Supporting capacity development in the civil service
Project description
Title: Support to civil service training capacities with a focus on EU Affairs
Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Country: Azerbaijan
Lead executing agency: Civil Service Commission under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan (CSC)
Overall term: 2013 to 2015
Context
In Azerbaijan, civil servants are entitled to receive training. However, no national strategic approach has so far been available for the design and implementation of capacity building measures. As a result, training activities are carried out in a decentralised and uncoordinated manner. A lack of national quality standards or a mechanism for quality assurance further aggravates the situation.
The demand for training is expected to grow in the coming years as the relationship between the EU and Azerbaijan deepens. It is important that the country’s civil service should benefit as quickly as possible from the comprehensive frameworks introduced by the EU to address human and institutional capacity needs.
Objective
The Civil Service Commission (CSC) is recognised as the leading organisation for the training of civil servants. It has enhanced capacities for the management and coordination of training and professional development in all state bodies, and for the development and implementation of a training strategy and relevant policies.
Approach
The project is co-financed by the European Union and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. It aims to strengthen the understanding among the civil servants working in the CSC and other state bodies about how to enhance the efficiency of the civil service through capacity building. It will achieve this through a coherently linked sequence of measures in three key areas: 1) developing and introducing a national civil service training strategy, 2) developing and validating standard training modules for EU-related and other priority areas, 3) establishing a pool of certified trainers to conduct courses in EU-related and other priority areas.
For the duration of the project a joint working group (JWG) will serve as a critical body, and will also provide a forum for the wider participation of other Azerbaijani institutions.
Results
The project organised a study tour to Poland and Germany as well as an international conference in order to support the formulation and implementation of a national civil service training strategy for Azerbaijan. The conference served as an excellent platform for the evaluation and documentation of best practices and the sharing of knowledge gained from international experience.
Work has begun on drafting of the national training strategy. This is combined with a comprehensive legislative review and an intensive analysis of the current challenges in the sector. When a final draft of the strategy has been produced it will be submitted to a broad consultation process, after which initial measures will be piloted in selected state bodies.
The JWG has made a number of valuable contributions to the development of strategy and training modules. As well as identifying key areas to be covered by the draft training strategy, it revised a review of civil service legislation and its provisions for staff training and professional development. Its recommendations are currently being considered for introduction to the draft National Civil Service Code.
A fact-finding mission and a review of training policies were carried out to underpin the development of training needs assessment methods. The CSC and other state bodies will use these methods to monitor the training needs of their civil servants.
A preliminary list of priority areas has been identified for the development of training curricula and e-learning modules for civil servants. This developmental process will be tied to the findings of a pilot training needs assessment to produce modules tailored to the civil servants’ actual needs.