After a long process of consults, in February, 2005, the creation of the Secretariat of Youth (Secretaría da Juventude) was created, located in the Presidency of the Republic and with ministerial rank. In parallel, a decision was made about impelling the creation of the National Council on Youth (Conselho Nacional da Juventude), summoning juvenile organizations and movements, as well as the main public and private institutions related to youth, to base the construction on a wide and plural global consensus and with full autonomy from the government. In addition, the implementation of the Projovem Program was approved, with the purpose of giving –on a major scale- education and work opportunities for a big sector of excluded young men.

Of course, there are many antecedents that explain how and why this desicions were –finally- taken. Since the end of the twentieth century the juvenile problematic is a matter of concern, throughout the world and specially in Brazil. This complex universe of 34.4 million young men, makes us think about the necessity of a new political and social order that must respond to the demand by an agenda of effective actions, and for this, more clear and democratic from the State. The late acknowledgment of this demographic group requires differentiated policies, that put and end to the image of the juvenile as a problem. Young men and women are, actually, a demographic sector that can actively collaborate with the construction of a more fair, prosper and democratic society.

With the election of Luis Ignacio Lula da Silva as president, for the first time, the federal government shows that it is willing and decided to respond to brasilian young people’s desires, and places youth in the center of discussions on public policies. This way, an consistent movement was formed that will lead to the development of a global youth policy that considers young people as strategic actors of this development. Institutionally, along with the creation of the Youth Secretariat and the National Council of Youth, the scheme is complemented by the Interministerial Commission of Youth and the Parliamentarian Commission of Youth, with which, the atention of this problems is assured from the Congress and from the Federal Executive. In addition, in the different States and Municipalities, similar institutional instances work.

In parallel, several actions were impelled from different international organisms, that helped to a large degree with the ‘dynamization’ of this matters. On the case of UNESCO, that formed the Juvenile Development Index (IDJ in Spanish) and gave a substantival support of great relevance in relation to the design of politics of/for/with young people. Also the World Bank collaborated with the mobilization and consult to a wide core of leaders and juvenile movements. On this line, a foundamental support was given by the Cidadanía Institute, a NGO founded by President Lula some time ago now, and that now takes care of the design of major public policies proposals (that then the federal government collects and puts into practice) including –in this case- a proposal on youth policies.

Once the first stages of work in the different institutional ambits previously mentioned are familiar, and agreeing with the closure of the first government period and the beginning of President Lula’s second government period, the Youth Secretariat and the National Council of Youth have performed a rigorous evaluation of achievements and pending assignments, and on this base they determined the priorities to impel over this next years. In this sense, several proposals have been structured so that each ministry has its youth program, and something similar will be intended to achieve with the different States and in every municipality where possible. The most relevant thing, is that all of this is being achieved from the assignation of budgetary resources, which assure its effective implementation.