Glossary and Acronyms
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Countries in the process of joining the European Union.
Administrative Costs
DFID administrative costs include the running costs of DFID Headquarters, overseas costs of staff in agreed diplomatic
posts concerned with full time aid administration, including Staff Appointed in Country employed by DFID; expenditure in
respect of residual rent liability on the Chatham Maritime site arising from the terms agreed for the privatisation of
DFID's former next steps agency, the Natural Resources Institute; and those elements of Foreign and Commonwealth
Office and CDC Capital Partners, formerly known as Commonwealth Development Corporation, administration costs which
are related to aid delivery.
Aid Untying
The ending of the practice of most donors to insist that aid is spent on goods and services from the donor country in
favour of giving unrestricted access to those who can compete best on price, quality and service.
AIDS
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome
Bilateral aid is provided to developing countries and countries in transition on the Development Assistance Committee
List on a country to country basis, and to institutions, normally in Britain, working in fields related to these countries.
Budgetary assistance or Budget Support
Budget Support is a form of programmatic aid in which:
a. Funds are provided in support of a government programme that focuses on growth and poverty reduction, and transforming institutions, especially budgetary;
b. The funds are provided to a partner government to spend using its own financial management and accountability systems.
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Country Assistance Plan - see below
Civil Society Organisations
All Civic Organisations, associations and networks which occupy the "Social space" between the family and the State
who come together to advocate their common interests through collective action. It includes volunteer and charity
groups, parents and teachers associations, senior citizens groups, sports clubs, arts and culture groups, faith-based
groups, workers clubs and trade unions, non-profit think-tanks and "issue-based" activist groups.
Concessional Resources
Development assistance with a grant element normally greater than 35%.
Countries in transition
Term used to describe former Soviet countries in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, and China, Mongolia and Vietnam.
Country Assistance Plans
DFID has produced or is producing Country Assistance Plans for all countries where we provide development assistance programmes.
These plans, produced in consultation with governments, business, civil society, and others within the country concerned and within
the UK, set out how we aim to contribute to achieving the Millennium Development Goals in the country in question. Country
Assistance Plans are normally intended to cover a three to four year period. For some groups of countries a Regional Strategy Paper is produced.
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Development Assistance Committee (of the OECD)- see below
Debt Relief
Debt Relief may take the form of cancellation, rescheduling, refinancing or re-organisation. Interest and principal foregone from debt
cancellation forms part of DFID programme expenditure whilst other debt relief is funded from other official sources.
a. Debt cancellation (or Retrospective Terms Adjustment) is relief from the burden of repaying both the principal and interest
on past loans;
b. Debt rescheduling is a form of relief by which the dates on which principal or interest payments are due are delayed or
rearranged;
c. Official bilateral debts are re-organised in the Paris Club of official bilateral creditors, in which the UK plays its full part. The
Paris Club has devised increasing generous arrangements for reducing and rescheduling the debt of the poorest countries; most
recently agreeing new terms for the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative.
Developing Countries (see Development Assistance Committee: List of Aid Recipients below)
Development Assistance Committee (DAC)
The Development Assistance Committee of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development is a forum for consultation
among 22 donor countries and the European Commission, on how to increase the level and effectiveness of aid flows to all aid recipient
countries. The member countries are Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, European Commission, Finland, France, Germany,
Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK and United
States.
Development Assistance Committee: List of Aid Recipients
This list is in two parts. Part I shows developing countries and territories eligible to receive official development assistance. Part II shows
countries and territories eligible to receive official aid. The list is designed for statistical purposes and not as guidance for aid or other
preferential treatment.
Part I: Developing Countries and Territories
The list comprises all countries and territories: in Africa; in America except the United States, Canada, Bahamas, Bermuda,
Cayman Islands and Falkland Islands; in Asia except Japan, Brunei, Hong Kong, Israel, Kuwait, Qatar, Singapore, Taiwan and
United Arab Emirates; in the Pacific except Australia and New Zealand; plus Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Gibraltar,
Malta, Moldova, Turkey and the states of former Yugoslavia in Europe.
Part II: Countries and Territories in Transition
The list comprises Belarus, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia and
Ukraine, plus the more advanced developing countries which have moved from Part I of the List, namely Bahamas, Bermuda,
Brunei, Cayman Islands, Cyprus, Falkland Islands, Hong Kong, Israel, Kuwait, Qatar, Singapore, Taiwan and United Arab Emirates.
Note that Moldova moved to Part I of the List on I January 1997.
Direct Budget Support (See Budgetary Assistance or Budget Support)
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European Community - see below
European Community
The 15 member states and the common institutions, notably the European Commission, co-operating on a range of economic and other
issues in supra-national integration.
