GHA | Glossary A-H

;

Glossary A-H

0.7% – the commitment of donor governments to dedicate 0.7% of their gross national income (GNI) to official development assistance (ODA). The DAC has been measuring this indicator since the UN adopted the standard following the Pearson Commission recommendations in 1970. This is a fair comparison between countries because it measures the share of national wealth that is given as aid. The volume can fluctuate year by year as the economy grows or shrinks, but aid as a share of GNI remains a clear, fair way to compare the effort of different donors.

Aid tying/untying – tied aid is only measured for bilateral ODA commitments and can be classified as either tied, partially tied or untied. The technical cooperation and food aid components of bilateral aid are not included. The DAC produces an annual report on progress on aid untying to least developed countries (LDCs). See www.oecd.org/dac and go to 'untied aid'.

Bilateral aid/assistance – aid that is controlled and spent by donor countries at their own discretion. This may include staff, supplies, equipment, funding to recipient governments and funding to NGOs. It also includes assistance channelled as earmarked funding through international and UN organisations.

Central emergency response fund (CERF) – a central emergency revolving fund (CERF) was established in 1991 as a fund of US$50 million given as a one-off contribution by donors. By 2004, due to the accumulation of interest, the CERF had US$50 million in the bank and US$15 million on loan. In December 2005 a new expanded CERF (this time the central emergency response fund) was approved by the General Assembly officially launched on 9 March 2006. The new CERF has a grant element of US$450 million in addition to the US$50 million loan element. Up to two-thirds of the grant facility can be allocated to rapid response to emergencies while the remaining third will be devoted to addressing underfunded emergencies. See: http://ochaonline.un.org/Default.aspx?alias=ochaonline.un.org/cerf

Cluster approach – a mechanism introduced by the UN in December 2005 to "enhance the ability of the ERC (globally) and the humanitarian coordinators (on the ground) to manage humanitarian response effectively". See: www.humanitarianreform.org

Commitment – firm – but not legally binding – pledges of assistance.

Common humanitarian action plan (CHAP) – a strategic plan for humanitarian response in a given country or region. The CHAP is the foundation for developing a consolidated appeal. Under the leadership of the humanitarian coordinator, the CHAP is developed at the field level by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) country team. This includes UN agencies, and standing invitees, i.e. the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the Red Cross Movement, and NGOs that belong to International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA), Interaction, or Southern Center for Human Rights (SCHR). Non-IASC members, such as national NGOs, can be included and other key stakeholders in humanitarian action, in particular host governments and donors, are consulted.

Concessionality level – a measure of the 'softness' of a credit reflecting the benefit to the borrower compared to a loan at market rate. 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.

Consolidated appeal – a tool for structuring a coordinated humanitarian response to complex and/or major emergencies within the consolidated appeals process (CAP). Consolidated appeals are triggered by the UN's Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC) and the IASC in consultation with the humanitarian coordinator, and IASC country team. The government of the affected country is also consulted. See also flash appeal.

Consolidated appeals process (CAP) – a common strategy for implementing a coordinated response to complex emergencies and natural disasters. The ability to fulfil this objective depends on the extent to which the programmes within the CAP are funded. The CAP aims to coordinate: strategic planning leading to a common humanitarian action plan (CHAP); resource mobilisation (via a consolidated or flash appeal); programme implementation; and joint monitoring, evaluation and reporting. See: http://ochaonline.un.org/cap2005/index.htm

Constant prices – also called 'real terms' prices, constant prices show how expenditure has changed over time after removing the effects of exchange rates and inflation. DAC deflators along with annualised exchange rates, are available at: www.oecd.org/dac

Debt relief – this may take the form of cancellation, rescheduling, refinancing or reorganisation of debt. Relief is relief from the burden of repaying both the principal and interest on past loans. Debt rescheduling is a form of relief where principal or interest payments are delayed or rearranged. Debt refinancing is where a new loan or grant is arranged to enable the debtor country to meet the service payments on an earlier loan. Official bilateral debts are reorganised in the Paris Club of official bilateral creditors.

