| Glossary |
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Definitions Page
Many thanks to
the Development
Initiatives website for
their excellent glossary, reproduced here.
Glossary of terms relating to poverty, aid
and development cooperation:
20/20 An Initiative proposed at the
Copenhagen Social Summit (WSSD) for bilateral agreements between
donor and recipient governments whereby donors would agree
to allocate 20% of their ODA to Basic Social Services (BSS)
if recipients agreed to allocate 20% of public expenditure
to enable universal access to Basic Social Services (BSS).
ABOS Algemeen Bestuur voor Ontwikkelingssamenwerking,
Belgian Ministry for Development Cooperation
ACP African, Caribbean and Pacific
States (see Lome Convention).
ADB Asian Development Bank
ADEA Association for the Development
of Education in Africa (formerly DAE Donors to African Education)
AECI Spanish Agency for International
Cooperation
AfDB African Development Bank
Afsed Arab Fund for Economic and Social
Development
Aid see ODA Official Development
Assistance
AIDS Acquired immune deficiency syndrome
ASEAN Association of South East Asian
Nations
ASIP Agricultural Sector Investment
Programme
Associated Financing is the combination
of Offical Development Assistance, whether grants or loans,
with any other funding to form finance packages. Associated
Financing packages are subject to the same criteria of concessionality,
developmental relevance and recipient country eligibility
as TIED AID CREDITS.
ATP Aid and Trade Provision
Badea Arab Bank for Development in
Africa
Bilateral Aid is provided to developing
countries and countries on Part II of the DAC List on a country
to country basis, and to institutions, normally in Britain,
working in fields related to these countries.
Bilateral portfolio investment - includes
bank lending, and the purchase of shares, bonds and real estate.
Bond Lending - net completed international
bonds issued by countries on the DAC List of Aid Recipients.
Bop Balance of payments
BSS Basic Social Services (Basic Education,
basic health and nutrition, safe water and sanitation) defined
for the purposes of the 20/20 Initiative
Budgetary Aid is general financial
assistance given in certain cases to dependent territories
to cover a recurrent budget deficit.
CAP The Consolidated Appeal Process
- (UNOCHA)
CAP Common Agricultural Policy (EU)
CDF Comprehensive Development Framework
used by The World Bank
CEC Commission of the European Community
CEE/CA Countries of Central and Eastern
Europe and Central Asia
CILC Confirmed Irrevocable Letter
of Credit
CIS Commonwealth of Independent States
Commitment - a firm obligation, expressed
in writing and backed by the necessary funds, undertaken by
an official donor to provide specified assistance to a recipient
country or a multilateral organisation. Bilateral commitments
are recorded in the full amount of expected transfer, irrespective
of the time required for the completion of disbursements.
Commitments to multilateral organisations are reported as
the sum of [i] any disbursements in the year in question which
have not previously been notified as commitments and [ii]
expected disbursements in the following year.
Concessionality Level - a measure
of the 'softness' of a credit reflecting the benefit to the
borrower compared to a loan at market rate (cf GRANT ELEMENT).
Technically, it is calculated as the difference between the
nominal value of a TIED AID CREDIT and the present value of
the debt service as of the date of disbursement, calculated
at a discount rate applicable to the currency of the transaction
and expressed as a percentage of the nominal value.
Constant Prices Constant price (or
real terms) figures show how expenditure on DFID programmes
has changed over time after removing the effects of UK inflation.
The measure of general inflation used is the UK GDP deflator,
which is derived by dividing GDP at current prices by GDP
at constant prices.
Current (cash) prices are not adjusted
for inflation.
DAC Development Assistance Committee
- the DAC of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD) is a forum for consultation among 21 donor
countries, together with 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, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland,
Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway,
Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK and USA. DAC sets
the definitions and criteria for aid statistics internationally.
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 is relief
from the burden of repaying both the principal and interest
on past loans. Most of the poorest countries have had outstanding
debt arising from past aid loans cancelled.
b. Debt rescheduling is a form
of relief by which the dates on which principal or interest
payments are due are delayed or re-arranged.
c. Debt refinancing is a form
of relief in which a new loan or grant is arranged to enable
the debtor country to meet the service payments on an earlier
loan.
d. Official bilateral debts are
re-organised in the Paris club of official bilateral creditors.
