International Cooperation

Twinning projects in Azerbaijan and Sakartvelo

Azerbaijan

Civil Service Department under the Ministry (now – Public Management Agency) of the Interior of the Republic of Lithuania has participated in Twinning projects in Azerbaijan and Sakartvelo.

In 2017 February 14th State Examination Centre of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the EU Delegation to Azerbaijan and the Office of the Government of Lithuania together with the partners launched the Twinning Project “Support to Further Reforms of the Civil Service System in Azerbaijan”.

The project, with a total budget of 1, 2 million EURO, financed by the European Union was implemented in partnership with the Government of Lithuania and Civil Service Department throughout a period of two years. The project’s purpose stood for improving the capacity, tools and efficiency of the State Examination Centre, developing and implementing the new classification of occupations and linking it to the recruitment, performance appraisal and remuneration systems.

Project’s results distinguish the adoption of Civil Service Development Strategy for 2019-2025. The strategy covers such recommendations as strengthening of institutional structure of civil service, implementation of personnel management based on available competences, development of information technologies in the management of public service, etc. As a significant result of the Twinning project a draft Law on the Salaries of Civil Servants was prepared. It proposes a salary based on performance. The exchange of information and cooperation that took place during this project through numerous meetings, discussions, seminars and visits made it possible to spread widely the best human resource management practices of the European Union countries in Azerbaijani civil service.

The project “Support to the Civil Service Commission in Further Reforms of the Civil Service System in Azerbaijan” ran since October 2016 until January 2019. The project was contributed with 1.2 million euro. Since 2008, Lithuania has won and implemented 8 European Union Twinning projects in Azerbaijan.

Sakartvelo

On 14 September 2018 the European Union Delegation to Georgia announced that Lithuanian institutions were awarded a contract to implement a two-year EU Twinning Project "Support to Implementation of the Civil Service Reform in Georgia". The total budget of this two-year EU-funded Twinning project was 1.2 million euros, and it has generated important results, facilitating processes and mechanisms to implement the needed changes in the civil service of Georgia. The Lithuanian partners of the project were the Office of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, the Civil Service Department, the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Lithuania and the European Social Fund Agency.

The objective of the project was to strengthen the institutional and Human Resource (HR) capacities of the Civil Service Bureau (CSB) to manage the implementation of the civil service reform, through the reinforcement of the legal framework, introduction of modern Human Resource Management (HRM) information system, tools and techniques, development of training scheme for HR managers and improvement of the Assets Declaration Monitoring system. As a partner of the EU Twinning project Civil Service Department has helped to improve Sakartvelo‘s civil service.

On Thursday, 19^th November 2020, the final Steering Commitee (SC) meeting of the Twinning project “Support to Implementation of the Civil Service Reform in Georgia” was held online with the participation of the SC members, Ambassadors of Lithuania and Georgia, key stakeholders and represetnatives of Georgian public institutions. The main goal of this summarising event was to present the results and acheivements of the project and share the experience that both partner sides acquired during its implemetnation.

Dr. Catherine Kardava, the Head of the Civil Service Bureau (CSB) of Georgia and Beneficiary Project Leader, who moderated the meeting, welcomed the participants of the last, extended SC meeting.“ It is very important that the values that characterize Twinning in general have been fully realized during the Twinning project between the Georgian and Lithuanian civil service. In particular, there has been professional rapprochement between the Georgian and Lithuanian civil servants. All the results were achieved and close professional relations established between the MS and BC teams would hopefully continue beyond the project’s timeframe and contributing to making the relations between the two countries closer and stronger,” Dr. Kardava said.

Resident Twinning Advisor Mrs. Reda Rekašienė and her Counterpart Irina Aghapishvili took the floor and reported on the work carried out by the project teams over the last two years and the outcomes of the project for the Civil Service reform in Georgia. The main achievements under framework of Twinning project were:

• CSB staff trained in different areas to enhance their professional skills for better performance
• Trainers from CSB and HRs of public institutions capable of delivering trainings on HR topics
• A number of Guidelines and plans developed aimed at enhancing CSB's institutional and organizational capacities
• Activities carried out to strengthen the IT system and skills of CSB, including Asset Declaration system and cyber security
• Skills and capacities of CSB reinforced for effective communication

Participation in international workshops

Civil Service Department broadens its social networks and maintains regular contacts with international organisations such as the EPSO, EBPO, SIGMA to share best practice.

Additionally, Civil Service Department coordinates cooperation with the International Francophone Organisation, organises French courses and thematic seminars for civil servants. In particular, Civil Service Department implements various initiatives of the International Francophone Organisation in cooperation with a political coordinator.

On 21 July 2020, SIGMA organised a virtual workshop for both ENP and IPA partners to discuss e-recruitment practices in the civil service.  Civil service Department participated in the online workhop for sharing best practice gained during the pandemic crisis in the field of remote competitions. This initiative came as a response to many requests received by SIGMA in order to discuss the practice of e-recruitment in more detail, as it gained great importance during the pandemic crisis (COVID-19). Over 100 participants representing public institutions, but also NGOs and experts from almost all partner administrations participated in the event, as well as representatives from ReSPA and a number of EU Delegations. Civil Service Department presented its  e-recruitment, mostly related to IT preparedness and the cost of introducing e-recruitment. More information about the online workshop ant its content is available here Virtual SIGMA workshop „E-recruitment practices in the civil service“.