National Sustainable Development Planning Training Course

Duration 10 days 19 modules · 65 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends National planning officers, Ministry of finance officials and others
Fee from USD 2,200 KSh 190,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 9 Nov 2026 Course code SD-GPS-046

Before you join: Participants should have working experience in government planning, public policy, budgeting, programme management, monitoring and evaluation, statistics, or development cooperation.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

National development plans often contain strong policy statements but weak links between national priorities, sector strategies, public investment, budgets, institutions, indicators and accountability. Planning teams must translate Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), national visions and political commitments into implementable plans that withstand fiscal constraints, changing data, stakeholder interests and public scrutiny. This course addresses the practical work of building and managing a credible national sustainable development planning cycle.

Participants learn to diagnose development problems, frame results, set priorities, cost interventions, align plans with budgets and public investment programmes, establish coordination arrangements, and monitor progress using disaggregated indicators. The course uses the 2030 Agenda, Theory of Change, results-based management, SDG indicator metadata, stakeholder analysis, public expenditure analysis, risk management and monitoring frameworks. Participants also examine policy coherence, leaving-no-one-behind analysis, localisation, climate and disaster risk integration, and reporting arrangements for national and international audiences.

Instruction combines short technical briefings with public-sector cases, facilitated group work, planning simulations and structured application to participants’ own institutional context. Cases reflect common planning issues in ministries of planning, finance and sector ministries, including competing priorities, limited fiscal space, uneven administrative data and weak implementation coordination. During the first week, participants begin a national planning dossier; during the second, they strengthen its financing, implementation, monitoring and review components. They leave with a completed sustainable development planning package that can be adapted for a national, regional or sector planning assignment.

The course suits public officials and development partners who contribute to national planning, policy coordination, budgeting, programme design, statistics, monitoring or implementation review. It is particularly relevant where institutions are revising a national development plan, preparing a voluntary national review, aligning sector plans, or establishing an SDG implementation mechanism.

What you will be able to do

  • Diagnose national development challenges using problem trees, stakeholder analysis and disaggregated evidence
  • Formulate a results framework linking national priorities, SDG targets, outcomes and interventions
  • Prioritise policy interventions using multi-criteria analysis, fiscal feasibility and equity criteria
  • Cost strategic actions and prepare financing scenarios linked to budget and investment processes
  • Design coordination, accountability and implementation arrangements for national development plans
  • Construct an SDG-aligned monitoring framework with indicators, baselines, targets and metadata
  • Integrate climate, disaster, gender and leaving-no-one-behind considerations into planning documents
  • Produce and present an implementable national sustainable development planning package

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Produce stronger planning documents linking priorities, interventions, financing and measurable results
  • Contribute confidently to interministerial plan preparation and implementation discussions
  • Apply SDG targets and indicators without treating them as a separate reporting requirement
  • Identify weak assumptions, unfunded actions and accountability gaps before plan approval
  • Build a reusable planning dossier for current national or sector assignments

For your organisation

  • Improves alignment between national plans, sector strategies, budgets and public investment programmes
  • Reduces unfunded commitments through early costing and financing scenario analysis
  • Strengthens interministerial roles, reporting lines and implementation accountability
  • Improves evidence use through clearer indicators, baselines, metadata and review routines
  • Supports credible SDG reporting and more consistent engagement with development partners

Course modules

19 modules over 10 days

Participants can explain the institutional and policy architecture required for national sustainable development planning.

  • National visions, development plans and sector strategies within planning hierarchies
  • 2030 Agenda principles translated into national policy and planning mandates
  • Constitutional mandates shaping planning authority, decentralisation and public accountability
  • Planning cycles linked to electoral terms, budgets and medium-term frameworks
  • Central planning agency roles, mandates and coordination responsibilities
  • Development partner coordination arrangements supporting nationally owned planning

Participants can align national priorities with SDG targets while identifying policy trade-offs.

  • SDG targets mapped against national priorities and existing commitments
  • Policy coherence analysis identifies reinforcing actions, trade-offs and omissions
  • Target localisation methods distinguish national, subnational and sector responsibilities
  • Leaving-no-one-behind commitments translated into planning criteria and actions
  • Intergenerational equity considered through long-term outcomes and resource choices
  • Voluntary national review findings used to refine policy priorities

Participants can prepare an evidence-based diagnosis of a priority national development challenge.

  • Problem trees separate root causes, direct causes and development effects
  • Trend analysis compares historical performance, projections and benchmark countries
  • Disaggregated data reveals disparities by sex, age, location and income
  • Administrative data quality assessed through completeness, timeliness and consistency checks
  • Political economy analysis identifies incentives, interests and institutional constraints
  • Evidence matrices connect claims, data sources, limitations and decisions

Participants can design an inclusive stakeholder engagement process for plan preparation and review.

  • Stakeholder mapping classifies influence, interests, rights and expected contributions
  • Participation plans sequence consultations, feedback loops and decision points
  • Civil society engagement methods address representation, accessibility and safeguarding
  • Private sector consultations identify investment barriers and delivery roles
  • Parliamentary engagement supports legitimacy, oversight and legislative alignment
  • Consultation records distinguish recommendations, responses and agreed actions

Participants can build a results chain connecting development challenges to measurable outcomes.

