1. CAPÍTULO 1 DESCRIPCIÓN DEL PROBLEMA
3.4. PROCESO DE MIGRACIÓN
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An issue that also comes up in the planning phase when carrying out preparations for developing a youth strategy is what the nal product should look like. Should there be one comprehensive strategy document that includes “everything”, or should the process lead to the development of both an overall strategic document and an action plan for the shorter term?
There are strong arguments for supporting the second option, namely to develop one long-term strategy and one action plan. The reasons for doing so are logical as well as practical.
Youth Policy Manual – How to develop a national youth strategy
First, a national youth strategy should have a longer time span than the action plan. While the action plan may be developed for a three-year period, the overall strategy should outlast two or even three action plans, meaning that the strategy should preferably last for eight to ten years.
Second, if the strategy and the action plan are merged into one document, the whole strategy will have to be approved by government every time a new action plan is developed. It is more logical to get the approval of the overall strategy by the government. The approval of the consecutive action plans can then be taken at ministry level.
The overall strategy document should, of course, be the main focus of the national youth strategy development process and be subject to a wide consultation with young people and different stakeholder groups. This document should include a comprehensive situation analysis of the different policy areas that are covered by the strategy, and outline the overall goals, objectives and outcomes. The strategy should emphasise how disadvantaged/less privileged young people in particular are targeted within the strategy. There should also be a separate chapter outlining how the strategy will be monitored and evaluated.
The action plan should, in addition to outlining goals, objectives and outcomes, include indicators and activities for all outcomes. It should also include baseline data and an overall (two or three year) budget. The different thematic working groups, the inter-ministerial working group and any stakeholder advisory committees should be involved in the process of developing indicators and activities. Speci c workshops should be organised for the different thematic policy areas in order to work on this technical task. A more detailed annual budget, to be approved as part of the state budget, should also be included in the action plan.
6.10. Web resources
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The use and abuse of the Logical Framework Approach, SIDA, 2005: www.sida. se/shared/jsp/download.jsp?f=LFA-review.pdf&a=21025
The Logical Framework Approach: a summary of the theory behind the LFA methodology, SIDA, 2004: www.sida.se/shared/jsp/download.jsp?f=SIDA1489en_ web.pdf&a=2379
Logical Framework Approach: handbook for objectives-oriented planning, NORAD 1999: www.norad.no/default.asp?V_ITEM_ID=1069
Ten steps to national youth policy formulation, United Nations Youth Portal: www.un.org/esa/socdev/unyin/nationalpolicy.htm
The web page of the National Youth Strategy in Serbia 2008, where the strat- egy document and the external evaluation can be downloaded in English: www.zamislizivot.org
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Developing
a youth strategy
in seven stages:
an example
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o far, the manual has focused on background information or issues that need to be taken into consideration for a government to successfully launch the process of developing a national youth strategy. This chapter is more concrete: it goes through the different stages of developing the strategy, from the rst concrete preparations until the strategy is nished and submitted for approval by the relevant government body. The example of a project design outlined in this chapter includes a comprehen- sive participatory process with different government agencies, civil society and with young people across the country, in order to develop a government policy strategy. It is this signi cance of the pro- cess which gives it its legitimacy and the strong ownership which, once again, is necessary in order to ensure successful implementation of the strategy. This is not the ordinary manner in which a gov- ernment strategy is developed. However, we have argued that the development of a policy for young people requires extraordinary measures because of its cross-sectoral nature, and that it is nec- essary to bring young people and youth organisations into the process. It has already been mentioned, but we repeat it again here: the project designoutlined in this chapter is indeed comprehensive. Some readers may even be alarmed and feel that they cannot develop a national youth strategy because they do not have the resources available to establish the structure suggested in this guide. The example below proved successful, and we therefore nd it useful to share it in this manual. It should also be mentioned that although the structure seems very formalistic and complicated, with all its working groups and committees, there is a clear logic in the project design. Therefore, rather than focusing on the complexity of the example, let it be a source for ideas, inspiration and guidance for further enhancing youth policy.