Turkmenistan—Public Administration Capacity Building

A shortage of well-educated and skilled officials to run state agencies and create new policies has hampered Turkmenistan’s growth and economic development. To help develop these skills within Turkmenistan’s civil service, the European Union funded the Support to the Public Administration Capacity Building program. DAI’s team supported the modernization of the Turkmen Public Administration in line with European standards.

A key focus of this effort was to deliver the national framework and public administration reform agenda outlined in the National Programme for Socio-Economic Development of Turkmenistan for 2011–2030. This policy sets a path for Turkmenistan to diversify its economy, increase competition, and further market and institutional reforms.

In addition to working with the Academy of Civil Servants, DAI also engaged with the Institute for State and Law, the Institute of Democracy and Human Rights, Turkmen State University, the International University of Humanities, and the Institute of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan.

Sample Activities

• Raise awareness of European best practices in public administration reform and professional civil servant training.
• Train members of the Academy of Civil Servants—including heads of local self-governments, ministry departments, and training institutions—to improve their educational programs, teaching, and administrative policies and processes.
• Partner with stakeholders to develop new curricula and materials and train staff to implement and embed a demand-driven approach.

Select Results

• Developed a Master of Public Administration (MPA) program for the Academy of Civil Service under the President of Turkmenistan.
• Organized workshops and consultations for professors and lecturers from the Academy of Civil Service and other educational institutions on the contents and the provisional structure of the MPA. This included two rounds of training of trainers’ workshops for 36 participants, four workshops on the MPA program for 177 participants, two working group meetings with 40 participants, and a human resource management workshop for 27 participants.
• Developed the concept for an e-library to facilitate professional training of civil servants.
• Developed a project website and learning management system for distance-learning purposes with training materials for Turkmen civil servants, professors, lecturers, and students.
• Launched the Young Professionals initiative to identify young, bright, well-educated professors outside of the Academy who possess experience in public administration, innovative ideas, and willingness to participate in the program’s development.