Over 200 experts, heads of authorized government bodies, academics and practitioners from 20 countries, as well as representatives of such international organizations as the UN, OECD and the World Bank took part in the online Conference “Current Civil Service Reforms: Challenges and Prospects“.
The honorable guest of the Conference was H.E. Mr. Larbi Djacta, UN Under-Secretary-General and Chairman of the UN International Civil Service Commission. In his speech, H.E. Mr. Larbi Djacta thanked the organizers of the event for providing a platform for the exchange of experience, knowledge and mutual learning. He also noted that the countries of the region have a dynamic and important momentum and reminded of the need to conjugate all efforts to return to normal life and normal condition of work of civil service.
In his welcoming speech, Chairman of the Steering Committee of the Astana Civil Service Hub Mr. Alikhan Baimenov said that the past two years have become a serious test for governments around the world. The pandemic has become both a stressful challenge and an incentive for the transformation of civil service and public sector in general. At the same time, he mentioned that “part of the reforms is a response to the challenges of the pandemic …, and the other part is a continuation of previously planned measures to strengthen the role of HR, to increase the adaptability of the state apparatus and the flexibility of management structures, to develop mechanisms for talent search, retaining professionals, motivating, assessing and training”.
In his welcoming speech, the Deputy Chairperson of the State Examination Center of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mr. Bahram Khalilov, noting the importance of experience sharing between the countries, said that for Azerbaijan “the restoration of territorial integrity and the need to revive the deoccupied lands created new challenges for the entire public administration system and for civil service in particular”.
The main part of the Conference was addressed by Deputy Chairman of the Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan for Civil Service Affairs Mr. Marat Daueshov, Director of the Civil Service Bureau of Georgia Ms. Catherine Kardava, Head of the National Agency of Ukraine on Civil Service Ms. Nataliia Aliushyna, Rector of the Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Kyrgyz Republic Mr. Almazbek Akmataliev, former State Secretary of the Ministry of Information Society and Administration of North Macedonia prof. Jahi Jahia, as well as heads of departments of the State Examination Center of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mr. Vugar Asgarov and Mr. Vali Huseyn. The speakers focused their presentations on the current civil service situation in their countries and the main trends and directions of reforms, as well as the tasks to be solved in the near future.
In particular, the participants got acquainted with the measures to improve the professionalism of the state apparatus being implemented in Kazakhstan, the strategy for reforming the civil service and the competency model used in Azerbaijan, the certification system for civil servants in Ukraine, the mentoring, coaching and talent management program in Georgia, the current civil service reforms in the Kyrgyz Republic, and also learned about party patronage in public administration of North Macedonia.
The presentations of the speakers caused an active discussion among all the participants, covering topics from the motivation and certification of civil servants, the application of the competency model and its impact on the activities of civil servants to effective anti-corruption mechanisms and the necessary criteria for appointment to the political service.
The conference was organized by the Astana Civil Service Hub and the State Examination Center of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
