“Let’s act together on shaping the local and central youth policy through structured dialog”

Based on the research done in 2017 from NYC with the support of FES, we could say that there was a significant lack of local planning on the development of youth policies, much less in line with the priorities established or designated by the relevant institutions in consultation with young actors and entities of civil society and beyond. The lack of budget allocation specifically for strategic objectives both at central and local level made it more difficult to believe in the realization of the latter. There was an urgent need for orienting local institutions and donors to the needs and interests of young people, as well as a comprehensive dialogue and consultation process prior to the construction of a new national plan of a functioning local level. The project aimed to strengthen the network of National Youth Congress, including the relevant partnerships, to advocate and lobby for concrete local youth action plans and foreseen budget in the municipalities regarding those. This initiative was preceded by the common voice and attitude regarding the needs in youth sector, policy cycle and recommendations and political pressure for the upcoming local elections and the new strategy on youth.

The project had three main objectives:

• To provide the needed baseline which was consulted before starting to shape the draft material on local action plans in 12 regions and the recommendations for central level stakeholders.
• To work in local level with the target groups and with the relevant institutions (keeping always both components included: civil society and policy makers) by fostering cooperation and creating the right ground for structured dialog and common influence in decision making.
• To consult and facilitate the work of these local working groups in each region which consisted on drafting local action plans/strategies and have a common material to be represented and shared with the ministries, municipalities and donor community.