PLAN - Section 2: Preparing, Submitting and Modifying the Strategy

A multi-year strategy defines why and how UNHCR contributes to achieving protection and solutions for forcibly displaced and stateless people in a specific period and context. It presents what an operation wants to achieve working with other actors, how UNHCR strives to achieve these results, for whom and by whom they are achieved, what resources are used, and how progress is measured. Operations include countries, multi-country offices, bureaux and headquarters divisions and entities. 

Multi-year strategic planning is undertaken to shape the overall direction, results, and resources (financial, material and human) required to realize the desired changes over several years.

The PLAN phase includes five steps:

Based on these five steps, operations develop context-specific multi-year results frameworks with a hierarchical structure of impacts, outcomes, and outputs, which include: 

1. Impact, outcome, and output statements (hierarchically structured) 
2. Narratives that describe UNHCR’s and other stakeholders’ roles 
3. Indicators (core indicators, good practice and user-defined indicators)
4. Markers 
5. Links to the global impact and outcome areas 

Once the strategy is completed, it remains in place for its whole duration, with the possibility of modification. The annual implementation planning outlines how the strategy is implemented within available resources (see GET – Section 1).

Context-specific multi-year strategy and results framework preparation

a) The following steps are taken to prepare the new strategy: The representative nominates a planning coordinator and sets up an internal multi-functional team (MFT) for the strategic planning process.

b) The planning coordinator creates a roadmap or internal calendar identifying the steps and milestones for developing the strategy. This roadmap details the roles and responsibilities of the MFT members, contributions from other colleagues and stakeholders, and the government, and the involvement of the bureau, headquarters and other country operations. 

c) The operation launches strategic development by bringing the MFT together to agree on the roadmap, processes, requirements and roles. 

d) The office can organize a kick-off workshop or meeting to launch the process, ensuring all functions and external stakeholders, including forcibly displaced and stateless people, contribute directly or indirectly to strategy development. 

e) The representative/director, in consultation with the bureau, determines the duration of the multi-year strategy. The strategy’s duration is between three and five years. It covers full calendar years, starting in January of the first year and ending in December of the last year. 

The duration of the strategy considers:

• Alignment with country-level processes such as the national humanitarian and development plans, a Refugee Response Plan (RRP) or Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP), or the United Nations Sustainable Cooperation Development Framework (UNSDCF) or other country-level UN planning frameworks. See the Operational How-to Guide on UNHCR’s Engagement with the SDGs and UNSCDF.
• Contextual developments (e.g., change in government, a new national development strategy, or a plan with a significant bearing on forcibly displaced and stateless people).
• Leveraging existing multi-year multi-partner commitments from existing global or regional initiatives, existing partnerships with development-oriented stakeholders (e.g., international financial institutions and bilateral development actors), or significant existing multi-year funding or donor interest. See the Global Refugee Forum pledges, the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework, and the Global Compact on Refugees.

f)    The representative informs relevant stakeholders and involves them in the process. This includes discussing opportunities for engagement with the government, the UN Resident Coordinator, UN country teams (UNCTs), forcibly displaced and stateless people, and other priority stakeholders. The relevant stakeholders can be identified through the stakeholder analysis (see PLAN – Section 3).

As part of UNHCR’s membership in the UN Sustainable Development Group and the Management and Accountability Framework, the country operation is required to inform the UN Resident Coordinator in the country about the development of a new UNHCR strategy.
 

UNHCR has three types of strategy modifications. They are categorized based on whether they are mandatory or optional, and their nature and level of significance, which determine the approval procedures.

• Annual strategy updates: These are mandatory amendments that incorporate recent developments and the latest data, such as population planning figures and situation analysis narratives. They are done during the PLAN for Results phase, at the same time as the submission of new multi-year strategies. The plan approver submits the strategy and the operations plan (OP) budget for the following year, including any strategic reorientations. 
• Strategy adjustments: These are changes to the operational aspects of the strategy to ensure that its planned results and deliverables remain relevant. They do not alter the overall vision and strategic priorities or require approval from the plan approver.
• Strategic reorientations: These are major strategic shifts due to significant contextual changes, such as political and socio-economic developments, changes in the numbers, types, and demographics of the forcibly displaced and stateless populations, and modifications to the operation’s strategic partnerships or overall vision and priorities. Operations agree with the plan approver on these reorientations.
• Changing the duration of a strategy. In exceptional circumstances, there may be a need to adjust the duration of a strategy during implementation to adapt to changing circumstances and ensure that the strategy remains relevant and effective. This can be the case of significant changes at the country, regional or global levels related to the context or global planning parameters.

