The Government submitted, on Wednesday, 9 September, bill number 104/XVII/1st to establish a new legal framework for youth associations in Portugal.
The proposal recognizes youth associations as an essential pillar of participatory democracy, promoting active citizenship, social inclusion and territorial cohesion. The Executive states that the Portuguese youth association movement has undergone a profound transformation in recent years, with the diversification of organizational forms and the emergence of new models of participation.
The Government recalls that Law number 23/2006, of 23 June, played a decisive role in the recognition of youth associations, but that after almost twenty years since its approval, social and administrative changes have made it evident that the current framework no longer adequately responds to current dynamics or the demands of contemporary public governance.
The proposal aims to eliminate youth character associations, delineating the universe of entities eligible for support, and promotes a reengineering of the constitution and recognition procedure through a single digital channel on the gov.pt platform. It also provides for new monitoring, evaluation, inspection and transparency mechanisms, including the creation of a monitoring committee and a National Registry of Youth Associations.
