27-29 February 2024, ReSPA Premisses

ReSPA hosted a three-day kick-off event for a groundbreaking initiative on applying Quality management in public administration and broader implementation of the European Quality Management Model "CAF" in the Eastern Partnership countries Azerbaijan, Armenia, Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine.

The initiative, titled "Building a sustainable quality management approach in the countries in the Eastern Partnership Region," is tailored by the SIGMA Programme and GIZ Eastern Partnership Regional Fund for Public Administration Reform. It includes the support of EIPA and the transfer of the experience from ReSPA all aimed at encouraging active participation in advancing public administration reforms within the Eastern Partnership countries. Consequently, this project seeks to enhance service delivery quality and serve as a catalyst for broader public administration reforms, aligning with the core principles advocated by the principles of public administration developed by the SIGMA Programme.

Director HANDJISKA-TRENDAFILOVA, in her opening statement, emphasised the pivotal role of this initiative: "We take great pride in launching such a significant initiative and sharing valuable knowledge from the Western Balkans with our counterparts in the Eastern Partnership. This type of initiative holds immense importance for both regions. Since last year, we've collaborated with SIGMA, GIZ, and other international organisations to foster connections between the Western Balkans and Eastern Partnership countries across other domains. This time, our focus is on Quality Management in public administration. Our RQMC team and CAF Correspondents are ready to inspire and share the accumulated experience in setting up the centre for quality management and the approaches from individual public administrations in the strategic application of QM and CAF for improving public services and catalysation public administration reforms".

The kick-off event centred on building the foundations for a sustainable quality management approach by partnering excellence. The primary goal was to facilitate the exchange of experiences and knowledge transfer between countries in the Western Balkan region and the European Union.

The ReSPA Quality Management Center (RQMC) team was key in sharing information, materials, and practical examples. They presented objectives and key steps that have proven effective in gathering support and defining the contents and services that can be delivered from one central facility as they are being delivered by  RQMC today. Drawing on the experiences with institutionalising the CAF in the Western Balkans and ReSPA. The team also highlighted various aspects and benefits accrued throughout the region.

Olivera DAMJANOVIĆ, ReSPA Programme Manager, emphasised that the ReSPA Quality Management Center has evolved into a regional hub for excellence in quality management for public administrations "Armed with a wealth of practical examples, materials, and best practices, this event is a unique opportunity to share these resources with counterparts from Azerbaijan, Armenia, Moldova, Georgia, and Ukraine. The aim is to present ReSPA’s model and approach to the colleagues from EaP as the possible example for the long-term systematic enhancement and embodiment of quality management in reforming processes". Damjanović believes that this knowledge exchange is the incentive and might be an inspiration for progressing towards achieving excellence in their respective countries.