After discussing any changes to the strategy, operations are required to either confirm that there are no changes, adjust or describe the agreed strategic reorientation in a narrative justification. The representative or bureau director, as the plan owner, is required to submit a change request to the bureau director or SET member, who is the plan approver, using the "change request" functionality in COMPASS. This submission is mandatory for all operations during the PLAN for Results phase to either confirm that there are no significant changes, so the current strategy, including the OP budget and positions, remains valid, or outline any strategic reorientations.

Annual updates

Operations consider the results of the SHOW Results phase, including data and evidence analysis, to determine the necessary changes to their ongoing multi-year strategy. At a minimum, operations with an ongoing multi-year strategy are required to update the situation analysis and the population planning figures annually. In addition, all operations must revise time-sensitive information in their strategy narratives, including indicators, and where relevant, complete all information for the upcoming year (more details on budgets are available in PLAN – Section 7).

If it is the last year of implementation of the multi-year strategy, operations enter into the new strategy during the PLAN for Results phase and do not need to make annual updates.

Annual updates are important because the strategy is shared externally every year, as part of the Global Appeal. For country operations whose content is shared online, changes in externally visible narratives need approval from the designated external relations officer in the bureau.

Examples of annual updates include:

• Updating population planning figures for future implementation years.
• Minor revisions to time-sensitive components of externally shareable narrative content, such as population data, prioritization considerations, or contextual changes.
• Updating internal situation analysis narratives with the latest developments and data.

Any changes made are then submitted to the plan approver as part of the strategy update during the PLAN for Results phase. If necessary, after the quality assurance review, the plan approver can return the strategy to the operation for revision and resubmission. Finally, the plan approver confirms the completion of all strategies and OP budgets in COMPASS.

Strategy adjustments

Operations can modify their strategies as needed to keep planned results relevant. These optional strategy adjustments do not affect the overall vision and strategic priorities of the operation. If they do, then they are considered strategic reorientations.

Strategy adjustments do not require approval from the plan approver and can be made throughout the year. They allow for updating outdated content, addressing changes in the operational environment, and reflecting shifts in implementation modalities. 
 

Examples of strategy adjustments include:

• Editorial changes in narratives not shared externally.
• Small changes to outcome statements that keep their original meaning.
• Creation, modification, or discontinuation of output statements.
• Changes in population coverage for result statements.
• Changes in the application of organizational and operational markers.
• Creation of new indicators and addition of disaggregations to existing indicators.
• Updates to the means of verification (MoV) for indicators.
• Updates to M&E priorities.

Strategic reorientations

During the SHOW Results phase and subsequent annual update phases, operations may need to reorient their ongoing multi-year strategy in response to significant changes in:

• Populations, such as a new emergency, a new displacement or significant changes to demographics of forcibly displaced and stateless people.
• Political context, such as critical changes in the operational context affecting UNHCR’s work or legal aspects.
• Socio-economic situation, such as changes affecting the well-being of forcibly displaced and stateless people or changing prospects for inclusion into national services.
• Partnerships and stakeholders, such as the emergence of new stakeholders significantly impacting UNHCR’s work or changes in the coordination setup or structure.

These significant shifts may require revising the vision and strategic priorities, as well as other strategy components, including the situation analysis, theory of change, results framework, M&E plan, and resources and management plan. For example, adding a new impact or outcome statement will require updating the results chain, incorporating new indicators, and providing additional narratives and budgetary requirements. These modifications, driven by significant contextual changes, require a revision of the situation analysis and the theory of change. When such changes occur, operations consult with their plan approver, who is either the bureau director or a SET member.

Examples of strategic reorientations include:

• Significant changes in the overall vision and strategic priorities of the operation, such as adding new strategic priorities or significantly revising existing ones. In this case, the theory of change should also be revised to incorporate the changes in priorities.
• Creation or modification of impact and outcome statements.
• Significant change in resource requirements (see PLAN – Section 7 for details).

When proposing a strategic reorientation, the plan owner consults and agrees on changes with the plan approver. If the reorientation includes changes beyond the delegated authority of the plan owner, the plan approver must approve these changes before the strategy revision is finalized. Email exchanges documenting these agreements are saved in the operation’s SharePoint.

