Chairman of the Steering Committee of the Regional Hub of Civil Service in Astana Alikhan Baimenov met with the UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on South-South Cooperation Jorge Chediek to discuss further collaborative initiatives in the field of civil service. 

During the meeting, the Chairman underlined the mission and importance of the cross-regional South-South and triangular cooperation in the civil service field. He informed Mr. Chediek about the Hub’s increasing participants reaching already 35 countries, including those from OECD, CIS, and ASEAN and briefed him on recent research projects, knowledge materials and other activities of the Hub.

Mr. Jorge Chediek accentuated “outstanding work by the Hub in promoting the regional and cross-regional cooperation”. He emphasized that UN considers the Astana Hub as an important entity contributing to the development of international partnership in the global strive to achieve the SDGs. 

In the course of the meeting, the parties also held a discussion on implementation of the future joint initiatives in the civil service reform.

As previously noted by the UN, the establishment of the Astana Hub and its successful operation has become possible due to Kazakhstan’s readiness to share its successful practices in reforming the public service as well as strengthening meritocracy principles in public sector. In 2014, the Astana Hub received a special award for strengthening South-South cooperation.