth work, through public calls. The ministry uses the funds for activities addressing youth employability and social inclusion, Survey on Needs and Position of Youth, implementing and monitoring of the National Youth Strategy, etc. 

Additionally, the Ministry responsible for youth supports international cooperation and the participation of youth organizations in international programmes through the “Public Call for Co-financing Programs and Projects in the Youth Sector Approved by the European Commission through the European Union’s Erasmus+ Programme and Cross-Border Cooperation Programmes" (Javni konkurs za sufinansiranje programa i projekata u oblastima omladinskog sektora koji su odobreni od strane Evropske komisije kroz Erazmus+ program Evropske unije i programe prekogranične saradnje).

Eligible organizations for funding are those registered in the Uniform Records of Associations of Young People, Associations for Young People, and their Federations, in accordance with the Bylaw on this matter (Pravilnik o sadržini i načinu vođenja Jedinstvene evidencije udruženja mladih, udruženja za mlade i njihovih saveza) while activities eligible for funding are defined in the Bylaw on Financing and Co-financing Progammes and Projects of Public Interest in the Field of the Youth Sector (Pravilnik o finansiranju i sufinansiranju programa i projekata od javnog značaja u oblastima omladinskog sektora). See more in the following section.

Financial accountability

The Bylaw on Financing and Co-financing specifies the procedure for approving programmes and projects of public interest in the field of youth. It further regulates the allocation of funds for their implementation, as well as the reporting on results achieved through the implementation of the approved programme or project.

Articles 10–14 of the Rulebook define the financial accountability of recipients of public funding. In brief:

• The beneficiaries are obligated to use the funds exclusively for the implementation of the approved programme/project;
• The signed contract regulates the mutual rights, obligations and responsibilities of the contracting parties (most importantly: the name of the approved programme/project; the time of its implementation; the amount of approved funds; the monitoring, evaluating and reporting activities);
• The beneficiaries are obligated to submit final narrative and financial report within 20 days after the end of the programme/project;
• The beneficiaries are obliged to allow the line Ministry to monitor the implementation of the programme/project, to be present in the realisation of the activities, as well as to have the insight into the overall programme/project documentation.

Use of EU funds

The Republic of Serbia, as a pre-accession country, is not eligible for the use of ESF, Development and Cohesion Fund, and other sources of funding available to the EU member states. 

However, since the Republic of Serbia is a candidate for EU membership, it has access to certain EU funds. The Republic of Serbia is currently the beneficiary of the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance 2021-2027 (IPA III), from which approximately EUR 14,000 billion is earmarked. About 15% of the funds are earmarked for reforms in the field of rule of law and good governance and neighbourly relations, 42% for green agenda and sustainability, 22% for competitiveness and inclusive growth, and 3,5% for territorial and cross-border cooperation.

Serbia is also a beneficiary of the Multi-beneficiary IPA - an instrument that supports initiatives of regional importance for the Western Balkans. In addition, the Republic of Serbia participates in seven cross-border cooperation programmes and four transnational cooperation programmes.

Youth in Action – Serbia

In the period of seven years (2007-2013), 316 projects with Serbian organisations as coordinators were implemented. The total amount of the approved projects was over EUR 5,6 million.

Erasmus+ programme – Serbia

The Republic of Serbia became a full member country of the Erasmus + programme in 2019, before that, from 2016 to 2019 Serbia had access to some parts of the programme.

In the period 2016-2020 Serbian organizations participated in 16 Key Action 1 Mobility Projects for Young People and Youth Workers. Through these projects total grant of 240 147 EUR was deployed among 124 contracted organisations to support 399 participants.

Ten Strategic partnerships projects were funded, in total with EUR 395 000. These projects were an opportunity for 30 organizations to cooperate (Figure 1.7.1). 

Figure 1.7.1: Organisation participation in KA2 projects by role

Source: Erasmus + Dashboard

In addition to decentralized actions, by the end of 2020 Serbian organisations participated in 120 Key Action 2 Capacity building projects in the Field of Youth, with a total value of over EUR 7,8 million.

In the following years (2021-2024), organizations from Serbia coordinated over 100 Mobility and Cooperation projects with a total value of over EUR 6,7 million in the field of youth. Nearly 1000 youth organisations participated in such projects. Annualy published data are available on the Erasmus+ website.

Evaluation of the 2014-2020 Erasmus+ programme along with interim evaluation 2021-2027 programme was conduced and published by European Commission in 2025.