The Youth Strategy of the Czech Republic for the period 2014 – 2020 (hereinafter referred to as “Strategy 2020”) lays down strategic goals for national policies in relation to young people. It reflects the needs of the youth, especially in the areas of education and mobility, employment of young people and their entrepreneurship, culture and creativity, their participation, health and a healthy lifestyle, young people with fewer opportunities and volunteering. It also addresses environmental and global development problems, including young people’s access to rights and information.
The goal of Strategy 2020, which is closely related to the Governmental Policy for Children and Young People for the period 2007 – 2013 and EU Youth Strategy 2010 - 2018 (also known as the Renewed Framework for European Cooperation in the Youth Field), is to contribute to improving the quality of life of young people, particularly through the development of their characters so that they can adequately respond to the constantly changing environment and use their creative and innovative potential in practice and in active participation in the community.
Strategy 2020 is the result of two years of work by experts in thematic working groups and extensive consultations in the form of round tables between 2011 – 2013 and including active discussion with youths under the Czech Council of Children and Youth Project “Kecejme do toho – Have your say“, and conclusions from the meeting of the Youth Chamber, an inter-governmental advisory body of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports in the youth field. Important resources for the development of Strategy 2020 also include the National Youth Report (Mgr. Hana Maříková, 2013) and the Comparative studies of the situation of youth in the countries of the Visegrad group (Ewa Krzaklewska; Council of Europe 2013). The process of preparing and developing Strategy 2020 culminated at a National Conference on Youth on 8 – 9 November 2013.
The main consulting partners for the preparation and development of Strategy 2020 at the international level, within the framework of Czech – Slovak bilateral cooperation, were IUVENTA and the Department of Youth and Community Programmes of the Slovak Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport. Strategy 2020 also takes into account the results of the analysis of national policies of the Visegrad group countries and the outcomes from the involvement of the Czech Republic in an international programme in the field of youth policies based on the principle of peer-learning between 2011 – 2013, with the participation of the Czech Republic, Germany, France, Belgium, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Sweden.
Overview of the strategic goals of the youth policy of the Czech Republic for the period 2014 - 2020
SG 1: To facilitate equal access of children and youth to rights
SG 2: To facilitate equal access of children and youth to information
SG 3: To create favourable and sustainable conditions for the participation of children and youth in leisure-based and non-formal education
SG 4: To expand and make more attractive the offer of leisure activities and to motivate children and youth to make active use of them
SG 5: To support the increase of cross-border mobility of young people
SG 6: To improve conditions for employment and employability of youth
SG 7: To promote comprehensive and harmonic development of children and youth with emphasis on their physical and mental health and moral responsibility
SG 8: To promote active involvement of children and young people in decision-making processes and in influencing the social and democratic life
SG 9: To create favourable conditions for volunteering for young people including valuation and recognition of voluntary activities
SG 10: To facilitate inclusion of children and young people with fewer opportunities
SG 11: To motivate children and youth towards a life based on the principles of sustainable development and to develop their environmental literacy
SG 12: To encourage the development of competencies in children and young people for safe and creative use of media
SG 13: To offer children and young people a variety of paths to culture, art and traditions