European Development Fund
The European Development Fund is the main route through which EC funds committed to the countries of Africa, the Caribbean and
the Pacific under the Cotonou Convention are channelled.
European Union
Created by the Treaty of Maastricht 1992, which enhanced the integration of the European Community but also enabled the member
states to co-operate together in an inter-governmental, not supra-national, way in the areas of Common Foreign and Security Policy
Justice and Home Affairs.
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Financial Aid in the wider sense is defined as a grant or loan of money which is the subject of a formal agreement with the recipient
government or institution. In practice it is all bilateral aid except technical co-operation and administrative costs.
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GDP
Gross Domestic Product - see below
Globalisation
The growing independence and interconnectedness of the modern world through increased flows of goods, services, capital, people and
information. The process is driven by technological advances and reductions in the costs of integrated transactions, which spread
technology and ideas, raise the share of trade in world production and increase the mobility of capital.
Gross Domestic Product
The total value of goods and services produced within a country.
Gross National Income
Previously known as Gross National Product, Gross National Income comprises the total value of goods and services produced within a
country (i.e. its Gross Domestic Product), together with its income received from other countries (notably interest and dividends), less
similar payments made to other countries.
G7/G8 Group
The G7 Group of major industrialised democracies comprises Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the United States.
The Group of Eight (G8) includes Russia. Their Heads of Government meet annually at the G7/G8 Summit to discuss areas of global
concern.
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An initiative launched by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in 1996 to provide debt relief to the poorest countries.
Revised in 1999 to deliver twice as much debt relief as the original initiative.
HIPC
Heavily Indebted Poor Countries - see above
HIV
Human Immunodeficiency Virus
Humanitarian Assistance
Humanitarian Assistance comprises disaster relief, food aid, refugee relief and disaster preparedness. It generally involves the provision
of material aid including food, medical care and personnel) and finance and advice to save and preserve lives during emergency
situations and in the immediate post- emergency rehabilitation phase; and to cope with short and longer term population displacements
arising out of emergencies.
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IDPs
Internally Displaced People
IDTs
International Development Targets
International Monetary Fund
Income Groups
The classification of aid recipient countries by income groups is based on Gross National Income per capita figures in 1998 according to the thresholds set out below.
- low income group: countries with a Gross National Income per capita in 1998 of below $760;
- lower middle income group: countries with a Gross National Income per capita in 1998 of $761
to $3030;
- upper middle income group: countries with a Gross National Income per capita in 1998 of $3031
to $9360;
- high income group: countries with a Gross National Income per capita in 1998 of $9361 or above.
Institutional Strategy Papers
Institutional Strategy Papers are designed to set DFID's partnerships with multilateral development institutions in a strategic framework.
The papers are prepared in consultation with that institution and other interested parties and set out the objectives for our partnership
with that institution. Institutional Strategy Papers have been or are being prepared for our main partner institutions and will normally
be produced every three to four years.
Intellectual Property Rights
National and international systems provide for the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights. Intellectual property
constitutes private property rights over ideas and inventions. The principal Intellectual Property Rights are copyrights (material which
can be reproduced only with permission of the owner, who can charge for it), patents (product designs or processes which can be used
only with permission of the owner, who can charge for it), trademarks (registered marks that exclusively identify a product or economic
entity, which cannot be used by others), and industrial designs.
International Development Association
Part of the World Bank Group which makes loans to countries at concessional rates (i.e. below market rates) of interest.
International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund aims to promote international monetary cooperation, exchange stability, and orderly exchange
arrangements; to foster economic growth and high levels of employment; and to provide temporary financial assistance to countries
to help ease balance of payments adjustment.
IPCC
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Established in 1988, its first report provided the initial scientific evidence of climate change.
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Least Developed Countries are those assessed as having particularly severe long-term constraints to development. Inclusion on the list
of Least Developed Countries is now assessed on two main criteria: economic diversity and quality of life.
Low Income Countries
Countries in the Low Income Group, as defined in Income Groups.
Countries in the lower middle and upper middle income groups (see Income Groups).
Millennium Development Goals
A set of eight international development goals for 2015, adopted by the international community in the UN Millennium Declaration in
September 2000, and endorsed by IMF, World Bank and OECD. These are set out in full in Annex 4.
Multilateral Aid
Aid channeled through international bodies for use in or on behalf of aid recipient countries. Aid channeled through multilateral
agencies is regarded as bilateral where DFID specifies the use and destination of the funds.
