UN 2.0 Week 2025 on “Strategic Foresight” Virtual Side Event “Towards foresight and system-based approaches in UN country work”

8 July 2025, Geneva, Switzerland - On 12 June 2025, UNITAR took part in UN 2.0 week, hosting an online side event entitled, “Towards foresight and system-based approaches in UN country work”. The side event provided an opportunity for UN Country Teams (UNCTs) in Seychelles and Cameroon to share their recent experiences, having embraced these innovative methods either in building capacities of governments or in developing UN Country Analysis as a foundation for UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Frameworks (UNSDCFs). Among the speakers who gave their insights were Ms. Elizabeth Agathine, Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Seychelles, Ms. Lisa Simrique Singh, UN Resident Coordinator for Mauritius and Seychelles, and Mr. Issa Sanogo, UN Resident Coordinator for Cameroon. 

UN Assistant Secretary-General and Executive Director of UNITAR Ms. Michelle Gyles-McDonnough opened the session by highlighting the need to leverage strategic foresight and systems thinking to anticipate future trends, risks, and opportunities for policy, resilience, and sustainable impact, in response to the increasingly complex challenges of our world today. UNITAR and UNDESA have a long-standing collaboration on embedding foresight and systems thinking into country approaches. The partners recognize that additional training and capacity development alone will not be enough. What is required is a change in mindset, highlighted Adriana Alberti, Chief, Programme Management and Capacity Development Unit, DPIDG/UNDESA.

Common themes amongst the speakers recognize the significance of shifting mindsets towards a more forward-looking perspective. In thinking more strategically and for the long term, less “firefighting” is necessary, as PS Agathine mentions during the session. Encouraging co-creation was likewise echoed as critical to overcoming silos and recognizing interlinkages, to move forward with coherence and strategic purpose. Seychelles has developed a nationally tailored five-step methodology grounded in systems analysis and strategic foresight to be applied in their national planning and budgeting processes. As a result of an extensive capacity-building programme, they start to see an emergent trend towards more policy coherence across sectors. The objective is to institutionalize foresight and systems thinking and empower a wider range of stakeholders to engage meaningfully with their development agenda. Resident Coordinator Ms. Lisa Singh echoed the power of co-creation amongst UN agencies and National Governments, and the need to scale up peer-to-peer capacity building and training.