The Country Programme Document (CPD) is the cornerstone of UNDP’s engagement with partner countries, outlining how UNDP will support national priorities and contribute to sustainable development over a multi-year cycle. However, in today’s rapidly changing and increasingly complex world, traditional planning approaches often fall short in anticipating and responding to the uncertainties and systemic challenges that shape development trajectories.

The challenges we face today—from climate change to digital disruption—require us to look ahead, anticipate emerging trends, and prepare for multiple possible futures. 

Strategic foresight allows us to do just that. It equips us with the tools to explore uncertainty, challenge assumptions, and design policies and programmes that are not just reactive but truly anticipatory.

UNDP has been at the forefront of integrating foresight into development practice. Across the UN system, we have pioneered efforts to embed futures thinking into our work, enabling teams to navigate uncertainty with greater confidence and agility. This toolkit is another step in that journey: an effort to support country offices in applying foresight to the Country Programme Document (CPD) process, ensuring that our strategies are forward-looking, resilient, and informed by a broad, participatory approach.

This toolkit is not a rigid framework but a flexible toolkit. You can engage with it in the way that best suits your context, drawing from the concepts, tools, and approaches outlined here and adapting them to your unique realities. It is meant to support teams in embedding a culture of anticipation in their work, making foresight an integral part of programme design rather than a one-time exercise.

Many toolkits on strategic foresight focus on introducing the discipline, explaining its theoretical foundations, and providing a broad array of tools for various contexts. While these resources are valuable, they can often feel too general or disconnected from the specific needs of an organization like UNDP.

This toolkit takes a different approach. It is created by UNDP for UNDP, tailored to the organization’s unique mandate, working processes, and planning frameworks.

The future is uncertain, but with foresight, we can ensure that UNDP’s programmes are prepared not only to navigate the unknown but also to shape it.

Browse UNDP's Foresight for CPD Toolkit