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The National Youth Programme for the Period from 2014 to 2017 is the most recent youth policy in Croatia. In 2017, a national working group was established to draft a new youth programme. However, after a public e-consultation held in January 2020, the draft programme was not adopted.
The National Youth Programme for the Period from 2014-2017 defines youth as those aged 15 to 30 years old, while also stating that "[�] a tendency to move the limit of youth up to the age of 35 is observed."
Source: National Youth Programme 2013-2017 2015
Source: Wikipedia Article on Majority Age (2024)
Source: Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU)
Source: Age Matters Research Project
Source: UNSD, UNDESA, ILGA
Source: COE Report Gender Recognition 2022
The Central State Office for Demography and Youth was established by the Law on the Organisation and Scope of State Administration Bodies (2020) and took over the responsibility of youth from the former Ministry of Demography, Family, Youth and Social Policy. The Central State Office is responsible for improving the quality of life of young people and constructing a complete, comprehensive, and interdepartmental policy for youth. This also includes proposing and implementing strategic documents, laws, programmes, and projects in the field of youth policy and monitoring and evaluating them. Furthermore, the office works to develop measures and programmes aimed at preventing the social exclusion of young people in order to give them the basis for a complete, creative and dignified life.
According to the Report on the Work of the Youth Council in 2021,
"The Youth Council is an interdepartmental advisory body of the Government of the Republic of Croatia with the task of participating in the development of public policies for youth, while professional and administrative tasks for the Council are performed by the Central State Office for Demography and Youth."
The Youth Council is responsible for:
According to the EU Youth Wiki, "There is no official definition of youth work in Croatia." Generally speaking, youth work in Croatian is referred to as "working with youth." Youth work appeared for the first time in an official national document in the National Youth Programme for the Period from 2014 to 2017:
"Work with young people is most often carried out through youth associations, and activities and services of work with young people can also be provided by public bodies and institutions, especially at the local level. People who are specially prepared to work with young people (e.g. youth workers) deal with work with young people on a voluntary or paid basis. In Croatia, work with young people has a long tradition through the work of numerous youth associations and through the engagement of social workers and experts in related professions. However, work with young people is not recognized nor is there a strategic approach to its support and development. Likewise, it has not been determined which competencies are needed by people who work with young people in order to successfully perform their work. The most common challenges they face are the lack of institutional and financial support, as well as the non-recognition of their profession in a formal and legal sense, but also by users and the general public."
According to the State Budget Proposal by Budget Beneficiaries for 2023, the Central State Office for Demography and Youth is allocated EUR 336.0 million (USD 364.7 million). The Financial Plan of the Central State Office for Demography and Youth for 2023 further specifies that of this budget, EUR 1.4 million (USD 1.5 million) is allocated to youth policy.
Source: Varieties of Democracy Indices
Source: European Youth Forum
Source: World Bank, UNDP, Our World in Data
According to the National Youth Programme for the Period from 2014-2017:
"The contemporary generation of young people in Croatia, as well as in most countries of the European environment, is maturing in general social conditions that are significantly different from those in which earlier generations of young people grew up. This difference is primarily due to the multi-year economic crisis that affected other areas of social life as well. The situation of young people in Croatia is further complicated by the fact that they are growing up in a transitional society with only two decades of experience in building a democratic social and political order and the painful experience of war on their own territory, the material, social and political consequences of which are still present."
In a 2022 article, the Croatian Youth Network expressed their frustration regarding the process surrounding the drafting of a National Youth Programme (NPM). The relevant Working Group drafted a five-year program, 2020 - 2024, yet after the e-Consultation process, the group was unofficially dissolved. According to the article, the responsible ministry stopped convening meetings and the draft proposal "simply disappeared" and was rejected. They describe in the following what happened next:
"In the meantime, with the arrival of the COVID 19 virus pandemic [the Croatian Youth Network] began to propose the creation of a somewhat different document - a two-year program that would quickly respond to the emerging needs of young people caused by the consequences of the pandemic, and later the earthquake. Our proposal was accepted in principle, and the Government of the Republic of Croatia, by its Decision on July 8, 2021, initiated the process of developing the National Youth Programme 2022 - 2024. Immediately afterwards, on July 30, 2021 , the Central State Office for Demography and Youth (SDUDM) founded a working group for the preparation of the same, which brought together representatives of state administration bodies, public institutions, the academic community, and organisations of young people and for young people, but not representatives of the Youth Network. Until then, we were positive about the role of the new departmental body dedicated to young people and expected that it would speed up the process of adopting the NPM, but also lead to a general improvement of conditions and opportunities for young people and everyone who works with them. However, the current situation has discredited the initial optimism."
"�the SDUDM does not show the slightest interest in further negotiations on this issue and rejects any possibility of our direct involvement in the process of drafting the Draft NPM 2022 - 2024. They leave us no other options than to accept it and let's continue to follow the process 'from the outside', following the development through publicly available channels. We have entered the second half of 2022, and there is no sign of the draft of the new NPM."