The Paris Club has devised the following arrangements for
reducing and rescheduling the debt of the poorest, most indebted
countries.
Toronto Terms agreed by the
Paris Club in 1988 provided up to 33% debt relief on rescheduled
official bilateral debt owed by the poorest, most indebted
countries pursuing internationally agreed economic reform
programmes.
Trinidad Terms agreed by the
Paris Club in 1990 superseded Toronto Terms and provided up
to 50% debt relief.
Naples Terms agreed by the
Paris Club in 1994 superseded Trinidad Terms and provide up
to 67% debt relief. They also introduced the option of a one-off
reduction of 67% in the stock of official bilateral debt owed
by the poorest, most indebted countries with an established
track record of economic reform and debt servicing.
In the Paris Club, the UK has
forgiven and rescheduled official guaranteed export credits
on Toronto, Trinidad and Naples terms.
Enhanced Naples Terms Under
the Heavily-Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) debt initiative,
Paris Club members have agreed to increase the amount of debt
relief to eligible countries to up to 80%.
Developing Country The DAC defines
a list of developing countries eligible to receive ODA. In
1996 a number of countries, including Israel, ceased to be
eligible for ODA. A second group of countries, ‘Countries
and Territories in Transition’ including Central and Eastern
Europe are eligible for ‘Official Aid’ - not to be confused
with ‘Official Development Assistance’. OA has the same terms
and conditions as ODA, but it does not count towards the 0.7%
target, because it is not going to developing countries
Developing Countries Developing countries
are 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)
and Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Gibraltar, Malta,
Moldova, Turkey and the states of ex-Yugoslavia in Europe.
DFID Department for International
Development (UK) (formerly UK Overseas Development Administration
- ODA)
Direct Investment - investment made
to acquire or add to a lasting interest in an enterprise in
a country on the DAC List of Aid Recipients (see RECIPIENT
COUNTRIES AND TERRITORIES). In practice, it is recorded as
the change in the net worth of a subsidiary in a recipient
country to the parent company as shown in the books of the
latter.
Disbursement - the release of funds
to, or the purchase of goods or services for a recipient;
by extension, the amount thus spent. Disbursements record
the actual international transfer of financial resources,
or of goods or services valued at the cost to the donor. In
the case of activities carried out in donor countries, such
as training, administration or public awareness programmes,
disbursement is taken to have occurred when the funds have
been transferred to the service provider or the recipient.
They may be recorded gross (the total amount disbursed over
a given accounting period) or net (less any repayments of
loan principal during the same period.
EBRD European Bank for Reconstruction
and Development
EC European Community
ECGD Export Credits Guarantee Department
(UK)
ECHO European Community Humanitarian
Office
ECOSOC Economic and Social Council
(UN)
EDF European Development Fund
- see Lome Convention
EFA Education for All
EIB European Investment Bank
EMU Economic and Monetary Union
ESAF (E/Sal/F)Enhanced Structural
Adjustment (Loan)/Facility
Export Credits - loans for the purpose
of trade and which are not represented by a negotiable instrument.
They may be extended by the official or the private sector.
If extended by the private sector, they may be supported by
official guarantees.
FAC Food d'Aide et Coopération
FAO Food and Agricultural Organisation
(UN)
FCO Foreign & Commonwealth Office
(UK)
FEWS Famine Early Warning System (US)
FINNIDA Finnish International Development
Agency
G24 Group of 24 developed nations
meeting to coordinate assistance to Central and Eastern Europe
GATT General Agreement on Tariffs
and Trade
GDP Gross Domestic Product (see GNP)
GEA Global Environmental Assistance
GEF Global Environment Facility
Gini coefficient is an indicator of
income distribution, where 0 represents perfect equality and
1 perfect inequality.
GNP Gross National Product - comprises
the total value of goods and services produced within a country
(ie its Gross Domestic Product [GDP]), together with income
received from other countries (notably interest and dividends),
less similar payments made to other countries.