Developing countries – all countries and territories in Africa; all countries in the Americas except the US, Canada, Bahamas, Bermuda, Cayman Islands and Falkland Islands; all countries in Asia and the Middle East except Japan, Brunei, Hong Kong, Israel, Kuwait, Qatar, Singapore, Taiwan and United Arab Emirates; all countries in the Pacific apart from Australia and New Zealand; plus the European states of Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Gibraltar, Malta, Moldova, Turkey and ex-Yugoslavia.

Development Assistance Committee (DAC) – the 23 DAC members are: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Sweden, the UK, the US and the European Commission.

The members have "agreed to secure an expansion of aggregate volume of resources made available to developing countries and to improve their effectiveness". The DAC, set up in 1960, sets the rules for what can and cannot be counted as ODA.

Disbursement – the release of funds to, or the purchase of goods or services for a recipient; by extension, the amount spent.

Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC) – heads the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Full title "Under-Secretary-General (USG) for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC)".

Emergency response funds (ERFs) – project funds, managed by OCHA in-country, for short-term NGO (and occasionally, as in the case of DRC and Somalia, UN agency) projects of around US$100 000-US$150 000. ERFs are usually set up at the suggestion of donors and can enable: quick response to sudden emergencies/improved response preparedness; gap-filling in humanitarian response, such as enabling organisations to start emergency work while waiting for funding from other donors or enabling agencies to provide service continuity when there are gaps in funding from other sources; the supplementing of other funding to reach more beneficiaries; flexible responses to changing local priorities.

The ERF mechanism has come into increasing use since its first appearance in 1993. Development Initiatives completed a review of the ERF mechanism on behalf of OCHA in January 2007.

European Development Fund (EDF) – finances development cooperation between the EC and the African, Caribbean and Pacific States (ACP) under the Cotonou Agreement (and formerly, the Lomé Convention). It is an intergovernmental fund managed by the EC and financed on a voluntary basis by the member states.

Financial tracking system (FTS) – OCHA's FTS captures voluntary statements of contributions to humanitarian assistance from over 60 countries. FTS data primarily covers contributions for countries that are a subject of a CAP appeal or in response to a natural disaster and which have been reported to the FTS either by the donor or by the recipient agency. See: http://www.reliefweb.int/FTS/

Flash appeal – a tool for structuring a coordinated humanitarian response to sudden onset emergencies. It is triggered by the UN's humanitarian coordinator in consultation with the IASC country team and following endorsement by the ERC and the IASC. The government of the affected country is also consulted. Flash appeals are issued within two to four weeks of an emergency. They are designed to cover urgent life-saving needs and early recovery projects that can be implemented within the first three to six months of an emergency. See also "consolidated appeal".

G8 – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the UK and the US.

Global humanitarian assistance – a term used by GHA to describe the "guesstimate" of global expenditure on humanitarian assistance. It includes: total official humanitarian assistance; donations to NGOs, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and UN agencies by members of the general public; certain expenditure by DAC donor governments that falls outside the official definition of either ODA or humanitarian assistance (security expenditure and activities such as mine clearance, for example); and the activities of governments that are not part of the DAC ('non-DAC' donors). In spite of efforts to be all-encompassing, this calculation still excludes local response and remittances from family members and diaspora communities.

Good Humanitarian Donorship (GHD) – the initiative created by donor governments at a meeting in Stockholm in 2003 with the idea of working towards achieving efficient and principled humanitarian assistance. The initiative provides a forum for donors to discuss good practice in funding humanitarian assistance and other shared concerns. By defining principles and standards it provides both a framework to guide official humanitarian aid and a mechanism for encouraging greater donor accountability. See: www.goodhumanitariandonorship.org

Gross national income (GNI) – the total value of goods and services produced within a country, together with income received from other countries (notably interest and dividends), less similar payments made to other countries.

Humanitarian assistance – the generic term used to describe aid and action designed to save lives, alleviate suffering and maintain and protect human dignity during and in the aftermath of emergencies. Humanitarian assistance includes both responses by local communities and governments of affected countries and the international response to crises.

> Development Initiatives 2008