Center for Public Services based on Azerbaijani concept to be established in Uganda

The foundation of the first Center for the provision of public services to the population of Uganda, based on the concept of the Azerbaijani ASAN, can be laid during the summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in the African country, Report informs via New Vision Uganda.

Ugandan President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni met with a delegation from Azerbaijan led by Ulvi Mehdiyev, the chairman of the State Agency for Public Service and Social Innovations – ASAN at State House Entebbe on July 24.

Ulvi Mehdiyev and his team introduced the ASAN concept to President Museveni, which they seek to introduce in Uganda to improve public service management.

On September 2018, Uganda and Azerbaijan concluded a Memorandum of Understanding for implementing the Azerbaijani ASAN Service experience in Uganda and since then, ASAN Service and Uganda's public service ministry have engaged in close cooperation to organize mutual visits for collaborative growth.

“ASAN Service proved quite a revolutionary initiative," Mehdiyev told President Museveni, who welcomed the idea.

"Since its inception, ASAN Service has gained global recognition for its excellence in public service and social innovations and quickly evolved into Azerbaijan's unique intellectual property."

“We are already working on it, but I am told that you are more advanced. So, we will be very happy to welcome that center here. I will be very happy with Mr. Aliyev (President of Azerbaijan) to lay the foundation stone for that center," President Museveni said.

President Aliyev is expected in Uganda to attend the 19th Summit of the NAM Heads of State and Government in Kampala next year, where Uganda will take over its leadership to last up to 2026.

Uganda will host the summit under the theme 'Deepening co-operation for Shared Global Affluence'.

The goal of ASAN is to make services more easily accessible to citizens using modern technologies. It is part of the large-scale reforms in the field of public administration that were introduced 11 years ago by President Ilham Aliyev.

Mehdiyev thanked Uganda for actively supporting Azerbaijan's initiatives within NAM and called for more support in the establishment of the NAM women's platform. “If you consider it positively, we can implement this process as a joint initiative of Uganda and Azerbaijan,” he said.

The 19th NAM Heads of State and Government Summit will be held in January 2024 in Kampala, the capital of Uganda.