Regional Hub of Civil Service in Astana, in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the United Nations Development Programme held the first workshop for representatives of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and African civil servants on "Strengthening Bilateral and Multilateral Diplomacy in the context of Sustainable Development Goals" on June 7-8 in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia). The workshop brought together high-ranking diplomats from 35 African countries, representatives of the African Union and UNDP's Global Centre for Public Service Excellence.

Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Ethiopia H.E. Mr. Yerlik Ali, Chairman of the Steering Committee of the Regional Hub of Civil Service in Astana Mr. Alikhan Baimenov, Director of the Department of Multilateral Cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic Kazakhstan Mr. Akan Rakhmetullin,   Deputy Director of the Regional Service Center for Africa Mr. Gerd Trogemann welcomed the participants of the workshop.

Representatives from a number of African governments, in particular, Ethiopia, Central African Republic, Liberia, Rwanda, Uganda, Madagascar and other countries shared their visions of development cooperation for sustainable development.

The workshop provided an opportunity to exchange of experience and knowledge in the field of diplomacy and international civil service, contributing to the social and economic transformation and human development in Africa. The event was considered the idea of establishing a network of diplomats to strengthen multilateral cooperation, the professional exchange of views on Africa and other general issues.

The main objective of the workshop was to establish cooperation with the African diplomatic community in advancing sustainable development goals by deepening diplomatic capacities and using of South-South cooperation, to contribute to the further development of bilateral and multilateral diplomacy. The workshop was held in an interactive discussion format, combining reports and practical exercises.