Ungdomsstyrelsen

Swedish National Board for Youth Affairs

Welcome to the Swedish National Board for Youth Affairs
The Swedish National Board for Youth Affairs is a government agency that works to ensure that young people have access to influence and welfare.

We do this by:
• producing and communicating knowledge about young people’s living conditions;
• following up the objectives set for national youth policy by the Riksdag (the Swedish Parliament) and the Government and by supporting municipalities in their youth policy work;
• distributing funds to and supporting methods development in young people’s leisure and associative activities and in international youth cooperation.
Our target groups are:
• decision-makers, officials and interest organisations working with youth issues at national, regional and municipal level;
• youth organisations and association leaders;
• young people, including young people in municipal youth councils and assemblies and young people who do not usually participate in international youth exchange.

Publications:
http://ungdomsstyrelsen.se/english_kat/0,2685,941,00.html

Gençlik Hizmetleri

Department Of Youth Services

The General Directorate is a governmental body under Prime Ministry. This organ takes its legitimacy from the Constitution. According to the Article 58 and 59 of “Protection of the Youth” and “Development of Sports” respectively:

“Article 58. The state shall take measures to ensure the training and development of the youth into whose keeping our state, independence, and our Republic are entrusted, in the light of contemporary science, in line with the principles and reforms of Atatürk, and in opposition to ideas aiming at the destruction of the indivisible integrity of the state with its territory and nation.

The state shall take necessary measures to protect the youth from addiction to alcohol, drug addiction, crime, gambling, and similar vices, and ignorance.

General Directorate for Youth and Sports is a huge public institution with 47 sports federations, which are encouraged to be autonomous with newly passed regulations, that will take time, and 11 departments, one of which is the Department of Youth Services responsible for the youth issues.

Fields of Activities of the Department of Youth Services

1. Youth Centres

The Department of Youth Services is serving mainly young people between the ages of 12 – 24 through its sub-structures, namely “Youth Centres” that are under the control of Provincial Directorate for Youth and Sports. At present there are 142 Youth Centres throughout Turkey. These centres strengthen cooperation and solidarity among young people, have them gain skills in various fields and socialize them by providing social and cultural activities and courses.

2. Youth Camps

During summer holidays, youth camps are organised for young people, 13 – 24 years old. The aims of these camps are to ensure that young people have good time, rest, become friends and develop a sense of cooperation.

3. Cultural Activities

Through out the year various cultural and social activities are realized. Youth Week celebrations are organized between the dates of 15 – 21 May every year. During the week the General Directorate and Provincial Directorates of Youth and Sports organize various activities, such as conferences, panels and symposiums about youth issues, youth feasts, theatres, folk dances and concerts, exhibitions of the works produced by young people and sports.

4. Youth Clubs

According to the Article 57 of the Association Law No: 2908, “the right to be registered as youth club has been given to the associations founded with the aim of realizing activities in youth field”. As from August 2003 there are 155 youth clubs registered to the Directorate General.

5. Guidance and Counselling

There are guidance and counselling bureaus in youth centres. Training courses on various subjects, such as drugs, first aids etc… are organized by the Department of Youth Services for young people throughout Turkey in cooperation with the relevant institutions.

6. International Relations

The Department of Youth Services carries out all international issues relating youth, except EU Youth Programme. Although the Directorate General for Youth and Sports has protocols with several countries and realize various activities in sports field, it has a protocol in youth field only with Germany. General Directorate aims at promoting bilateral and multilateral cooperation also with other countries in youth field.

More information:
http://www.genclikhizmetleri.gov.tr