The Kenya Embassy in Addis Ababa, led by Ambassador Monica Juma, held its Second Mission Strategic retreat between 16th and 20th April 2012. Convened on the shores of Lake Tana at the Abay Minch Resort, in Bahir Dar, Northern Ethiopia, the retreat came slightly over a year after the initial one held in Hawassa –Southern Ethiopia, in February 2011.
In the light of changing dynamics in the mission’s operations and the ongoing efforts to achieve more focused intervention in the pursuit of our mandate, the Second Strategic retreat built on the success of the last one, where the mission clarified its vision, defined its corporate values, work areas and elaborated its modalities of work.
Amb Monica Juma taking the team through the mission’s strategic plan.
The team reviewed the mission performance in the last year, deliberated on continuing and new areas of work, discussed the management processes, alignment of resources to programmatic work, further refined the brand promise and corporate values, human resource issues including work ethics, staff motivation and other issues of significance to the improvement of the Mission and individual performance.
A notable feature of this second retreat was the exceptional opportunity for staff to launch the wellness programme.
The team participated in several team building and fitness activities. The official launch of the programme was marked by a 5 km walk on the banks of the Lake Tana and the Blue Nile River.
Mission staff at the Lake Tana Falls
Key outcomes of the retreat included:
a) The Missions Strategic Plan 2012-2015,
b) Recommendations to improve on the ongoing positive efforts in pursuit of the vision to become the PERFECT Mission,
c) The launch of the wellness programme,
d) A commitment from all staff to improve performance for the coming Financial Year, and to forge a more cohesive team ready to optimize existing, and create new, opportunities for the realization of the strategic objectives of Kenya’s foreign policy in Ethiopia, Djibouti, within IGAD, the African Union and UNECA and other organizations operating within out of Addis Ababa
