This is the highest level of Strategic Planning and is essential to establish from the outset so that all the country team share the vision.

Executive Summary ....................................................................................................... iv
1 Definitions .............................................................................................................. 5
2
Vision Statement ............................................................................ 6
3
............................. 7
References ..................................................................................................................... 9
iii

Vision Statements are statements which define the desired end state. This is highest level of
Strategic Planning, which is distinct from the Mission Statement and the detailed strategic and action planning. The process of determining and agreeing upon the statement has as much value as the output itself. A participatory inclusive process, captures people’s imagination and garners their commitment to a achieving a shared vision. In this context the Vision will succinctly describe the change the UN wants to see in the country it is serving within a 5-10 year period by working together and delivering better. The vision statement provides a segue into step 3
– determining the strategy on how to bring the desired end state/vision about from both a programme and operations perspective. It underpins the development of the UN
Business Plan, which is the integrated strategic framework articulating all UN activities at the country level.
The UN position paper provides a high level strategic commitment and contains a short vision statement reflecting that commitment. This visioning exercise builds on from that and provides a more holistic vision for the change that will be achieved as a result of increased UN coherence at the country level.
Having gained commitment from the UNCT and all key stakeholders in Step 1, assessed the
UNs comparative advantage, and capacities as well as key development problems or national priorities the UN is best positioned to support in Step 2, setting a common vision for change towards a more coherent UN is the next logical step. Data from the comparative advantage and needs assessments should be used to define this vision. iv

The definitions below distinguish between Vision, Mission and values which underpin both in order to provide clarity as to what is expected.
Vision : Defines the change the UN wants to achieve in the country within the next 5-10 years. It reflects the optimistic view, it is all about potential and what is possible. It should express WHY the UN is undergoing this change process.
Mission : Defines HOW the Country Team and the agencies, funds and programmes, both resident and non-resident, intend to achieve that vision or get to where they want to be in the future. A mission statement should define what it takes to realise the vision.
Values: The values of the United Nations impact on the Vision and Mission statements. The values of the United Nations Secretariat competency framework are: Integrity, Professionalism and Respect for diversity
– all required by the country team in the Visioning and Strategic planning process.
Vision/mission statements need not be long and should be kept simple.
There is often some confusion between Vision and Mission Statements and indeed some are combined for simplicity. For the process of the development of the UN Business Plan, we recommend one succinct statement at the highest level as sufficient – the operational and detailed objectives can then be covered in the Strategic Planning process. Your vision statement should answer the question WHY you are doing what you are doing and the mission statement will turn your vision into practice.
The purpose of the vision statement is not to serve as a "real" target that you are going to measure against to determine if you have succeeded or failed. Use your UNDAF, programme documents, goals and objectives to do that. The purpose of the vision statement is to get your team to imagine what is possible.

The development of the Vision Statement is a collaborative process and best done in a face to face meeting with the whole country team and key programme and operations staff. The operations or business process will be an important element to the realisation of this vision and so it is important to involve operations staff in its formulation. Since in any change process it is normal to have members of the team who will be resistant to change, it is advisable to include key players in the visioning process. Therefore choose representatives of staff who are most likely to feel threatened by the implications of the proposed change to participate along with staff members who will be supportive of chance, in order to mitigate resistance and give them an opportunity to express their reservations. It is also recommended to include key support staff in the process.
It is desirable to have a facilitator to manage the process, preferably a professional facilitator or if one of the team members, someone with professional experience.
The Facilitator should explain the difference between Vision and Mission statements. The example of Fiji below serves to illustrate the distinction between Vision, Mission and Values as defined above.
A Vision Statement expresses:
 Your ideal position in the future or best possible outcome
 What you want to become
 An openness to substantive change
 A goal worth stretching for
 The core elements of your strategy
 The change you want to see in the community/country you serve
 A narrative for why you will take action
 Emotions
Good Vision statements are:
 Concrete and specific
 Bold, challenging and exciting
 Positive and inspiring
 Attainable
 Simple
 The beginning of a compelling story
 Surprising or unexpected
 Credible
The recommended process is to start with no expectations or preconceived ideas. The worst possible approach is for a Country Team member to come with a ready made Vision Statement

– thus undermining any creativity, not to mention the essential element of collaboration. It’s worth taking time to design a message when it needs to persist over time. The visioning process should start with getting the team to define:
 WHY
– why greater UN coherence,
 then go to WHAT – the change the UN wishes to achieve through greater UN coherence,
 then move to HOW – how it plans to achieve this change.
Asking people “why” engages the emotional centres of the brain and takes you beyond purely rational decisions. It helps to inspire people and gain their commitment to achieving that vision.
Where possible, make the vision about the people who will be reading or hearing the statement.
A powerful vision statement should stretch expectations and aspirations, and move the country team out of its comfort zone. Describe your vision statement in present tense as if you were reporting what you actually see, hear, think and feel after your ideal outcome was realized. Use active verbs.
Make the statement a call to action. (Nike’s “Just do it!” slogan is perhaps the most concise example).
3. Proposed methodology for developing a vision statement:
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Start by presenting the elements of what a good vision statement consists of from the list above. Encourage participants to avoid technocratic language, to write in the present – the vision statement must describe the desired end state as if it were already a reality.
Encourage particip ants to ‘dream’ and visualise the change.
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Divide the Country Team into small groups of three to four persons. Ask each group to develop their own Vision Statement on a flip chart. Each group should designate a chair and rapporteur. The Chair should stimulate discussion and a flow of ideas around the
WHY first before focusing on the change the UN wishes to achieve through greater UN coherence (WHAT). The Chair may wish to remind the group of the elements of UN coherence to which the UNCT have committed in regards to the 4 Ones 1 and the
Business operations: common services, resource mobilisation, communication and advocacy defined in the UN position paper. The next step is to define HOW the UN plans to achieve that change (this is where values may appear). The end product of this group work must be a concise and inspiring vision statement. (60 mins)
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Share and compare. Ask each group to present their vision statement. Then get participants to get up and vote on the one they think is the best by marking the flip chart with a round dot sticker or marker pen. One vote per person, participants not allowed to vote for their own statement but can abstain. (30 mins to 60 mins depending on the size of the group);
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Count up the votes and use the one with the most votes as a basic model upon which to build and incorporate good ideas from others in plenary. Invite comments from
1 One Programme, One empowered leader and empowered team, One budgetary framework and One Office

