The Youth Forum for Youth Policies in Lebanon is a non-government network of youth focused NGOs and youth wings in political parties that emerged in 2007 in parallel to the Decree No. 80/2007 issued by the Council of Ministers in Lebanon and that specified having a Youth Consultation over the Youth Policy. The Youth Forum’s primary goal was the development of a national youth policy in partnership
with the Ministry of Youth and Sports in a process that was supported by the United Nations Youth Task Force in Lebanon then. On the long term, the YF aims to advocate for a Governance Model in which it sits on the table with government officials to directly negotiate youth demands and priorities as a rights-holder and as described in the National Youth Policy. The Youth Forum envisions a State where the rule of law guarantees for the Lebanese youth all their rights. It aims to develop youth policy recommendations, submit them to decision makers, and advocate for their endorsement, implementation, and evaluation to the best interests of the Lebanese youth. It works towards the establishment of a Governance Model where youth priorities are constantly identified and proposed to the State to be acted upon. The Youth Policy is the declaration of the State of its commitment to youth issues; it is a comprehensive document that includes the vision of all the actions the State intends to take in order to improve the living conditions of young people, ensure their access to relevant services, and create an enabling environment for youth to access decision making positions in the public life. The Youth Policy experience of Lebanon is exemplary, particularly because it is a bottom- up process whereby young people themselves have set its recommendations and submitted them to the Ministry of Youth& Sports to be endorsed by the Cabinet. Also, the youth policy document incorporates the needs and ambitions of all Lebanese youth irrespective of their ideological and political backgrounds.
