Vlaams jeugd- en kinderrechtenbeleidsplan 2015-2019 | Page 7

A government of flanders plan

IMPOSED THROUGH A FLEMISH PARLIAMENT ACT
It is the fourth time that the Government
of Flanders presents a youth policy plan
to parliament. As decreed by Flemish
Parliament Act, this must be done one
year after the start of the Government’s
term of office. What is new is that the
Flemish children’s rights policy has been
integrated entirely for the present policy period. With the youth and children’s
rights policy plan the Government of
Flanders pursues the following objec-

tives for all children and young people
up to and including the age of thirty.
• To create and guarantee equal opportunities.
• To create and guarantee broad development opportunities.
• To create space.
• To increase the formal and informal
participation of children and young
people.

BUT A REAL EXERCISE IN PARTICIPATION
Behind a simple provision in a Flemish
Parliament Act lies an intensive process
of preparation. The youth and children’s
rights policy plan tries to serve as an
example of participatory policy with
great involvement from children, young
people, their organisations and experts.
Preparations started in the spring of
2013. An extensive environmental anal-

ysis, the Great Priorities Debate, several
working groups and feedback through
an online survey provided the seedbed
for a framework of objectives around
12 priority topics. After that, the competent Ministers were asked to submit
their action plans. Finally, the administrations developed projects, processes
and indicators.

AND MORE THAN WORDS ON PAPER
This whole set of objectives, indicators,
projects and processes constitutes the
Flemish Youth and Children’s Rights
Policy Plan 2015 — 2019. The Government
of Flanders is now responsible for actually implementing this plan and will

issue interim reports after two years.
This will allow for midterm adjustments to be made. At the end of the
Government’s term of office a final report will be drawn up.

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