Glossary of Development Terms and Abbreviations

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

Waiver period - The period at the beginning of the term of a loan during which the borrower is excused interest.

WARDA - West African Rice Development Association

WB - World Bank

WCIA - Welsh Centre for International Affairs

WDM - World Development Movement

WFC - World Food Council

WFP - World Food Programme

WHO - World Health Organisation

WHO/EPI - World Health Organisation's Expanded Programme on Immunisation

WHO/GPA - World Health Organisation's Global Programme on AIDS

WIDER - World Institute for Development Economics Research

Wider Objective - the ultimate objective to which the project will contribute; a large overall goal usually with a long time frame.

Win-Win Project - a project which is economically attractive and which also reduces environmental pollution.

WIPO - World Intellectual Property Organisation

With-Without Project Analysis - comparison of the net benefit with the project and the net benefit without the project. This is not the same as a 'before and after' comparison because even without the project the net benefit in the project area may change.

WMO - World Meteorological Organisation

Women In Development (WID) - Women In Development (WID) policy recognises and addresses women's roles and needs in all aid activities. The policy does not focus on women's needs in isolation but seeks to identify positive ways in which the asymmetrical relations between men and women might be shifted or altered.

WON - Weekly Office Notice

Work Package - a fairly self-contained group of tasks in a work programme (see also: Work Plan; GANTT Chart).

Work Plan - a detailed plan setting out how you are going to carry out your project (see also GANTT Chart).

World Bank - a major multilateral funder. The World Bank finances projects primarily through two of its branches: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA). Both entities lend funds, provide economic advice and technical assistance, and serve as a catalyst for other investment. They differ in that the IBRD borrows on world capital markets to finance its lending activity, while the IDA provides assistance to the poorest countries, largely based on resources provided by its more wealthy members and transfers from IBRD net income (profits).

WRI - World Resources Institute

WSSD - World Summit on Sustainable Development 

WTO - World Trade Organisation

WUS - World University Service

WWF - World Wide Fund for Nature

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