On the occasion of the International Youth Day, we published the Monitoring Report on the implementation of the Law on Youth Participation and Youth Policies. For the fourth year in a row, the report analyzes the progress in implementing the provisions of the Law and the establishment of the envisaged services and mechanisms at the local and national level.

According to the data collected for the period from January 1, 2024, to December 31, 2024, a decline is observed in the implementation of mechanisms and services for youth. Additionally, the report shows that the level of understanding of the legal provisions by the municipalities has increased. At the national level, although progress has been made through the establishment of the Research Center (Department for Research in the field of youth within the Youth Sector at the Ministry of Social Policy, Demography and Youth), alignment of the legal provisions with the new structure of the state apparatus and the adoption of all relevant by-laws is still missing.

According to the report:

• The number of municipalities with a Local Youth Council decreased by 6 (from 34 in 2023 to 28 in 2024);
• The number of municipalities with adopted Local Youth Strategies decreased by 8 (from 18 in 2023 to 10 in 2024);
• Only 4 municipalities have properly carried out the procedure for establishing a Youth Office;
• Only 9 municipalities have Youth Centers that operate in cooperation with youth forms of organization;
• The number of municipal youth officers decreased by 10 (from 65 in 2023 to 55 in 2024);
• In 2024, only 9 municipalities allocated the legally prescribed youth budget of at least 0.1% of the total municipal budget;
• In 2025, only 16 municipalities planned a youth budget in line with the legally set minimum of 0.1% of the total municipal budget;
• According to the municipalities, the youth budget most often represents funding for cultural and sports events.

For improving the implementation of the Law on Youth Participation and Youth Policies, it is recommended to:

• Urgently adopt amendments to the Law and adopt by-laws for full regulation of all legal provisions;
• Develop and publish guidelines and manuals for the establishment and implementation of legal provisions, especially at the local level;
• Professionalize youth officers and establish a mechanism for monitoring and supporting municipalities in the implementation of the Law;
• Strengthen the capacities and the role of the departments within the Youth Sector at the Ministry of Social Policy, Demography and Youth;
• Establish a separate budget line for youth in the budgets of local and national institutions in order to clearly define the funds allocated for youth;
• Organize a parliamentary oversight debate on the implementation of the Law by the Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia with the aim of enhancing the significance and impact of the Law.

The full report is available HERE.