  • Theory of Change maps causal pathways from interventions to outcomes
  • Results chains distinguish inputs, activities, outputs, outcomes and impacts
  • Outcome statements specify population change, direction and measurable condition
  • Assumptions tested for plausibility, evidence strength and institutional control
  • Cross-sector outcomes assigned lead institutions and contributing agencies
  • Results frameworks connect strategic objectives with implementation programmes

Participants can rank strategic interventions using transparent and defensible criteria.

  • Multi-criteria analysis scores interventions against impact, cost and feasibility
  • Equity weighting examines distributional effects on excluded population groups
  • Cost-effectiveness comparisons inform choices among competing intervention options
  • Sequencing matrices distinguish immediate reforms from longer-term investments
  • Policy packages combine regulatory, institutional, fiscal and service actions
  • Decision logs record criteria, scores, evidence and approval rationale

Participants can align sector strategies and programmes with national sustainable development priorities.

  • Sector results frameworks mapped to national outcomes and SDG targets
  • Programme inventories identify duplication, gaps and conflicting interventions
  • Cross-ministerial dependencies documented through responsibility and contribution matrices
  • Service delivery pathways connect national policy with local implementation
  • Spatial planning considerations inform infrastructure, services and regional equity
  • Alignment reviews test consistency between sector targets and national assumptions

Participants can connect strategic priorities to screened and sequenced public investment proposals.

  • Public investment management cycle from project concept to ex-post review
  • Project concept notes define objectives, beneficiaries, costs and expected results
  • Economic appraisal compares options using costs, benefits and opportunity costs
  • Climate screening identifies physical hazards and adaptation requirements
  • Infrastructure pipelines prioritise projects by readiness, affordability and strategic fit
  • Operation and maintenance costs included within whole-life project estimates

Participants can cost strategic actions and identify resource requirements for implementation.

  • Activity-based costing estimates personnel, capital, operating and transfer costs
  • Unit costs derived from service standards, quantities and delivery assumptions
  • Costing tables distinguish recurrent expenditure from capital expenditure requirements
  • Inflation and exchange-rate assumptions incorporated into multi-year estimates
  • Sensitivity analysis tests cost changes under alternative implementation scenarios
  • Cost drivers documented for review, updating and budget negotiation

Participants can prepare financing scenarios aligned with fiscal and institutional realities.

  • Medium-term expenditure frameworks connect policy ceilings with strategic priorities
  • Fiscal space analysis examines revenue, expenditure, debt and financing constraints
  • Domestic revenue measures assessed for yield, equity and administrative feasibility
  • External finance mapped by grants, loans, partners and conditions
  • Blended finance suitability assessed against public value and fiscal risk
  • Financing gaps presented through baseline, optimistic and constrained scenarios

Participants can link plan actions to budget programmes, outputs and expenditure classifications.

  • Programme budgeting structures connect appropriations, outputs and policy outcomes
  • Budget tagging identifies SDG, climate, gender and regional expenditure
  • Annual work plans translate strategic actions into funded deliverables
  • Budget calendar milestones aligned with plan review and prioritisation dates
  • Expenditure classifications support tracking by function, programme and economic type
  • Budget submissions justify resource requests using results and costing evidence

Participants can establish accountable implementation arrangements for multi-agency national plans.

  • Implementation matrices assign actions, milestones, resources and responsible institutions
  • RACI matrices clarify accountable, responsible, consulted and informed parties
  • Interministerial committees establish mandates, membership and escalation procedures
  • Delivery units track critical actions, bottlenecks and decision requests
  • Performance agreements connect senior management responsibilities with plan outcomes
  • Decentralised implementation roles specify national, regional and local accountabilities

Participants can identify implementation risks and design proportionate mitigation and adaptation measures.

  • Risk registers record likelihood, impact, owners and mitigation actions
  • Scenario planning examines political, fiscal, climate and economic uncertainty
  • Disaster risk reduction integrated into priorities, investments and contingency arrangements
  • Climate adaptation actions assessed against exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity
  • Early warning indicators trigger management review and corrective decisions
  • Adaptive management protocols define evidence thresholds for plan adjustment

Participants can integrate gender equality and inclusion requirements into planning and budgeting decisions.

  • Gender analysis examines roles, access, control and decision-making power
  • Intersectional analysis identifies overlapping barriers affecting excluded population groups
  • Gender-responsive budgeting links allocations with equality objectives and indicators
  • Accessibility standards inform public services, consultations and infrastructure design
  • Safeguarding measures address risks of exclusion, harm and discrimination
  • Distributional impact assessments compare planned benefits across population groups

Participants can select indicators and establish data governance for national plan monitoring.

