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The Czech Republic currently has no national youth policy. However, in December 2022 the Minister of Education, Youth and Sports decided to develop a new strategy in the course of 2023 after pressure from the Czech Council of Children and Youth.
There is no uniform official definition of youth in the Czech Republic. The last National Youth Strategy 2014-2020 focused on young people between the ages of 13 and 30.
Source: National Youth Strategy 2014-2020 2014
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 Czech Republic currently has no national youth policy. However, according to the EU Youth Wiki, in December 2022, the Minister of Education, Youth and Sports decided to develop a new strategy in the course of 2023 after pressure from the Czech Council of Children and Youth. The last National Youth Strategy was valid between 2014 and 2020 and comprised 13 strategic goals in the areas of education and mobility, employment, culture and creativity, participation, health, inequality and volunteering. The mid-term and final evaluation reports of this strategy are not available publicly.
The main government authority in the field of youth is the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MEYS), specifically its Children and Youth Development Unit within the Department for Basic Education and Youth. According to the Organisational Regulations (2022) of the MEYS, the unit's responsibilities include, among others, the:
Moreover, the Youth Chamber acts as an advisory and initiative body "for the creation, implementation and evaluation of strategic documents of children and youth policy."
The Czech Council of Children and Youth (CRDM) was founded in July 1998 and represents over 100 member organisations with around 200,000 individual members, including nine regional youth councils. According to CRDM, it fulfils its mission by "supporting non-formal education and activities of its members, especially by creating legal, economical [sic], social and cultural conditions suitable for their activities."
According to its Annual Report (2021), the CRDM received a total of CZK 23.7 million (USD 1 million) in subsidies in 2021, covering 86 percent its project costs.
According to the EU Youth Wiki, youth work in the Czech Republic can be grouped in two main categories: (1) leisure-time-based education, provided mainly by public facilities registered within the formal education system, and; (2) youth work based on non-formal education and informal learning, which is provided mainly by non-governmental organisations.
Youth work in the Czech Republic is not covered by overarching legislation. Moreover, no specific policy document on youth work exists. However, the 2004 Act on Pedagogical Workers does cover leisure-time-based education through its provisions for Leisure-Time-Educators. The Education 2030+ Strategy also touches upon youth work, particularly in its section on non-formal education.
Funding for youth work is coordinated by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports. The Funding Framework 2017-2020 for Children and Youth Work is the latest available document outlining the funding structure for NGOs in the youth field. According to the EU Youth Wiki, the framework was slightly modified and updated for 2022-2023 - however, no document can be found online.
Given that currently no independent youth policy exists, there is also no separate budget. Within the 2022 budget of the Czech Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, CZK 303.3 million (USD 13.8 million) are allocated to "leisure time activities of children and youth." The Ministry's overall 2022 budget is CZK 249.5 billion (USD 11.3 billion), of which the largest share is allocated to education and school services.
Source: Varieties of Democracy Indices
Source: European Youth Forum
Source: World Bank, UNDP, Our World in Data
From the 2022 Policy Statement of the Czech Government:
"We will support organisations working with children and youth, volunteering and we will also focus on supporting non-formal education and its integration with formal education."
"We will support all leisure organisations (Skaut, Sokol, Orel, etc.) and similar civil society activities. We will strengthen investment subsidies from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports for leisure organisations."
"We will promote systematic preparation of citizens for crisis situations, especially targeting the young generation."
From the EU Youth Wiki on the 2018 Audit Report on Funding Children and Youth Work:
"On 12th of February 2018 the Supreme Audit Office of the Czech Republic published its audit report about the finances in the Youth sector which was very critical to the Youth Policy and the Youth Strategy implementation and evaluation. It also concludes that the Strategy does not have real indicators, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports did not have an outline of the implementation tools of other sectors and that the Mid-term evaluation from May 2017 was with mistakes and misleading information."
European Commission - Youth Wiki. (2023, 09 March). Czech-Republic - 1.3 National youth strategy. Retrieved on 13 June 2023, from
https://national-policies.eacea.ec.europa.eu/youthwiki/chapters/czech-republic/13-national-youth-strategy.
European Commission - Youth Wiki. (2021, 1 October). Czech-Republic - 10 Youth Work. Retrieved on 24 November 2022, from https://national-policies.eacea.ec.europa.eu/youthwiki/chapters/czech-republic/10-youth-work.
Czech Council of Children and Youth (CRDM). (n.d.). Mission of CRDM. Original in Czech. Retrieved on 24 November 2022, from https://en.crdm.cz/.
Czech Council of Children and Youth (CRDM). (2021). Annual Report. Original in Czech. Retrieved from https://crdm.cz/download/VZ/vyrocni-zprava-crdm-2021.pdf.
Government of Czechia. (2004). Act No. 563/2004 on Pedagogical Workers. Original in Czech. Retrieved on 24 November 2022, from https://www.zakonyprolidi.cz/cs/2004-563.
Government of Czechia. (2022). Policy Statement of the Government of the Czech Republic. Retrieved on 24 November 2022, from https://www.vlada.cz/assets/jednani-vlady/policy-statement/Policy-Statement-of-the-Government.pdf.
Government of Czechia - Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports. (n.d.). Youth Chamber. Original in Czech. Retrieved on 24 November 2022, from https://www.msmt.cz/mladez/komora-mladeze-3.
Government of Czechia - Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports. (2014). National Youth Strategy for years 2014-2020. Retrieved from https://www.msmt.cz/file/35221/.
Government of Czechia - Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports. (2014). Strategy for the Education Policy of the Czech Republic up to 2030+. Retrieved from https://www.msmt.cz/uploads/brozura_S2030_en_fin_online.pdf.
Government of Czechia - Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports. (2016). State support programmes for work with children and youth for non-governmental non-profit organisations for 2017-2020. Original in Czech. Retrieved on 24 November 2022, from https://www.msmt.cz/file/38878/.
Government of Czechia - Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports. (2022). Appendix: Content of the activities of the ministry's organisational units. Original in Czech. Retrieved on 24 November 2022, from https://www.msmt.cz/file/58733/.
Government of Czechia - Ministry of Finance. (2022). Approved Branch Budget for Expenditures 2022 - Chapter 333: Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports. Retrieved on 24 November 2022, from https://monitor.statnipokladna.cz/kapitola/333/schvaleny-rozpocet/vydaje-odvetvovy?rad=t&obdobi=2212.
Government of Czechia - Supreme Audit Office. (2018). Audit conclusion of audit operation 17/17 - State funds provided to support work with children and youth. Original in Czech. Retrieved on 24 November 2022, from https://www.nku.cz/assets/kon-zavery/k17017.pdf.