Country Strategy Development and
Planning
Subhi Mehdi, AFR/SD
June 14 2002
• The ADS
• Strategic Planning Process
• The Strategic Objective
• The Results Framework
• Performance Management Plan
• Lessons Learned from USAID/Uganda
Outline
What is the ADS?
The Automated Directives System (ADS) contains the standard operating procedures and policies for the Agency
ADS Chapter 200 Series
ADS 200 -- Introduction to Managing for Results
ADS 201 – Planning
ADS 202 – Achieving
ADS 203 -- Assessing and Learning
Whom to contact
• Please send any questions to:
– Parrie Henderson-O’Keefe, PPC, 712-5672, [email protected]
– Skip Waskin, 712-4976, PPC, [email protected]
– Ruth Buckley, 712-0329, AFR/DP, [email protected]
• Web sites:
– http://www.usaid.gov/pubs/ads/200/
– http://www.USAIDResults.org
– http://www.dec.org/partners/mfr/ads/
USAID’s Strategic Planning Process: The Linear View
Parameter Setting
Technical Analyses
Results Framework
Strategic Plan
Submission
Issues Meeting
Final ProgramReview
Parameters CableManagement
Agreement
Concept Paper
Virtual team and USAID/W consultation
Local partner and stakeholder consultation
Res
ult
s L
eve
lA
ctiv
ity
Lev
el
Inputs
Outputs
IntermediateResults
StrategicObjective
Early in life of SO Later in life of SO
Results level data may not beavailable for annual reporting purposes
early in life of SO
Activity level data is notusually appropriate for annual reporting
later in life of SO
Reaching results: the causal pathway
What is a strategic objective?
Strategic Objective is the most ambitious
result (measurable change) that a USAID
operating unit along with its partners can
materially affect and for which it is willing to
be held accountable.
In other words …..
• Heart of the strategy
• Mission’s judgment of the possible
• Where accountability rests
• Foundation for all Mission program actions
• Standard for judging performance
An SO Reflects Four Key Concepts:
• Significant development result
• Measurable change
• Manageable interest
• Accountability
Drafting the preliminary SO
What are you trying to achieve, i.e.. Your objective?
How will youachieve your objective?
How will you know if youhave reached your objective?
What is a Results Framework?
• Graphic and narrative representation of a strategy for achieving a specific objective
– Includes the objective, necessary intermediate results (IR), and any critical assumptions
– Conveys the implicit development hypothesis (cause-and-effect linkages)
– Used as a planning, communication, and management tool
Three Common Pitfalls
• Definitional linkages– SO: Strengthened Institutions
– IR 1: Improved institutional capacity for delivering goods and services
• Categorical linkages– SO: Increased use of Primary Health Care services– IR 1: Increased use of Maternal-Child Health services– IR 2: Increased use of Family Planning/Reproductive Health services– IR 3: Increased use of HIV/AIDS services
• Chronological linkages– SO: Sustainable policies and strategies in health adopted– IR1: Sustainable policies and strategies developed and tested– IR 2: Sustainable policies and strategies promoted
PHN Results Framework Model
Improved Health Status and/or Decreased FertilityHigher-level
Impact
Improved Use of Health and Family Planning Services and/ or Appropriate Practices in a Sustainable Fashion
Second-level Outcome
Access/Availability SustainabilityDemandQuality
Commodities and Facilities
Human Resources
Equity
Th
ird
-lev
elP
roce
ss
Knowledge
Attitude
CommunitySupport
Provider Performance
Provider Performance
Sustainability of Systems
Sustainability of Demand
Lesson Learned from USAID/Uganda - 1
• Initiate the process as early as possible, including ADS training
• Work from an analytic agenda
• Develop a consultative agenda and approach, and document the consultative process
• Consult with local stakeholders
• Exchange views regionally with the other GHAI Missions and REDSO
• Coordinate very closely with other USG entities, the Embassy, Peace Corps, CDC, and NIH
• Address integration and crosscutting issues such as conflict, food security, gender
• Pay attention to PMP and targets
• Develop a Transition Plan
• Hire a Production Editor
Lesson Learned from USAID/Uganda - 2
Send a carefully selected team to Washington
Ensure Washington buy-in early on
Submit document well in advance of review
Plan for team to spend three weeks in AID/W
Line up TA for post-approval design work
Approval Processes
Lessons Learned from USAID/Uganda - 3
Teamwork
• Identify the team and re-assess roles
• Foster a common vision both at the Mission and SO levels
• Be flexible enough to accommodate different personalities of the team members
• Re-affirm role of the program office/team
• Promote the involvement and participation of FSN staff across the entire Mission.
• Be prepared for “strategy” burnout
Lessons Learned from USAID/Uganda - 3
“There are three kinds of lies:
lies, damned lies, and statistics.”
--Mark Twain
Performance Monitoring Plan
A Performance Monitoring Plan is a mandatory plan and
record of the performance indicators which a Mission will use
to track progress toward achievement of its strategic objective
and intermediate results.
The PMP Is:
• Mission management tool
• Blueprint for collecting, analyzing and reporting performance data
• Basis for annual reporting
• Auditable by the Inspector General, GAO, OMB
PMP Requirements:
• Completed one year after the strategy approved
• Updated annually
• Not sent to Washington
3 Stages of PMP Development
• Stage 1: During strategy development
• Stage 2: Following strategic plan approval
• Stage 3: During strategy implementation
Stage 1: During Strategy Development
The SO team should consider the following questions:
• How will we know if we’ve achieved our results?
• Will our activities actually lead to these results?
• How will we know if there are problems?
Consider preparing a “preliminary” PMP
Elements of a PMP
REQUIRED:
• Detailed description of indicators
• Source, method, schedule, and responsibility for data collection
• Known data limitations, significance, and actions to address
• Data quality assessment procedures
RECOMMENDED:
• Justification for selecting indicators
• Plans for data analysis, reporting, review and use
• Evaluations and special studies
• Costs of collecting, analyzing and reporting data
• Activity level indicators
• Plans for monitoring development hypothesis, critical assumptions and context
Res
ult
s L
eve
lA
ctiv
ity
Lev
el
Inputs
Outputs
IntermediateResults
StrategicObjective
Early in life of SO Later in life of SO
Results level data may not beavailable for annual reporting purposes
early in life of SO
Activity level data is notusually appropriate for annual reporting
later in life of SO
Reaching results: the causal pathway
“If you don’t know where you are
going, that’s probably where you’ll end
up—nowhere.”
The End