After the approval, the planning coordinator and results managers update the relevant sections of the vision, strategic priorities, or results framework of the strategy. The resource preparer updates budget-related elements. See PLAN – Section 7 for more details on OP budgets.

If the strategic reorientation occurs during the PLAN for Results phase, the submission and approval process follows the annual strategy update and approval procedures.

Changing the duration of a strategy

A multi-year strategy can only be extended or shortened once by a maximum of one or two years. The strategy duration should not exceed five years, including the extension period.

For example, a four-year strategy may only be extended by one year, which will be used for developing a new multi-year strategy. On an exceptional basis, an operation’s five-year strategy can be extended by one more year. 

Strategy shortening is a technical measure that allows for the early termination of an ongoing strategy, for example, when an operation with an active strategy merges with a multi-country office (MCO) before the strategy’s planned end date. Headquarters may also use this option in case a division or entity closes, consolidates, merges or undergoes other significant structural changes (e.g., a new name or role).

Strategies can be extended or shortened during the PLAN Phase, held between January and May for the subsequent year. Decisions to modify a strategy's duration must be made before this process begins, following the timelines below:

To extend a strategy, the decision must be made at least one year in advance to allow necessary adjustments during the strategic planning period. If an emergency occurs during the new strategy’s planning process and prevents its completion, the current strategy may be extended without the 12-month advance notice, but only under exceptional circumstances.

For example, if a strategy ends in December 2025, to extend it to December 2026 or beyond, the decision must be made by December 2024 or earlier.

To shorten a strategy, decisions must be made at least one year before the strategy's final year to allow for necessary adjustments during the strategic planning period. 

For example, if a strategy ends in December 2026, to shorten it so that it ends in December 2025, the decision must be made by December 2024 or earlier.

The plan owner decides to extend or shorten a multi-year strategy, and the plan approver approves after consultations with each other. For country operations and multi-country officers, the plan owner is the representative, and the plan approver is the bureau director. For bureaux and headquarters divisions and entities, the plan owner is the bureau director, division director or head of entity, and the plan approver is the Deputy High Commissioner and the Assistant High Commissioners.

Preparation and agreement to shorten or extend a strategy

The process follows the below steps:

1. The plan owner initiates a discussion on the revision of the strategy duration with the plan approver. Before this is initiated, the plan owner engages and seeks an agreement with relevant stakeholders (e.g., the government, the Resident Coordinator etc.) in the country (or countries in the case of an MCO) who are involved or have an interest in UNHCR’s strategy planning and implementation. 
2. In November, the plan approver discusses the strategy development cycles ahead of the annual strategic planning phase.
3. Discussing with DSPR is optional, but it enables DSPR to keep a global overview of the strategy cycle and anticipate the changes that need to be made in the system once the plan approver and plan owner agree on strategy extension or shortening.
4. In December, the plan approver communicates the new strategy cycles to DSPR. 
5. DSPR implements the required shortening or extension in COMPASS before 1 January.
6. The plan approver approves the new strategy duration as part of the approvals of strategies and strategic reorientations in early June.
7. The operation informs all stakeholders, including government, donors, UN organizations, funded partners, and affected communities, about the changes in the strategy duration.

Operations with strategies to be shortened should use the next relevant strategic planning period to develop a new strategy. They should consider the following: 

• Some elements of the strategy may already have been shared or approved externally and need to be retained in the next strategy. A review for consistency with already approved planning data is required for OP budgets, population planning figures, indicator targets and baselines. 
• The operations should update the relevant narratives to reflect the new timeframe and the reasons behind the strategy's shortening. For ease of reference, the summary of these changes should be included in the "planning scenario" narrative under the situation analysis.
• Shortening the strategy may also require reviewing and reducing the duration of existing partnership framework agreements (PFAs) with partners through amendments or discontinuation.

Operations with strategies to be extended should use the next relevant strategic planning period to plan for the additional years. The following steps should be completed: 

• Update the situation analysis.
• Review the vision, strategic priorities, and theory of change, and update as necessary.
• Review and extend the validity of results statements, and add new results statements based on the new/adjusted theory of change.
• Review and extend the validity period of indicators, provide OP indicator targets for future years and add new indicators where needed. Provide the population planning and coverage figures for the extension period.
• Update M&E priorities.
• Adjust the OP resource requirements based on the new timeframe, making sure to retain the same level of OP requirements for the previous year(s) that were known externally.
• Review and extend the duration of existing PFAs with partners through amendments.