GPEX Gross Public Expenditure on Aid
Grant element - reflects the financial
terms of a commitment: interest rate, MATURITY and grace period
(interval to first repayment of capital). It measures the
concessionality of a loan, expressed as the percentage by
which the present value of the expected stream of repayments
falls short of the repayments that would have been generated
at a given reference rate of interest. The reference rate
is 10 per cent in DAC statistics. Thus, the grant element
is nil for a loan carrying an interest rate of 10 per cent;
it is 100 per cent for a grant; and it lies between these
two limits for a loan at less than 10 percent interest. If
the face value of a loan is multiplied by its grant element,
the result is referred to as the grant equivalent of that
loan (cf CONCESSIONALITY LEVEL) (Note: the grant element concept
is not applied to the market-based non-concessional operations
of the multilateral development banks.)
GSP General System of Preferences
HD Human Development
HEWS Humanitarian Early Warning System
HIC High Income Countries with an
annual per capita income of more than US $ 9385 in 1995.
HIPC Highly Indebted Poor Country
(Debt Initiative)
HIV Human immunodeficiency virus
IADB InterAmerican Development Bank
IASC Inter-Agency Standing Committee
(Committee responsible to ECOSOC for overseeing humanitarian
affairs, the work of OCHA and the CAP.
ICCROM International Centre for the
Study of the preservation and the restoration of Cultural
Property.
ICPD International Conference on Population
and Development, Cairo, 1994.
IDA International Development Association
(World Bank)
IDPs Internationally displaced persons
IDT International Development Targets
(for 2015) as outlined in the DAC document Shaping the 21st
Century also known as International Development Goals
IFAD International Fund for Agricultural
Development
IFC International Finance Corporation
IFRC International Federation of Red
Cross and Red Crescent Societies
IFIs International Financial Institutions
ILO International Labour Organisation
IMF International Monetary Fund
INSTRAW International Research and
Training Institute for the Advancement of Women
Internal Bank Lending - net lending
to countries on the List of Aid Recipients by commercial banks
in the Bank of International Settlements reporting area. ie
most OECD countries and most offshore financial centres (Bahamas,
Bahrain, Cayman Islands, Hong Kong, Netherlands Antilles and
Singapore), net of lending to banks in the same offshore financial
centres. Loans from central monetary authorities are excluded.
Guaranteed bank loans and bonds are included under OTHER PRIVATE
OR BOND LENDING.
IsDB Islamic Development Bank
JANIC Japanese NGO Centre for International
Cooperation
JICA Japan International Cooperation
Agency
Jomtien Venue for Education for All
Conference, Thailand, 1990.
LIC Low Income Countries - with an
annual per capita income of less than US $ 765 in 1995
LDC Least Developed Country - 48 poor
and vulnerable countries defined by the United Nations with
an annual per capita income of less than US $ 765 in 1995
LMIC Lower Middle Income Countries,
with an annual per capita income of between US $766 and US
$3035 in 1995
Lome Convention Multi annual framework
agreement covering development cooperation between the EU
members and African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) States. Funding
for Lome comes from the EDF.
MADCT More Advanced Developing Countries
and Territories comprise countries which have been transferred
to Part II of the DAC List of Aid Recipients.
MAFF Ministry of Agriculture, Food
and Fisheries (UK)
MAI Multilateral Agreement on Investment
MERCOSUR A regional arrangement for
promoting trade and investment in the ‘Southern Cone’ countries
of Latin America
MIS Management Information System
MoE Ministry of Education
MoF Ministry of Finance
MoH Ministry of Health
MoW Ministry of Works
Montreal Protocol The Montreal Protocol
on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (established in
1987) is a legally binding multilateral agreement to eliminate
or reduce the use of chemicals which damage the ozone layer.
It has been agreed by DAC members that 100% of contributions
to the Montreal Protocol may be reported as ODA from 1994.
Multilateral Agencies - in DAC statistics,
those international institutions with governmental membership
which conduct all or a significant part of their activities
in favour of development and aid recipient countries. They
include multilateral development banks (eg The World Bank,
regional development banks), United Nations agencies, and
regional groupings (eg certain European Union and Arab agencies).
A contribution by a DAC Member to such an agency is deemed
to be multilateral if it is pooled with other contributions
and disbursed at the discretion of the agency. Unless otherwise
indicated, capital subscriptions to multilateral development
banks are recorded on a deposit basis, ie in the amount and
as at the date of lodgement of the relevant letter of credit
or other negotiable instrument. Limited data are available
on an encashment basis, ie at the date and in the amount of
each drawing made by the agency on letters or other instruments.