  • Indicator reference sheets define concepts, methods, sources and reporting frequency
  • SDG Global Indicator Framework used to identify internationally comparable measures
  • Baselines established using verified data, reference periods and disaggregation requirements
  • Target-setting methods apply trend, benchmark and normative approaches
  • Data governance assigns custodians, validation procedures and publication responsibilities
  • National statistical system capacities assessed for priority indicator production

Participants can design a monitoring, evaluation and learning system for plan performance.

  • Performance dashboards present targets, actual results, trends and responsible agencies
  • Monitoring plans specify indicator collection, quality assurance and reporting schedules
  • Evaluation questions test relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability
  • OECD DAC evaluation criteria applied to strategic plan review
  • Annual performance reviews identify corrective actions and management decisions
  • Learning agendas prioritise evidence gaps, studies and policy questions

Participants can prepare credible reporting and review arrangements for public and international accountability.

  • National progress reports combine narrative analysis, indicators and expenditure evidence
  • Voluntary national review structures align findings with UN reporting guidance
  • Citizen scorecards capture service experience and local implementation feedback
  • Open data publication balances transparency, confidentiality and data protection
  • Parliamentary reports present progress, constraints and required policy decisions
  • Review calendars coordinate sector reviews, budget processes and national reporting

Participants can manage a time-bound planning process from inception through approval and communication.

  • Planning roadmaps define phases, deliverables, governance and approval gates
  • Work breakdown structures organise research, consultation, drafting and validation tasks
  • Quality assurance protocols test evidence, internal consistency and implementation feasibility
  • Document architecture structures vision, priorities, results, financing and monitoring
  • Strategic communications plans explain priorities, trade-offs and public commitments
  • Approval pathways identify cabinet, parliamentary and administrative decision requirements

Participants can build, review and present a complete national sustainable development planning package with priorities, financing, implementation and monitoring arrangements.

  • Planning dossier integrates diagnostic findings, priorities and results framework
  • Strategic interventions ranked using documented criteria, evidence and fiscal assumptions
  • Costed implementation matrix assigns actions, milestones, institutions and resources
  • Financing scenario identifies budget sources, gaps and external funding assumptions
  • Monitoring framework specifies indicators, baselines, targets, metadata and review cycles
  • Peer review tests coherence, feasibility, equity, risks and accountability
  • Presentation briefing defends planning choices before a simulated approval panel

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. National sustainable development planning dossier template
  2. SDG-aligned results framework
  3. Multi-criteria intervention prioritisation matrix
  4. Costed implementation and financing plan
  5. National monitoring framework and indicator reference sheet
  6. Planning process roadmap and accountability matrix

Who should attend

  • National planning officers — responsible for drafting, coordinating or reviewing development plans
  • Ministry of finance officials — align policy priorities with budgets and financing frameworks
  • Sector ministry planners — translate national goals into sector strategies and programmes
  • Local government planners — adapt national priorities for subnational plans and investments
  • National statistics officers — develop indicators, metadata and data collection arrangements
  • Development partner programme managers — support nationally owned planning and implementation processes

Skills and tools covered

Results-based planningSDG localisationPublic investment alignmentPolicy prioritisationDevelopment financingPerformance monitoring

Tools and standards

2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Theory of Change, SDG Global Indicator Framework, OECD DAC evaluation criteria

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to establish planning concepts, followed by public-sector cases, facilitated group exercises, planning simulations and peer review. Participants work with planning evidence, results chains, budget assumptions, stakeholder maps and indicator tables similar to those used by government planning units. Trainers guide structured application planning throughout the course, allowing participants to adapt methods to their national, sector or subnational responsibilities. The final sessions use review panels and presentations to test the coherence, feasibility and accountability of each planning package.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have working experience in government planning, public policy, budgeting, programme management, monitoring and evaluation, statistics, or development cooperation. They should understand the basic purpose of national development plans and be able to read policy, budget or programme documents. Familiarity with the SDGs is useful but not essential. The course does not require advanced economics, econometric modelling, specialised geographic information systems, prior experience with voluntary national reviews, or formal qualifications in public administration. Participants benefit most when they bring a current planning, sector strategy or implementation challenge.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

Participants should have practical exposure to planning, policy, budgeting, programme management, monitoring, statistics or development cooperation. Advanced economics, econometrics and prior SDG reporting experience are not required.

Bring a current national plan, sector strategy, planning brief, budget framework or implementation challenge where possible. Participants can also work from course cases if they cannot share institutional documents.

The course is designed primarily for officials in planning, finance, sector ministries, statistics offices and local government. It also suits development partner staff supporting nationally led planning and review processes.

This course focuses on converting sustainable development commitments into a national planning system with priorities, financing, institutional roles and measurable results. It goes beyond SDG orientation and does not focus solely on individual project delivery.

Participants leave with planning templates and a completed planning package that can be adapted to a national, sector or subnational assignment. The methods support plan revisions, budget submissions, implementation reviews and voluntary national review preparation.

Training runs from 08:30 to 16:30 each day, with about 6.5 contact hours daily. The first week develops diagnosis, priorities, results and costing; the second week covers financing, implementation, monitoring, review and the capstone presentation.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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