Representatives of Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Republic of Belarus participated in 2021 ACSH Annual Conference | en

The staff and students of the Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Republic of Belarus took part at the Astana Civil Service Hub’s Annual Conference on «Public service development and cooperation». The conference was held offline and online fr om October 27 to 29 in Nur-Sultan and was attended by heads of authorized state bodies, experts, scientists from over 40 countries, as well as representatives of international organizations. 

Opening the conference, Alikhan Baimenov, Chairman of the Steering Committee of Astana Civil Service Hub, noted that one and a half years of living in the "new reality" allowed all countries to learn from the past events. They made it possible to recognize the importance and necessity of adherence to the Sustainable Development Goals. Governments are constantly looking for solutions to a rapidly changing situation, but are not always able to see how other countries are responding to the same challenges. It is the Hub that acts as a platform wh ere they can exchange experiences and best practices.

Leading international experts and practitioners shared their views and vision on the future of public administration in the post-pandemic period at the special session titled “Professionals’ Insights and Reflections”. Among the speakers there were Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, Chairman of the United Nations International Civil Service Commission H.E. Mr. Larbi DJACTA, Former Vice Prime Minister of Georgia Ms. Maya TSKITISHVILI, Head of OECD Working Group on Bribery Mr. Drago KOS, and other experts.

Larbi Djakta stressed in his speech that the UN system cannot remain aloof from the changes taking place in the world. The COVID-19 pandemic will continue to transform our lives and jobs. In this situation, capacity building must be in a constant focus to counter today's threats. It is necessary to take prompt action, constantly testing, adapting and introducing new initiatives. Accordingly, the exchange of experience and the development of partnerships and cooperation are needed more than ever.

A number of new projects implemented by the ACSH were presented within the framework of the conference: Regional Project on «Capacity Building for Innovation in Governance and Digitalisation of Public Services» which is implemented jointly with the Ministry of Interior and Safety and the National Information Society Agency of the Republic of Korea; Public Service Innovations Accelerator Lab implemented jointly with «Zerde» National Infocommunication Holding JSC; Results of a Comparative Review of Public Sector Compensation Systems; Briefing on a new book «Public Service Evolution in the 15 Post- Soviet Countries: Diversity in Transformation». Representatives of the Academy of Public Admibistartion under the President of the Republic of Belarus also took part in the preparation of this work.

Shifts in Public Administration Reforms for Achieving the SDGs were the main topic of the joint workshop with the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) and the Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The key speaker of this session was Professor Frank Zerunyan from the University of Southern California (USA).

Listeners of the Institute of Civil Service, studying in the specialty "Personnel policy in government bodies and organizations", joined the panel with the Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan for Civil Service Affairs and HR Association Qazaqstan. The role of internal communications in human resource management and the brand of the civil service as an employer were discussed during the session. Head of the National Civil Service Agency of Ukraine Ms. Nataliia ALIUSHYNA, Head of Apparatus of the Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan for Civil Service Affairs Mr. Rinat MUKHAMETKALIYEV, as well as representatives of authorized bodies in the field of civil service of Belgium and Uzbekistan, shared their country experience.

On the third day of the conference, prospects for digitalization of public services and innovations were discussed. The experience of South Korea and Estonia in developing a digital government will be presented, which are a benchmark and are of particular value for many countries in the region.

Department for International Cooperation and Educational Programmes
Using the materials of ASCH web-site