Multilateral aid - Aid channelled
through international bodies for use in or on behalf of aid
recipient countries. For those international bodies whose
activities benefit both developing and developed countries,
only that part of the UK contribution estimated to be for
development oriented activities in the former is reckoned
as aid. The proportion reckoned as aid for each agency is
agreed by the DAC. Aid channelled through multilateral agencies
is regarded as bilateral where DFID controls the use and destination
of the funds. This relates mainly to emergency aid delivered
through UN agencies, including the World Food Programme.
Multilateral portfolio investment - this covers the transactions of the private non-bank and
bank sector in the securities issued by multilateral institutions.
NAFTA North American Free Trade Arrangement
NATO North American Treaty Organisation
NGDO Non Governmental Development
Organisation
NGO (PVO) Non-Governmental Organisations
(Private Voluntary Organisations) also referred to as Voluntary
Agencies. They are private non-profit-making bodies which
are active in development work.
NIC Newly industrialised countries
NIPs National Indicative Programmes
(EU)
NPV Net Present Value
NRI Natural Resources Institute (UK)
OA Official Assistance (Aid) - this
is government assistance with the same terms and conditions
as ODA, but which goes to Countries and Territories in Transition
which include former aid recipients and Central and Eastern
European Countries and the Newly Independent States. It does
not count towards the 0.7% target.
OAU Organisation of African Unity
OCHA (See UNOCHA)
ODA Official Development Assistance
(often referred to as ‘aid’) of which at least 25% must be
a grant. The promotion of economic development or welfare
must the main objective. It must go to a developing country
as defined by the DAC
ODF Official Development Finance -
used in measuring the inflow of resources to recipient countries;
includes [a] bilateral ODA, [b] grants and concessional and
non-concessional development lending by multilateral financial
institutions, and [c] Other Official Flows which are considered
developmental (including refinancing loans) which have too
low a GRANT ELEMENT to qualify as ODA.
OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation
and Development (see DAC).
OHCHR Office of the UN High Commissioner
for Human Rights
OOF Other Official Flows - defined
as flows to aid recipient countries by the official sector
which do not satisfy both the criteria necessary for ODA or
OFFICIAL ASSISTANCE.
Other private (lending) - mainly reported
holdings of equities issued by aid recipient countries and
bank loans which in this context are included with guaranteed
export credits. In data which focus on the outflow of funds
from donors, private flows other than direct investment are
restricted to credit with a maturing of greater than one year
and are usually divided into Private Export Credits (see EXPORT CREDITS), MULTILATERAL PORTFOLIO INVESTMENT and
BILATERAL PORTLFOLIO INVESTMENT
PAHO Pan American Health Organisation
PAM Poverty Aim Marker (used by DFID
UK)
Partially Untied Aid - OFFICIAL DEVELOPMENT
ASSISTANCE (or Official Aid) for which the associated goods
and services must be procured in the donor country or amount
a restricted group of other countries, which must however
include substantially all recipient countries. Partially untied
aid is subject to the same disciplines as TIED AID and ASSOCIATED
FINANCING.
PFP The Imo's Policy Framework Paper.
A PFP has in the past outlined the Imo's approach to economic
policy in borrowing countries, including additions attached
to loans extended and an ESAF. (See also PRGF)
PHARE The Phase programme is the European
Union's initiative which provides grant finance to support
its partner countries (in Central and Eastern Europe) through
the process of economic transformation and strengthening of
democracy to the stage where they are ready to assume the
obligations of membership of the European Union.
PIMS Policy Information Marker System
(used by DFID UK)
POM Policy Objective Marker (used
by DFID UK)
PRGF replacing the ESAF, the Poverty
Reduction and Growth Facility is the new name given to IMF
Loan Facilities to developing countries. (See also PRSP).
Private Flows are long-term (over
1 year) capital transactions by UK residents (as defined for
balance of payment purposes) with aid recipient countries,
or through multilateral agencies for the benefit of such countries.
They include all forms of investment, including INTERNATIONAL
BANK LENDING and EXPORT CREDITS where the original maturity
exceeds one year. Private flows are reported to DAC separately
FOR DIRECT INVESTMENT, EXPORT CREDITS and INTERNATIONAL BANK
LENDING, BOND LENDING AND OTHER PRIVATE (lending).
