Financing and governance of youth policies: The case of Republic of North Macedonia

Abstract

The paper evaluates the current developments of the youth policy in North Macedonia, focusing on the financing and governance mechanisms. Through an overview of the youth policies and key actors in the country, the authors emphasize the inconsistency and lack of continuity in the inclusion of young people in decision-making processes in North Macedonia. Although some progress has been made in the enhancement of the legal and institutional framework for advancing youth policies in the past few years, it is still early to record significant visible results. State financing of youth policies and youth organizations in Republic of North Macedonia and mechanisms for providing public funds for implementation of youth policies still remain as one of the main challenges of the state funding reform that the Government needs to focus on further. Analyzing the management and capacity for policy implementation, we came to conclusion that the newly established Local Youth Councils should provide an institutional channel for influence and representation, direct involvement of young people in decision-making processes, as well as developing and building partnerships between youth and local governments. Finally, we conclude that in the policy making process, the youth can be stable and powerful partner of the central and local government in determining the needs, problems and priorities of the youth, but also in the implementation of plans, measures and policies. However, the reform of the existing model of state funding should be one of the priorities of the government.