In 1993, the newly established Ministry of Youth and Arts published Malta’s First National Youth Policy which sought to provide young people and policy makers with clear objectives in the political, social and economic development of the nation and provided for periodic revision of the policy in the light of changing circumstances. A revised National Youth Policy was subsequently published in 1999.
Resulting from Malta’s representation on the European Steering Committee for Youth (CDEJ), a National Report on youth policy in Malta by an international team of experts was published in 2003 and formed the basis for a revised National Youth Policy which was published in 2004. 2004 also witnessed Malta’s accession to the European Union; a time when the youth policy development at European level was gaining increasing momentum.
The National Youth Policy (2010-2013) had a number of significant features. First, it was based on the national report conducted by the expert international review group. Second, it established an instrument for policy implementation, Agenzija Zghazagh, Malta’s National Youth Agency. Third, it emerged against the background of a new policy initiative at European Union level, the renewed framework for European cooperation in the youth field (2010-2018).