Glossary of Development Terms and Abbreviations

NB: Some of these terms are specific to DFID, others are used throughout the development community.

DAC - Development Assistance Committee (of OECD)

DANIDA - Danish International Development Agency

DC - Development Committee

Debentures - a type of bond issued to raise funds from the market.

Debt for Environment Swap - the debtor country trades a reduction in its debt burden against a commitment to provide resources for environmental protection.

For example, funding of a special environment fund as part of an agreed reduction in national debt repayments where western governments agreed to reduce the national debt by 60% on condition that 10% would be in exchange for equivalent domestic spending on the environment - to be agreed on a case by case basis.

Also called 'debt-for-nature-swap'.

Debt relief - Debt relief may take the form of either refinancing, re-organisation, rescheduling or cancellation of all repayments. A loan is refinanced when the creditor country makes a new loan to enable the debtor country to meet the debt service payments on an earlier loan. A loan is rescheduled when the amortisation or interest payments or both on the outstanding portion are rearranged to make payment easier. See also Paris Club and Retrospective Terms Adjustment.

Debt Service - a payment made by a borrower to a lender. May include one or all of: (1) payment of interest, (2) repayment of principal loan (3) loan commitment fee.

Debt Service Ratio - The ratio of debt service payments to earnings from exports of goods and services in any period.

DEC - Disaster Emergency Committee

DECs - Development Education Centres 

DEFRA - Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Deliverable - a product, outcome or output from a work plan e.g. production of a feasibility study report (see also: Work Plan).

Demand Assessment - are estimates of the potential demand, at a given level of technology, for the goods/services planned as outputs of a particular project. Such exercises are necessary to ensure the viability of a project and will be undertaken at the appraisal stage of the project cycle. Contingent Valuation is one of a number of methodologies that may be used when completing a demand assessment.

Depreciation - "the reduction in the value of an asset through wear and tear" (Dictionary of Economics); a budgetary allowance for the replacement of assets at the end of their working life.

DESA - Department of Economic and Social Affairs of UN

DESI - Division for Economic and Social Information of UN

Development Assistance Committee (DAC) - is a forum for consultation among 21 donor countries, together with the EC, on how to increase the level and effectiveness of aid flows to all aid recipient countries. DAC sets the definitions and criteria for aid statistics internationally.

Development Co-operation - A term often used synonymously with overseas development to indicate the interdependent nature of the development process and to emphasise the cooperation between poorer and richer countries.

DFI - Direct Funding Initiative

DFID - Department for International Development 

DGIS - Directorate General of International Cooperation - Netherlands

DHA - United Nations Department of Humanitarian Affairs

DHS - Demographic and Health Survey

DICD - Drugs and International Crime Dept

Disaster Mitigation - Measures taken to reduce the damage, disruption and casualties caused by disasters.

Direct Payments - Aid payments made direct to suppliers of goods and services to an overseas country instead of by way of reimbursement to the country concerned.

Disaster Preparedness - comprises activities encompassing both bilateral and multilateral disaster mitigation and preparedness, and work related to the UK Disaster Relief Initiative. Measures which enable societies to respond appropriately and effectively to disasters.

Disaster Prevention - Measures aimed at reducing the chances of occurrence of a hazard event and/or preventing or reducing the impact of the disaster.

Disaster Reduction - A summary term which included disaster prevention, preparedness and mitigation measures.

Disaster Relief - assistance to deal with the consequences of an abnormal event which results in human suffering. It can result from sudden national or man made disasters, or food scarcity arising from crop failures due to drought, pests and diseases. Disaster relief includes immediate post-crisis refugee relief.

Disbursement - release of payments.

Disbursement Rate - the rate at which disbursements/payments are made. A funder may provide the money for a project in instalments in accordance to a pre-arranged plan or in line with progress on the ground.

Discounted Cash Flow - a method of comparing the profitability of alternative projects which takes the time value of money into account.

Projects usually bring benefits later than costs, and appraisals therefore need to compare costs and benefits occurring at different times. Discounted cash flow involves applying a discount rate to all the costs and benefits that can be expressed in money terms. This gives more weight to costs incurred earlier and benefits received earlier. The best option is usually the one with the highest net present value.

Discounting - the process of finding the present worth of a future amount of money. Generally this expression is obtained in the form of a discount factor from a set of compounding and discounting tables. The underlying concept is sometimes referred to as the time value of money.

Discount Rate - the rate used to determine the present worth of a future value by discounting (see Discounting). Banks usually use the interest rate as a discount rate.

In an economic cost-benefit analysis an appropriate discount rate must be selected - low discount rates usually favour the protection of natural resources. The discount rate reflects the shadow price (opportunity cost) or social cost or benefit of the proposed project, it may differ from the market interest rate. Where a discount rate has been selected that differs from the market interest rate the discount rate must be used consistently throughout the analysis, e.g. for estimating the present value.

Dissemination - telling a wider audience about a project and its results. This may be by means of seminars, newsletters, press releases and similar methods. This can enable organisations to learn from others' experience and good practice.

Dissemination Strategy - a planned approach to telling a wider audience about the results of a project.

DLCOEA - Desert Locust Control Organisation for East Africa

DNE - Detached National Expert

Donor - the organisation making a contribution towards the cost of a project. This contribution is usually in cash, but could also be in-kind (see also: In-kind).

Donor Appraisal Procedures - the way in which a systematic assessment of a project proposal is carried out by a donor.

DPD - Development Policy Department

DTI - Department of Trade and Industry

DTLR - Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions

 

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