Croatian Parliament. (2020). The Decision on the Proclamation of the Law on the Organisation and scope of Bodies of State Administration. Original in Croatian. Retrieved from https://narodne-novine.nn.hr/clanci/sluzbeni/full/2020_07_85_1593.html.
Croatian Youth Network. (2022). In anticipation of the National Youth Programme. Original in Croatian. Retrieved on 26 January 2023, from https://www.mmh.hr/vijesti/u-iscekivanju-nacionalnog-programa-za-mlade.
European Commission - Youth Wiki. (2021, 12 November). Croatia - 10 Youth Work. Retrieved on 26 January 2023, fromhttps://national-policies.eacea.ec.europa.eu/youthwiki/chapters/croatia/10-youth-work.
European Commission - Youth Wiki. (2022, 25 July). Croatia - Youth Policy Governance - 1.9 Current debates and reforms. Retrieved on 26 January 2023, fromhttps://national-policies.eacea.ec.europa.eu/youthwiki/chapters/croatia/19-current-debates-and-reforms.
European Commission - Youth Wiki. (2022, 28 July). Croatia - Participation - 5.3 Youth representation bodies. Retrieved on 26 January 2023, fromhttps://national-policies.eacea.ec.europa.eu/youthwiki/chapters/croatia/53-youth-representation-bodies.
Government of Croatia. (2021). The Decision on the Initiation of the Process of Creating the National Youth Program for the Period from 2022 to 2024. Original in Croatian. Retrieved from https://demografijaimladi.gov.hr/UserDocsImages/Broshure/Odluka%20o%20pokretanju%20postupka%20izrade%20Nacacionalnog%20programa%20za%20mlade%20za%20razdoblje%20od%202022.%20do%202024.%20godine.pdf.
Government of Croatia. (2023). State Budget Proposal by Budget Beneficiaries. Original in Croatian.Retrieved from https://mfin.gov.hr/UserDocsImages/dokumenti/proracun/2023/Prilog%201%20Dr%C5%BEavni%20prora%C4%8Dun%20po%20korisnicima.xls.
Government of Croatia - Central State Office for Demography and Youth. (2022). Summary of Minutes - Third meeting of the Working Group for Drafting the Proposal of the National Programme for Youth for the period from 2022 to 2024. Original in Croatian. Retrieved from https://demografijaimladi.gov.hr/UserDocsImages//Dokumenti//Sa%C5%BEetak%20zapisnika%203.%20sastanak%20Radne%20skupine%20NPM.pdf.
Government of Croatia - Central State Office for Demography and Youth. (2023). Financial Plan for 2023-2025. Original in Croatian.Retrieved from https://demografijaimladi.gov.hr/UserDocsImages/Dokumenti/Financijski%20plan%20Sredi%C5%A1njeg%20dr%C5%BEavnog%20ureda%20za%20demografiju%20i%20mlade%20za%202023.%20WEB.pdf.
Government of Croatia - Central State Office for Demography and Youth. (n.d.). Council for Young People VRH. Original in Croatian. Retrieved on 26 January 2023, from https://demografijaimladi.gov.hr/istaknute-teme/mladi-4064/savjet-za-mlade-vrh/4068.
Government of Croatia - Central State Office for Demography and Youth. (n.d.). National programme for youth. Original in Croatian. Retrieved on 26 January 2023, from https://demografijaimladi.gov.hr/istaknute-teme/mladi-4064/nacionalni-program-za-mlade-4072/4072.
Government of Croatia - Central State Office for Demography and Youth. (n.d.). Third Meeting of the Working Group. Original in Croatian. Retrieved on 26 January 2023, fromhttps://demografijaimladi.gov.hr/istaknute-teme/mladi-4064/nacionalni-program-za-mlade-4072/sastanci-radne-skupine/3-sastanak-radne-skupine-6610/6610.
Government of Croatia - Central State Office for Demography and Youth. (n.d.). Scope. Original in Croatian. Retrieved on 26 January 2023, from https://demografijaimladi.gov.hr/o-uredu/djelokrug-923/923.
Government of Croatia - Ministry of Demography, Family, Youth and Social Policy. (n.d.). Draft National Programme for Young People for the Period from 2020-2024. Original in Croatian. Retrieved on 26 January 2023, from https://esavjetovanja.gov.hr/ECon/MainScreen?entityId=13290.
Government of Croatia - Ministry of Labour, Pension System, Family and Social Policy. (n.d.). About the Ministry. Original in Croatian. Retrieved on 26 January 2023, from https://mrosp.gov.hr/o-ministarstvu/9.
Government of Croatia - Ministry of Social Policy and Youth. (2014). National Youth Programme for the Period from 2014-2017. Original in Croatian. Retrieved from http://mladi-eu.hr/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Nacionalni-program-za-mlade-14-17.pdf.
Government of Croatia - Youth Council. (2022). Work Report in 2021. Original in Croatian. Retrieved from https://demografijaimladi.gov.hr/UserDocsImages/Dokumenti/Izvje%C5%A1%C4%87e%20o%20radu%20u%202021.%20godini.pdf.