Commonwealth Secretariat Revised Strategic Plan

Strategic Plan

Commonwealth Secretariat Revised Strategic Plan

2013/14?2016/17

Commonwealth Secretariat Revised Strategic Plan

2013/14 ? 2016/17

December 2015

ii \ Revised Strategic Plan 2013/14 ? 2016/17

? Commonwealth Secretariat 2016 All rights reserved. This publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or otherwise provided it is used only for educational purposes and is not for resale, and provided full acknowledgement is given to the Commonwealth Secretariat as the original publisher. Views and opinions expressed in this publication are the responsibility of the author and should in no way be attributed to the institutions to which he is affiliated or to the Commonwealth Secretariat. Wherever possible, the Commonwealth Secretariat uses paper sourced from responsible forests or from sources that minimise a destructive impact on the environment. Printed and published by the Commonwealth Secretariat.

Contents

Acronyms Executive Summary Message from the Chair, Board of Governors Foreword by the Secretary-General Commonwealth Secretariat Revised Strategic Plan 1. Introduction 2. Context: Challenges and Opportunities 3. Strategic Results Framework (SRF)

3.1 Strategic and intermediate outcomes 3.2 Enabling outcomes 3.3 Internal outcomes

4. Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting Framework 5. Collaboration with Commonwealth Organisations 6. Risk Management Strategy Annexes Annex I: Strategic Plan Development Consultative Process Annex II: List of Evaluations (2013?2015) Annex III: Revised Strategic Results Framework

List of Diagrams

Diagram 1: Strategic Plan Overview REVISED

List of Tables

Table 1: Monitoring, evaluation and reporting framework

Contents \ iii

iv 1 3 4 5 7 12 14

15 22 25

27 29 30 31 33 34 35

10

28

iv \ Revised Strategic Plan 2013/14 ? 2016/17

Acronyms

AOSIS APEC AU BoG CARICOM CEN CFTC CHOGM CMAG CPP DFID EPG EU ExCo HRD ICTs IMF IT LDCs MDGs ME&R MTR PCP PIFS PMIS RBM SAARC S-G SDGs SIDS SPED SRF TA UN

Alliance of Small Island States Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation African Union Board of Governors Caribbean Community and Common Market Commonwealth Electoral Network Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group Civil Paths to Peace Department for International Development Eminent Persons Group European Union Executive Committee Human Resources Division information and communication technologies International Monetary Fund information technology least developed countries Millennium Development Goals monitoring, evaluation and reporting Mid- term review Primary Contact Point Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat Programme Management and Information System results-based management South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Secretary-General Sustainable Development Goals Small Island Developing States Strategic Planning and Evaluation Division Strategic Results Framework technical assistance United Nations

UPR WTO YDI

Universal Periodic Review World Trade Organization Youth Development Index

Executive Summary \ 1

Executive Summary

The Commonwealth Secretariat is the principal intergovernmental agency of the Commonwealth. The Strategic Plan for the period 2013/14 to 2016/17 has been developed after extensive consultation with member governments. It is more narrowly focussed than previous plans, as directed by Commonwealth Heads of Government. Nevertheless, it maintains a balance of outcomes and allocation of effort between the longstanding `democracy' and `development' pillars of the Secretariat's work. The Plan takes into account agreed recommendations of the 2011 report of the Eminent Persons Group (EPG). It also includes the orientation to a strategy to collaborate with Commonwealth organisations.

The Plan reflects the shared priorities of member governments. These include three longer-term goals for the next eight to ten years, and six strategic outcomes to be pursued during the next four years.

The three goals are:

1. Strong democracy, rule of law, promotion and protection of human rights and respect for diversity;

2. Inclusive growth and sustainable development; and

3. A well-connected and networked Commonwealth.

The Plan is based on a Strategic Results Framework (SRF), which provides intermediate outcomes and indicators to support these six strategic outcomes:

1. Democracy ? greater adherence to Commonwealth political values and principles;

2. Public institutions ? more effective, efficient and equitable public governance;

3. Social Development ? enhanced positive impact of social development

4. Youth ? youth more integrated and valued in political and development processes;

5. Development: pan-Commonwealth ? more effective frameworks for inclusive economic growth and social and sustainable development; and

6. Development: small states and vulnerable states ? strengthened resilience of small states and vulnerable states.

In addition to the strategic and intermediate outcomes, the SRF also has four enabling outcomes and three internal result areas. The enabling outcomes are those results that underpin the intermediate outcomes. The internal outcomes, on the other hand, will ensure an efficiently run organisation that promotes the delivery of the enabling and intermediate results.

Indicators are provided against which the impact of the Secretariat's work can be measured.

A Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting (ME&R) Framework complements the SRF to help the Secretariat monitor and evaluate results, as well as report on progress in achieving the agreed outcomes.

2 \ Revised Strategic Plan 2013/14 ? 2016/17

A mid-term review (MTR) was conducted at the mid-way point of the Plan in the summer of 2015. This revised edition of the Strategic Plan 2013/14 ? 2016/17 reflects the finding of that review. The review started in June with two independent audit reports by KPMG. The Secretariat received ratings of substantial assurance for its strategic and business planning as well as for its project outcomes and delivery. Internally, divisions across the Secretariat focused on the result areas for which they were responsible and worked to improve the indictors for these intermediate outcomes. The indicators were revised to ensure they were specific, measureable, achievable, and time bound. In addition, baselines were determined and targets added. The revised Strategic Results Framework is included at Annex III.

The MTR was informed by results from DFID's annual reviews, feedback received in monitoring progress through our own six monthly and annual results reports, evaluations undertaken, and internal audits. As a learning organisation, the Secretariat looks to all of these review mechanisms to ensure continuous improvement.

The Plan reduced the number of activities undertaken by the Secretariat. It also envisaged a number of fundamental changes in the way that the Secretariat delivers its work, including greater use of information and communication technologies (ICTs), strategic partnerships, promotion of collaboration between member states and referral elsewhere for requests for work that the Secretariat itself is unable to provide.

The Plan was developed assuming a continued `zero real growth' financial climate based on the 2012/13 budget. However, the financial assumptions upon which the Strategic Plan was developed have changed substantially in two years. In financial year 2011/12, the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation (CFTC) funding stood at ?31.8M. By the next financial year, it had decreased by 30 percent to ?20M in 2013/14 and stayed at that level for 2014/15. While 2015/16 results are not available to inform, the budget indicates both a continued lower CFTC budget, and a `Zero Nominal Growth' budget for all funds.

The Plan was scheduled to be rolled out from 1 July 2013. The implementation, however, started only after the results-based work plan and budgeting was completed and approved by the Board on 31 October 2013.

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