Towards a new governance framework for children and youth policies in Ireland

Over the past decade, Ireland has introduced significant reforms to reduce child poverty and promote better outcomes for children and young people. In 2018, Ireland launched ‘First 5’, its first strategy for early childhood. To support efforts across government to deliver for children and young people, Ireland implemented the 2014-20 National Policy Framework for Children and Young People, Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures (BOBF) and the 2015-20 National Youth Strategy. Ireland also adopted a Child and Youth Participation Strategy 2019-2023.

The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) in Ireland is seeking to implement the European Child Guarantee and the successor framework to BOBF in a consistent and coherent way. Within this context, the OECD, in co-operation with the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support (DG REFORM), provides assistance to review and implement measures to strengthen current policy and governance arrangements for tackling child poverty and improving outcomes for children and young people. The 18-months project is expected to strengthen evidence-informed approaches, promote inter-agency cooperation and reinforce accountability mechanisms and policy monitoring tools in Ireland’s child and youth sector.

International Peer Workshop: Presentation of international good practices and recommendations “Strengthening governance arrangements to deliver for children and young people in Ireland”, 6 November 2023, Online

Workshop: Presentation of the preliminary findings from the “OECD Assessment of the Governance Frameworks to Implement Child and Youth Policies in Ireland”, 7 June 2023

Kick-off event with Assistant Secretary-General Lara Hynes and fact-finding mission, 7-11 November 2022

This type of support is relevant for other countries wishing to strengthen their governance capacities to deliver for young people and children. Areas that may be of interest include: (i) improving cross-sectoral coordination and inter-ministerial/agency collaboration; (ii) strengthening policy implementation capacities across government departments, agencies and non-governmental stakeholders; (iii) improving evidence-based approaches based on the collection and employment of age-disaggregated data, as well as data exchange between institutions; (iv) reinforcing monitoring and evaluation capacities and broader accountability arrangements; and (v) involving children and young people in policy design and implementation.

For more information about the project, please contact [email protected]