For many years Costa Rica has had many governmental organizations specializing in youth, and there has been much progress especially in the past few years related to this field.  In October 2003, the National Youth Assembly unanimously approved the Public Youth Policy, presented by the Youth Council after consulting with other members related to this field and giving the youth themselves a place for creating their own context.  After the Legislative Assembly approved the policy, and from there it began to effectively function.

Previously, in the framework of this substantial process, the Legislative Assembly approved the General Youth Law in May 2002.  According to the Vice-Minister of Youth ¨We were able to obtain, among many other benefits, that the youth represented by the National Assembly Consultation Network, will benefit from the approval of the National Plan for Public Youth Policies, that was created and presented by the National Counsel on Public Youth Policies.¨

In the words of the President of the Republic, the presentation of the Document in question, ¨lies between two great areas, civil and political rights and economic, social and cultural rights.  These two great areas present eight components can be divided into different political bases with different focuses on rights, The Right to Life, Liberty and Personal Security; Participation; Health; Family; Fairness and Anti-Discrimination; Economic Rights; Education; Expression and Recreation and Sports.¨

As one can appreciate, the public youth policy in Costa Rica is more formulated towards a focus on rights.  This distinguishes it from many others because is centers more specifically on the risk factors and opportunities to avoid these risks.  According to the Executive Director of the Youth Counsel, ¨the strategies, components, objectives, conceptualizations, definitions, characteristics and focuses that shape the Public Policies for Youth, include and understand that the guidelines to manage opportunities and conditions that guarantee the development of their abilities and the exercising of rights and citizenship.¨

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