Integrated Country Strategy Guidance & Instructions

priorities in a given country. The ICS sets Mission Goals and Objectives through a coordinated and collaborative planning effort among Department of State (State), USAID, and other U.S. Government (USG) agencies with programming in country. The primary audiences for the ICS are the Mission, Bureaus, and interagency partners. The ICS serves as a "single, multi-year, overarching strategy that encapsulates USG policy priorities, objectives, and the means by which diplomatic engagement, foreign assistance, and other tools will be used to achieve them" (2010 Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review). Specifically, the ICS articulates a common set of USG priority Mission Goals and Objectives in the country, provides the basis for the development of the annual Mission Resource Requests and performance management, and provides a tool to coordinate activities throughout the Mission. Missions will complete an ICS every three years following the publication of the Joint Regional Strategy by the relevant geographic Bureau. The planning period addressed in the ICS is three years from the date of final submission. In the strategic planning process, all Missions will gather staff from USG agencies in country to consider opportunities and challenges by analyzing country context, the Joint Regional Strategy, Functional Bureau Strategies, and other USG guidance and strategy; set priorities for USG activities in country; and document these in the ICS. The general framework of the ICS may articulate Mission Goals, Mission Objectives, Management Objectives, and Action Plans. Mission Goals are ambitious statements of what the Mission intends to accomplish in the long term (five years or beyond) in the host country. These statements can include political, economic, health, social, environmental, or security outcomes. Each Mission Goal will be complemented by one or more Mission Objectives, which are concrete, realistic statements of a result in the host country that the Mission can significantly influence in the medium term (three to five years). Each ICS should be supported by one or more Management Objectives, which are concrete, realistic statements of an improvement in the functions of management that the Mission can significantly influence in the medium term (three to five years). Each Mission and Management Objective is supported by a number of Action Plans that identify what needs to be done to achieve a Sub-Objective. Achieving Sub-Objectives should translate into achieving the broader Objective which they support. The ICS is designed to focus more on creating an opportunity for interagency planning dialogue than on a heavily narrated report. Missions are encouraged to build off of existing processes they have set up for interagency dialogue and planning but are encouraged to include the following in their planning process. Step 1: Preparation involves gathering staff from USG agencies in country to consider opportunities and challenges. Step 2: Analysis involves analyzing country context, the Joint Regional Strategy, Functional Bureau Strategies, and other USG guidance and strategy. Step 3: Prioritization involves setting priorities for USG activities in country. Step 4: Documentation involves documenting the ICS in a clear and concise manner. The ICS is a strategy document built from a Mission-based planning process. The multi-year ICS, Joint Regional Strategy, and Functional Bureau Strategy frame and inform elements of operational planning, performance management, and the two components of the State-USAID annual budget request: the Mission Resource Request and the Bureau Resource Request. The Mission Resource Request and Bureau Resource Requests focus on resources required to implement the priorities outlined in the strategies. The ICS also serves as the backbone for Mission-level performance management.