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Non-governmental organisation - see below
Non governmental organisations
These are private non-profit making bodies which are active in development work. To qualify for official support UK non governmental
organizations must be registered charities.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development - see below
Official Aid
This is the equivalent, for countries on Part II of the Development Assistance Committee List, of official development assistance to
countries on Part I of the Development Assistance List (i.e. developing countries). To qualify as official aid, resource flows should have
the same concessional and qualitative features as official development assistance.
Official Development Assistance
Official development assistance is defined as those flows to developing countries and multilateral institutions provided by official
agencies or by their executive agencies, which meet the following tests:
a. it is administered with the promotion of the economic development and welfare of developing countries as its main objective;and
b. it is concessional in character and conveys a grant element of at least 25%.
Only aid to countries on Part I of the Development Assistance Committee List is eligible to be recorded as official development
assistance.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
A group of 30 industrial countries promoting growth and high employment among its members, fostering international trade and
contributing to global economic development.
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PPAs are agreements between DFID and influential civil society organisations in the UK which set out at a strategic level how the two partners will work together to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Strategic funding is provided, linked to to jointly agreed strategic objectives.
Poverty Reduction Strategies
Poverty Reduction Strategies are prepared by developing country governments in collaboration with the World Bank and International Monetary Fund as well as civil society and development partners. These documents describe the country's macroeconomic, structural and social policies and programmes to promote growth and reduce poverty, as well as associated external financing needs and major
sources of financing.
Programme Aid
Programme aid is financial assistance specifically to fund (i) a range of imports, or (ii) an integrated programme of support for a
particular sector, or (iii) discrete elements of a recipient's budgetary expenditure. In most cases, support is provided as part of a World
Bank/International Monetary Fund co-ordinated structural adjustment programme.
PRSP
Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper - see above
Public Private Partnership
A Public/Private Partnership brings public and private sectors together in partnership for mutual benefit. The term Public Private
Partnership covers a wide range of different partnerships, including the introduction of private sector ownership into businesses that are
currently state-owned, the Private Finance Initiative, and selling Government services into wider markets.
Public Service Agreement
A set of measurable targets for the Department's work, as required by the White Paper Public Services for the Future: Modernisation,
Reform, Accountability (CM4181). See Annexes 2 & 3 for DFID's Public Service Agreement.
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International Development Banks which serve particular regions, for example the African Development Bank or the European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development.
A sector wide approach is a process that entails all significant donor funding for a sector supporting a single, comprehensive sector
policy and expenditure programme, consistent with a sound macro-economic framework, under recipient government leadership. Donor
support for a sector wide approach can take any form project aid, technical assistance or budgetary support although there should be
a commitment to progressive reliance on government procedures to disburse and account for all funds as these procedures are
strengthened.
Security Sector
The security sector is defined as those who are, or should be, responsible for protecting the state and communities within the state. This
includes military, paramilitary, intelligence and police services as well as those civilian structures responsible for oversight and control of
the security forces and for the administration of justice.
Service Delivery Agreement
A document which defines the outputs and subsidiary targets which will contribute towards delivery of the targets in the Public Service
Agreement.
Spending Review
A fundamental re-evaluation of priorities, objectives and targets by the UK Government, which establishes a three year planning cycle,
including spending plans, for all departments. The 2000 Spending Review runs from 2003/04
to 2005/06.
Strategic Grant Agreements
DFID agrees Strategic Grant Agreements (SGAs) with UK civil society organisations for whom international development is not their main focus but who have the potential to work constructively and strategically with DFID in helping to reduce poverty.
SGAs aim to contribute to a stronger, better informed and more effective UK community for international development.
Strategies for Achieving the International Development Targets (or Target Strategy Papers)
These DFID papers set out the key development challenges to be addressed in order to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.
The papers also explore the action needed by the international community, developing country governments, civil society, the private
sector and others in order to achieve the targets. Finally the papers explain what DFID will do to contribute to that effort.
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Technical co-operation is the provision of advice and/or skills, in the form of specialist personnel, training and scholarship, grants for
research and associated costs.
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. This represents the international community's collective response to climate change. It was established at the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development which was held in Rio.
The term World Bank is commonly used to refer to the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International
Development Association. Three other agencies are also part of the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation, the
Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes. Together these
organizations are referred to as the World Bank Group.
World Trade Organisation
The World Trade Organisation exists to ensure that trade between nations flows as smoothly, predictably and freely as possible. To
achieve this, the World Trade Organisation provides and regulates the legal framework which governs world trade. Decisions in the
World Trade Organisation are typically taken by consensus among the 146 member countries and are ratified by members' parliaments.
WTO
World Trade Organisation - see above
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