Due to the trend of depopulation more young people are leaving rural areas. The paper aims to establish the reasons for the departure of young people and women and through the elements of creating projects (best practice examples) to set out guidelines for creating policies. The paper analyzes the problems related to the departure of young people and women from rural areas of the Croatian Republic and provides an overview of the guidelines for creating policies that would affect the prevention of young people and women departure. The success of the investment projects of WECF network depends on respect and implementation of elements of the policy-making essential to achieve results for the benefit of the community.