On 7-9 June 2018, the heads of civil service agencies and experts from over 40 countries gathered in Astana to discuss key issues in civil service development. The 2018 Annual Conference of the Astana Civil Service Hub was devoted to the civil service excellence in the era of sustainable development goals.

The Chairman of the Steering Committee of the Astana Civil Service Hub, Mr. Alikhan Baimenov in his welcoming speech expressed his appreciation to all partners for their contribution to joint activities. He mentioned that over the past 5 years, the Astana Hub jointly with civil service agencies of the participating countries had conducted 70 demand-driven capacity building activities for almost 2,000 civil servants from 100 countries.

The Hub’s key partners, including the UNDP Resident Representative in Kazakhstan Mr. Norimasa Shimomura, Chairman of the Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan for Civil Service Affairs and Anti-Corruption Mr. Alik Shpekbayev, member of the National Council of the ASPA Mr. Rex Facer, President of the Asian Association for Public Administration Dr. Alex JR. Brillantes in their welcoming speeches stressed the Hub’s role in advancing knowledge sharing on public service excellence.  

The head of OECD Directorate for Public Administration Mr. Marcos Bonturi in his video speech noticed that OECD was honored to be a strategic partner and one of the founding members of the regional hub. “We are proud that this Hub is becoming a respected multilateral platform for the exchange of knowledge and experience in the field of public service excellence”, – added Mr. Bonturi.

Representatives of key stakeholders, including Director of the Civil Service Bureau of Georgia Ms. Katherine Kardava, Chairman of the Civil Service Council of the Republic of Armenia Mr. Manvel Badalyan, Rector of the Civil Service Academy under the President of Turkmenistan Mr. Alym Annamuradov, and Head of the Law Department of the Agency of Civil Service of Tajikistan Mr. Rajabmurod Tolibov, shared their visions for public service innovations and e-government development. 

The Hub’s research and capacity-building activities are demand-driven, and the Hub periodically conducts needs assessment studies. The Hub’s research expert Ms. Kuralay Baibatyrova presented the outcomes of the third needs assessment survey conducted among the participating countries in 2018.

Key partners provided their reflections and comments regarding the Hub’s activities. Director for Strategic Policy of the UNDP Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS) Mr. Pedro Conceicao highlighted that UNDP sees the Hub as one of the prime instruments that contributes towards SDGs. Policy Specialist in Anti-Corruption and Public Administration from the UNDP Istanbul Regional Hub Mr. Irakli Kotetishvili, Manager of the Public Employment and Management project of OECD Governance Directorate Mr. Daniel Gerson, Rector of Academy of Public Administration of Kyrgyzstan Mr. Almaz Nasyrov and representative of the Azerbaijan State Examination Center Ms. Narmin Zeynalova provided their comments regarding future collaboration perspectives. 

Within the Conference, a series of lectures “Hub Talks” took place for the first time. Ms. Christine Leitner, Senior Advisor of the Center for Economics and Public Administration (CEPA, UK), Mr. Pedro Conceicao, Director for Strategic Policy of the UNDP BPPS, and Mr. Sayasat Nurbek, Independent Expert and Researcher of Kazakhstan talked about the impact of disruptive technologies on public administration and public service delivery.

One of the sessions was devoted to the trends and innovations in human resource management. Mr. Daniel Gerson from the OECD Governance Directorate presented key findings of a comparative study on Strategic Human Resources Management. The study compares Kazakhstan’s human resource management practices against those of OECD countries.

At the session on civil service pay and rewards, Mr. Panos Liverakos, the Hub’s international consultant and Mr. Rex Facer, Associate Professor of Brigham Young University presented trends in civil service remuneration and non-monetary rewards, including the US practices. The participants discussed the importance of flexible remuneration system determined to attract, retain and motivate employees with high-demand skills.

Within the Conference, the key partners were awarded with special recognitions for their contributions to the Hub’s institutional development and enhanced partnerships.

On 9 June representatives of Estonia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan established Peer-to-Peer Learning Alliance on the Development of Electronic Government. The Alliance has been created in accordance with the OECD Platform for Effective Institutions methodology and is aimed at experience sharing on public services digitalization among practitioners of seven countries.

Furthermore, a seminar on “Effective matchmaking for public service innovation through South-South Network” was arranged jointly by the South-South Network for Public Service Innovation and the Astana Hub. The workshop aimed to develop a deeper understanding and broader exchange in the Global South by identifying the prospective citizen-centric innovations for better public service. It was the first regional event of the South-South Network in Astana.

Within the Conference, the participants were presented the updated composition of the Hub’s Steering Committee.

The annual conference gathered participants from over 40 countries. Representatives of Bangladesh, Brazil, Uzbekistan and Montenegro participated at the conference for the first time.

Photos from the Conference can be viewed here