Civil Service Commission (CSC) Chairperson Karlo Nograles delivered a congratulatory message at the 2022 ASEAN Conference on Civil Service Matters Plus Three (ACCSM+3) International Conference on Human Resource Management in the Public Sector held Tuesday, 1 November, at the Sejong Convention Center, Sejong, Republic of Korea.
The conference was attended by ministers and senior officials of ACCSM+3: the ACCSM which is composed of the civil service of the 10 ASEAN Member States (AMS), and the Plus Three Countries—China, Japan, and the host country, Republic of Korea.
Senior officials from the King’s College of London, the Australian Public Service Commission, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) were also present at the event.
In his message, Chairperson Nograles congratulated Minister Kim Seung Ho and the Ministry of Personnel Management of the Republic of Korea for successfully hosting the said conference. “This will surely serve as an avenue to gather and disseminate knowledge on recent advancements in emerging areas of human resource administration and reforms as well as HR innovations in managing global changes,” he said.
He also noted the significance of ASEAN cooperation, especially in advancing personnel administration in the Philippines and the entire region, as the world starts to transition to the so-called “new normal” following the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“As we continue to face similar challenges, it is comforting to know that we are not alone in our struggle and that we have a network of people and organizations that can help us in our own efforts to find solutions. To be able to gather together with our counterparts in ASEAN as well as the Plus Three Countries and learn from each other’s innovations and best practices is always a welcome experience,” he said.
ACCSM
The CSC has continuously strengthened ties with its counterpart civil service agencies in the region through the ASEAN Cooperation on Civil Service Matters (ACCSM).
Its roots can be traced back to 1981 when the ASEAN Conference on Reforms on Civil Service was established and once every two years, civil service agencies gather for information exchange, mentoring, and partnering activities that aim to promote effective cooperation and mutual assistance in public sector capacity building among ASEAN Member States. But it was in 1989 that the civil service institutions of AMS saw the relevance of formalizing and elevating the network and system of mutual learning and information exchange, and, thus, established the ACCSM for a greater, more systematic, and more enduring cooperation among the civil service agencies.
Through ACCSM, cooperation took life beyond sharing information and experiences in the conference venue toward a more sustainable partnership before and after the conference. The connection among AMS became sustained, cohesive, and more regular.
The ACCSM led efforts toward the signing of a landmark declaration elevating the civil service as a “catalyst” in achieving the ASEAN’s development goals. On the occasion of the 30th ASEAN Summit in April 2017 in Manila, Philippines, leaders of ASEAN’s 10 Member States signed the ASEAN Declaration on the Role of the Civil Service as a Catalyst for Achieving the ASEAN Community Vision 2025.
The declaration recognizes “the significance of the civil service as the backbone of good governance in the region, and its critical mission not only in providing vital public services to the people of ASEAN, but also in driving national and social development.”
The declaration also tasked the ACCSM to take the lead in realizing the goals to “raise the professional standards and capability of civil servants,” “ensure that the civil services of ASEAN embrace good governance principles such as citizen-centricity and innovation”, and “uphold and protect the welfare of civil servants in the region,” among others.