participant s as to what they liked about this vision statement, why they voted for it … capture their comments on a flip chart (15 mins). Look for the elements of a good vision statement which you presented at the onset.
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Lead the plenary to build on this model incorporating good ideas from the other statements. It is a good idea to do this on a laptop and project the work in progress. Get as final a Vision statement as possible. Don’t spend more than another 40 mins on refining it at this stage.
Here are some existing Vision Statements. They are not necessarily considered as best practice examples and are included here as examples only. These should not be shared with the Team until after their own creative process. Only at this stage might you like to incorporate missing ideas, approaches and sentiments.

The vision for ‘Delivering as One’ in Mozambique is of a unified United Nations presence, which acts, speaks and delivers as one. The overall goal of the Delivering as One Initiative in
Mozambique is to improve programme delivery and results through a more coherent, better coordinated, funded and managed UN. This overall goal will guide all decisions taken by the
UN Country Team (UNCT) to move the reform agenda forward.
With the above vision in mind, the UNCT will encourage and promote the Core Management
Principles as outlined below.
 Transparency and accountability
 Integrity and ethics.
 Creativity
 Team work, respect and trust
 Participatory management
 Open communication and timely dissemination of information
 Quality performance and oversight
 Stronger inter-sectoral linkages to improve programme efficiency and effectiveness
 UNCT support structures
 Realistic planning
 Time management
 Personal and professional development
Mozambique

The vision of the UN Country Team (UNCT) is to ‘deliver as one’ so as to better support human development for the people in Pakistan – especially the MDGs – and to deliver humanitarian assistance when necessary. Its aim is to align UN activities with national priorities and procedures in line with the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness.
The UN role is four-fold: (i) an adviser to Government; (ii) a convener of stakeholders; (iii) an advocate for international norms and standards; and (iv) a provider of technical expertise for operational activities and capacity building in favour of the most vulnerable.
The basic principles adopted for piloting UN reform in [Country] include:
 One size does not fit all.
 Reform is urgent and for all.
 Form will follow
 Function. Centre of gravity.
 Authority.
 Leadership.
 Communication.
Pakistan

UNDP - Fiji Multi-Country Office
Vision Statement
UNDP Fiji Staff
Mission Statement
The UNDP Fiji Multi Country office is a credible and trusted development partner fostering peace, stability and sustainable development for 10 countries in the Pacific. In its management and development services, the MCO promotes and focuses on global and Pacific best practices.
We will deploy high quality programmes to built capacity and assist our 10 Countries achieve their MDG targets by focusing on Good Governance, HIV/AIDS, Poverty Alleviation and
Environment and Energy. Our approach will be rights-based and inclusive to ensure that all groups in society will be part of MDG achievement.
Vision Statement
We will seek to grow our programme to be in line with global resource allocations trends of an
20/80 split between core and non-core, to be reached by 2010. We will employ a more focused approach to service delivery resulting in the provision of enhanced assistance, detailed analysis, and comprehensive support, and will reflect the commitment to strengthening partnerships.
Value Statement
We are committed to undertaking our mission with a focus on the following values:
 Client focus* : We will proactively service our clients and strive to consistently improve the quality and efficiency of our services.
 Result orientation : We will individually and jointly plan for quality results, work for results and report on results.

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Efficiency and effectiveness : we will leverage ATLAS and other tools, to prove to our clients that we are efficient in responding to their needs and are effective in achieving results while managing our costs and generating income.
Focus on Change : we will innovate, improve our business processes, implement change management, and consistently seek better and more effective ways to do our work.
Transparency : As the cornerstone of our credibility we will foster effective communication and meetings, openness and honesty about decisions taken at all levels.
Accountability : individually and communally we are accountable for the success of
UNDP, and will hold each other accountable for our contributions and jointly celebrate our successes and will reward excellence.
Partnering : we will partner with regional organizations, our UN agencies, donors, international NGO's, civil society organizations and the private sector to work with the governments to achieve national development goals.
Staff Welfare and Development : we will foster staff development, safety, work life balance and promote learning and development of all staff.

Senge, P., 1990, The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of The Learning Organization ,
Doubleday.
Strategy Planning Institute, 2004, Mission Expert: Creating Effective Mission and Vision
Statements , www.missionexpert.com/book