Dear Reader,

We are pleased to present the 25^th issue of the International Journal of Civil Service Reform and Practice published by the Astana Civil Service Hub. This special edition is inspired by the 30th anniversary of the Academy of Public Policy and Administration under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, marking a significant milestone in the country’s advancement of public administration education and professional development.

To honour this occasion, the issue opens with a feature piece by the Rector of the Academy, highlighting the key changes and trends shaping the training, retraining, and upskilling of a new generation of professional managers in the Uzbek civil service. The issue is rich in content, featuring a series of articles on human resource management and training policy for the civil service, as well as the organisation of local government in Uzbekistan.

The first article, by Guzal Sadiyeva, Department Head at the Academy of Public Policy and Administration, examines the key areas of transformation in public administration and democratic institutions in the Republic of Uzbekistan guided by the New Uzbekistan Strategy. It highlights the institutional, legal, and organisational changes aimed at fostering effective, accountable, and human-centred governance. The second article, written by Professor Anvar Yuldashev from the Academy of Public Policy and Administration, examines the efficiency and effectiveness of managerial activities through a qualitative analysis of how managerial time is allocated across tasks and suggests strategies for efficient optimisation of managerial activity.  The third article, by Furkat Khodjaev also from the Academy of Public Policy and Administration, deals with ways to improve the mechanisms of training and appointment of managerial personnel in the public administration system of Uzbekistan. The article explores current challenges and prospects for the training and appointment of managerial personnel, by analysing existing mechanisms and identifying their shortcomings, and providing some proposal for improvements. The fourth article, by Lola Inagamova, Head of the Department of Management Art in the Academy of Public Policy and Management of Uzbekistan, looks at the psychodiagnostics of stress conditions experienced by young public managers in Uzbekistan through a survey revealing the factors that cause chronic stress among them. 

The issue also includes another article, a regional contribution, by Nurgul Qaragoishina, a doctoral candidate at the Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Republic of Qazaqstan. Her work examines the role of civil servants in resolving social and labour conflicts in Kazakhstan, analysing the economic factors that contribute to such disputes and the impact of state policy on safeguarding labour rights.

The regional contribution is further complemented by two insightful commentaries. The first examines the work carried out in Turkmenistan on gender equality as a factor for strengthening unity and cohesion in the country, and the second presents the substantive aspects of the content of a three-day seminar, sponsored by the ACSH, targeting press secretaries and social media managers in Kazakhstan, on how AI tools can be utilised to transform government communications.

We sincerely hope that you will find this edition interesting.

Alikhan Baimenov,

Chairman, ACSH Steering Committee