Programme Aid is financial assistance
specifically to fund (I) a range of general imports, or (ii)
an integrated programme of support for a particular sector,
or (iii) discrete elements of a recipient's budgetary expenditure.
In each case, support is provided as part of a World Bank/IMF
co-ordinated structural adjustment programme.
PRSP Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers
proposed by the IMF. These papers will replace PFPs, and aim
to involve a much wider range of stakeholders in planning
approaches to poverty and development.
Real Terms A figure adjusted to take
account of exchange rates and inflation, allowing a ‘real’
comparison over time - see Constant Prices
Recipient Countries and Territories - the current DAC list of Aid Recipients - see LLDC, LIC,
LMIC, UMIC, HIC.
S21C Shaping the 21st Century – DAC
donors statement of Development Goals - see IDTs.
SADC Southern African Development
Community
SAR World Bank Staff Appraisal Report
SASP Structural Adjustment Support
Programme
SBS Sector Budget Support
SDP Sectoral Development Programme
SDP-Ed Education Sector Development
Programme
SIP Sectoral Investment Programme
(SMG)
Soft Loan A loan of which the terms
are more favourable to the borrower than those currently attached
to commercial market terms. It is described as concessional
and the degree of concessionality is expressed as its grant
element.
SPA Special Programme of Assistance
for Africa (World Bank)
SPS Sector Programme Support
SSA Sub-Saharan Africa
SWA (SWAp) Sector Wide Approaches
TC Technical Cooperation - includes
both [a] grants to nationals of aid recipient countries receiving
education or training at home or abroad, and [b] payments
to consultants, advisers, and similar personnel as well as
teachers and administrators serving in recipient countries
(including the cost of associated equipment). Assistance of
this kind provided specifically to facilitate the implementation
of a capital project is included indistinguishably among bilateral
project and programme expenditures, and is omitted from technical
cooperation in statistics of aggregate flows.
Tied Aid Credits - Official or officially
supported LOANS, credits or ASSOCIATED FINANCING packages
where procurement of the goods or services involved is limited
to the donor country or to a group of countries which does
not include substantially all developing countries (or CEEC/NIS
countries in transition, cf PARTIALLY UNTIED AID). Tied aid
credits are subject to certain disciplines concerning their
concessionality levels, the countries to which they may be
directed, and their development relevance so as to avoid using
aid funds on projects that would be commercially viable with
market finance, and to ensure that recipient countries receive
good value.
TNC Transnational Corporation
UMIC Upper Middle Income Countries
with an annual per capita income of between US $ 3036 and
US $9385 in 1995
UN United Nations
UNAIDS Joint United Nations Programme
on HIV/AIDS
UNCED United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro 1992
UNCHS United Nations Centre for Human
Settlements, Habitat
UNCTAD United Nations Conference on
Trade and Development
UNDCF United Nations Capital Development
Fund
UNDAC United Nations Disaster Assessment
and Coordination
UNDAF United Nations Development Assistance
Framework
UNDCP United Nations Drugs Control
Programmes
UNDP United Nations Development Programme
UNEP United Nations Environment Programme
UNESCO United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organisation
UNFPA United Nations Fund for Population
Activities
UNHCR Office of the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees
UNICEF United Nations Children's Fund
UNIDO United Nations Industrial Development
Organisation
UNIFEM United Nations Development
Fund for Women
UNITAR United Nations Institute for
Training and Research
UNOCHA UN Office for the Coordination
of Humanitarian Assistance
UNRISD United Nations Research Institute
for Social Development
Untied Aid - OFFICIAL DEVELOPMENT
ASSISTANCE for which the associated goods and services may
be fully and freely procured in substantially all countries.
UNV United Nations Volunteers
Uruguay Round Last round of multilateral
trade negotiations under the GATT
VSO Voluntary Service Overseas (UK)
WFP World Food Programme
WHO World Health Organisation
WID Women in Development
WSSD World Summit for Social Development,
Copenhagen 1995. - see 20/20 Initiative
WTO World Trade Organisation
Sources consulted include: Reality of Aid,
annual Development Cooperation Report of the DAC |
