United Nations Public Service Awards Case Studies

The Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan was established in 1999 with the aim of modernization of the process of training and preparation of professionals for the public service, advancing their professionalism, conducting researches in the sphere of public service and strengthening analytical information provision of this sphere. As a young independent state emerged after the collapse of former USSR, Azerbaijan needed young specialists with modern knowledge in the sphere of public administration. Most of the personnel working in public administration consisted of the people educated in the soviet era, with different ideology. The new era in the history of the country demanded urgent action in the sphere of upbringing professionals with modern knowledge and faithful to the ideology of democratic development of the country. The establishment of the Academy of Public Administration served to the solution of the problem of deficiency of professional servants in this sphere. The Academy not only graduates students in the spheres of public and political administration, but also delivers important services in the sphere of training of public servants who already serve in state administration. In this way Academy provides public administration servants with modern knowledge and abilities in public service. The graduates of the Academy are not only provided with modern knowledge but they also instilled with respect and devotion for the rule of law, statehoodness, professionalism, high morality and culture of public administration.

What is the initiative about? (the solution)
After the establishment of the Academy 4000 public servants were trained thorough the short term courses, 700 public servants got the new specialization on “State and municipal administration”. During the ten years activity of the Academy 2000 persons got the bachelor’s degree of and 600 persons got the master’s degree, most of the graduates of the Academy serve in public administration for present moment. It has to be noted that every year 200 student enter the Academy thorough the state test exams and according to the statistics, the Academy have been in the first place for the number of students entered to the university with high results for several years which serves as a solid guarantee for achieving good results during the education process. In this way, the Academy of Public Administration takes an active part in the process of realization of state manpower policy, preparation of public servants mastered with modern administration methods for all levels of public administration, formalization of culture of administration and statehood morality.

Who proposed the solution, who implemented it and who were the stakeholders?
The establishment of university for the training and preparing of professional public servants was the initiative and the decision of Mr. Haydar Aliyev, the former president of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The Academy of Public Administration was established according to his decree dated 3 January, 1999. During the period of its activity Academy has been cooperating with different local and international stakeholders. In 1999-2001 the Academy successfully realized the project “Euroazer. Modernized administration and access to international world” with the Institutions of Political Sciences of Bordo and Grenoble and University of Barcelona in the framework of the TEMPUS-TACIS program of European Union. From 2002 the professors of Academy and pubic servants of the country have passed probation at the School of National Administration of France (ENA) within the project “Support to the development of the Academy of Public Administration”. The prominent professors of ENA and high-ranked public servants of France have given lectures and seminars for the students and public servants trained in the Academy. The Academy has also been cooperating with the International Education Office of Canada since 2003. As a result of this cooperation in 2006 the internet portal was presented within the project “Application of international knowledge standards on public policy issues - ppkn.net”. The Academy also cooperates with the Geneva Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies through the project CABIR (Capacity Building in International Relations). Within this project training courses have been organized for the public servants of Azerbaijan and Georgia.

Describe how and when the initiative was implemented by answering these questions
a. What were the strategies used to implement the initiative? In no more than 500 words, provide a summary of the main objectives and strategies of the initiative, how they were established and by whom.
The main objective of the Academy of Public Administration is to improve and advance public administration in Azerbaijan thorough the preparation of public servants with modern knowledge and aware of the innovative methods, tools and techniques of public administration, respecting the rule of law, ideas of democratic and effective governance, culture and moral of administration. Our strategy of training and preparing of public servants based on modern administration sciences and technologies.

b. What were the key development and implementation steps and the chronology? No more than 500 words
1999 - Establishment of the Academy of Public Administration; 1999 – Establishment of UNESCO Center on Human rights, democracy and peace Problems of APA; 2000 – Establishment of “Survey” sociological research Center of APA; 1999-2001 - realization of the project “Euroazer. Modernized administration and access to international world” in the framework of the TEMPUS-TACIS program of European Union; 2002 – present – cooperation with the School of National Administration of France (ENA) within the project “Support to the development of the Academy of Public Administration”; 2002- signing the protocols on cooperation with the Public Administration Academies of Belarus and Ukraine; 2003 – signing the protocol on cooperation with the Public Administration Institute of Turkey and Middle East; 2003 – present - cooperation with the International Education Office of Canada; 2005 - -present – cooperation with the with the Geneva Graduate Institute for International and Development Studies through the project CABIR (Capacity Building in International Relations); 2006 - realization of the project “Application of international knowledge standards on public policy issues - ppkn.net”; 1999-2009 – holding more than 30 scientific conferences.

c. What were the main obstacles encountered? How were they overcome? No more than 500 words
The establishment of the high school dealing with the issue of the preparation of professional public servants was the initiative of the head of the state and supported at the highest level. The process of establishment and activity of the Academy didn’t encounter any serious problems, but several problems during the training process emerged, such as the limited resources on public administration in mother tongue, weakness of existing training methods and limited access to ICT which were overcome gradually. Today 60% of information provision of students is provided thorough Internet. Today there 32680 books in the fund of scientific library of the Academy relating different aspects of public administration, most of them are in Azerbaijani. The resources of the library were increased thorough the donations of Haydar Aliyev Foundation and Soros Foundation. The academy also received 838 books on public administration issues thorough the project “Application of international knowledge standards on public policy issues – ppkn.net”. The training methods and techniques have been also improved as a result of ten years experience and cooperation with leading international universities in the sphere of public administration.

d. What resources were used for the initiative and what were its key benefits? In no more than 500 words, specify what were the financial, technical and human resources’ costs associated with this initiative. Describe how resources were mobilized
The activity of the Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan is funded from state budget.

Is the initiative sustainable and transferable?
The Academy of Public Administration during its ten years activity has become very valuable tool for improvement of public administration in Azerbaijan. The graduates of the Academy have already begun to serve in public administration system and introduced the new administration techniques and culture to this system in the country. The Academy is a knowledge giving entity, which in itself makes its activity sustainable thorough the professional activity of its alumni. The successful experience of the Academy in the sphere of training and preparing of professional public servants can serve as a good model for other developing countries and can be transferable from this point of view.

What are the impact of your initiative and the lessons learned?
Impacts: • Improvement and modernization of public administration; • Introduction of modern knowledge and techniques on public administration; • Change and advancement of culture of administration; • Increase in respect for the rule of law, democratic values and statehoodness in public administration. Lessons learned: • Increase of understanding and acceptance of the need for periodical improvement of professional skills of public servants; • Increase of understanding and acceptance of the need for introducing modern methods of training, especially ICT; • Increase of understanding and acceptance of the need for modern knowledge and techniques in public administration.


Institution Name:		Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan
Institution Type:		Academia
Contact Person:		Lala Ahmedova
Title:		Head of international relations section
Telephone/ Fax:		+99412 492 65 29
Institution's / Project's Website:		+ 99412 492 65 15
E-mail:		lala-axmedova@mail.ru
Address:		74 Lermonvov
Postal Code:		AZ1001
City:		Baku
State/Province:
Country:		Azerbaijan

The Problem

Solution and Key Benefits

Actors and Stakeholders

(a) Strategies

(b) Implementation

(c) Overcoming Obstacles

(d) Use of Resources

Sustainability and Transferability

Lessons Learned

Contact Information