Development and Globalization: Facts and Figures2016 United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
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Glossary

Absolute poverty
Absolute poverty is experienced when people lack the basic necessities for survival: proper shelter, clean water, adequate food, medicines and clothing. From a measurement perspective, absolute poverty is usually defined as having an income below a fixed threshold. That threshold will typically represent the cost of a basket of very basic goods and services or some caloric equivalent. For example, target 1.1 of the 2030 Agenda uses the PPP equivalent of US$1.25 per day (US$1.90 in 2015 prices) as the threshold.
Access to finance
Access to finance is measured using four indicators: (a) building credit histories; (b) women’s access to finance programmes; (c) delivering financial services; (d) private sector credit as a percentage of gross domestic product.
Administrative data
Administrative or public-sector data are defined as information that is collected as a matter of routine in the day-to-day management or supervision of a scheme, service or revenue-collecting system (MacFeely and Dunne, 2014).
Agricultural holding
FAO and Food Policy Research Institute (2005) define an agricultural holding as an economic unit of agricultural production under single management comprising all livestock kept and all land used wholly or partly for agricultural production purposes, without regard to title, legal form, or size. Single management may be exercised by an individual or household, jointly by two or more individuals or households, by a clan or tribe, or by a juridical person such as a corporation, cooperative or government agency. The holding’s land may consist of one or more parcels, located in one or more separate areas or in one or more territorial or administrative divisions, providing the parcels share the same production means, such as labour, farm buildings, machinery or draught animals.
Agricultural landowner
An agricultural landowner is defined as the legal owner of the agricultural land; however, definitions of ownership may vary across countries and surveys. The indicator may not necessarily reflect documented ownership certified by a legal document. Especially in places where much of the land is not formally titled or documented, surveys often simply ask whether someone in the household owns the land, and if so, who owns it. In addition to officially titled ownership, it may also include proxies, such as the right to use, sell or bequeath the land, or the right to use it as collateral. This enables the indicator to capture different aspects of the bundle of rights related to land, rather than land ownership in the strictest sense of the term. An individual is defined as a landowner whether they own land solely (they are the only owner of a plot of land) or jointly with someone inside or outside the household. Thus, households may have multiple landowners. In addition, households may own multiple plots of land with different owners identified for each plot. This contrasts with the data on agricultural holdings, where all of the household plots comprise one holding and typically identify a single holder with management responsibility.
Agricultural landowners by sex
The distribution of agricultural landowners by sex measures the share of female and male agricultural landowners in the total population of landowners.
Aichi Biodiversity Targets
The Aichi Biodiversity Targets are comprised of 5 goals and 20 targets. The five goals are: (a) Address the underlying causes of biodiversity loss by mainstreaming biodiversity across government and society; (b) Reduce the direct pressures on biodiversity and promote sustainable use; (c) Improve the status of biodiversity by safeguarding ecosystems, species and genetic diversity; (d) Enhance the benefits to all from biodiversity and ecosystem services; (e) Enhance implementation through participatory planning, knowledge management and capacity-building. See https://www.cbd.int/doc/strategic-plan/2011-2020/Aichi-Targets-EN.pdf.
Agriculture Orientation Index (AOI)
The Agriculture Orientation Index (AOI) for government expenditures as defined by FAO is the agriculture share of government expenditures divided by the agriculture share of gross domestic product (GDP), where agriculture refers to the agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting sector:
AOI=(Agriculture share of government expenditures )/(Agriculture share of GDP)
An AOI of greater than 1 reflects a higher orientation towards the agriculture sector, which receives a higher share of government spending relative to its contribution to economic value added. An AOI of less than 1 reflects a lower orientation to agriculture, while an AOI equal to 1 reflects neutrality in a government’s orientation to the agriculture sector.
Battle-related deaths
The World Bank defines battle-related deaths as deaths in battle-related conflicts between warring parties in the conflict dyad (two conflict units that are parties to a conflict). Typically, battle-related deaths occur in warfare involving the armed forces of the warring parties. This includes traditional battlefield fighting, guerrilla activities, and all kinds of bombardments of military units, cities, villages, and the like. The targets are usually the military itself and its installations or institutions and representatives of the State, but there is often substantial collateral damage in the form of civilians being killed in crossfire, in indiscriminate bombings, and the like. All deaths - military as well as civilian - incurred in such situations are counted as battle-related deaths. See http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/VC.BTL.DETH.
Beta-convergence
Beta-convergence applies if a poor economy tends to grow faster than a rich one (Barro and Sala-i-Martin, 1995, p. 383).
Biodiversity
Variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems.
Biofuel
A biofuel is any fuel derived from biomass. There is still no strict definition of biomass but, in the UNCTAD report The State of the Biofuels Market: Regulatory, Trade and Development Perspectives, it is defined as organic matter available on a renewable basis, such as forest and mill residues, agricultural crops and residues, wood and wood residues, animal wastes, livestock operation residues, aquatic plants, and the organic portion of urban wastes.
Biome
A biome is a large naturally occurring community of flora and fauna occupying a major habitat.
Biotrade
Biotrade includes activities related to the collection or production, transformation, and commercialization of goods and services derived from native biodiversity (genetic resources, species and ecosystems) according to criteria of environmental, social and economic sustainability.
Bretton Woods Institutions
The Bretton Woods Institutions are the World Bank and IMF. They were set up at a meeting of 43 countries in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, in July 1944. Their aims were to help rebuild the shattered post-war economy and to promote international economic cooperation.
Cartagena Protocol
The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is an international treaty governing the movements of living modified organisms resulting from modern biotechnology from one country to another. It was adopted on 29 January 2000 as a supplementary agreement to the CBD and entered into force on 11 September 2003. See https://bch.cbd.int/protocol/background/.
Child mortality
The mortality rate of children under the age of five (partially reflecting the fatal synergy of inadequate nutrition and unhealthy environments).
Child stunting
The proportion of children under the age of five who suffer from stunting, that is, low height for their age, reflecting chronic undernutrition.
Child wasting
The proportion of children under the age of five who suffer from wasting, that is, low weight for their height, reflecting acute undernutrition.
Chlorofluorocarbons
Chlorofluorocarbons are generally considered to be non-toxic, non-flammable chemicals containing atoms of carbon, chlorine, and fluorine. They are used in the manufacture of aerosol sprays, blowing agents for foams and packing materials, as solvents, and as refrigerants (Alexander and Fairbridge, 1999).
Chronic hunger
A weakened disordered condition brought about by prolonged lack of food (Anderson, 1990).
Climatological events
Extreme temperatures, droughts, forest fires.
Composite index
A composite indicator is formed when individual indicators are compiled into a single index, on the basis of an underlying model of the multi-dimensional concept that is being measured. See https://stats.oecd.org/glossary/detail.asp?ID=6278.
Consistent poverty
Consistent poverty is experienced when people are considered to be at risk of poverty and experience enforced material deprivation. Households are thought to be at risk of poverty when their income (usually calculated on an equalized household basis) is below a given relative monetary poverty threshold; that is, less than a certain percentage of national median income. So if the threshold is 60 per cent, then households with a combined equalized income of less than 60 per cent of the median are considered at risk of poverty at a 60 per cent level. The measure of income may or may not include social transfers. Sometimes the proportion of a population at risk of poverty is defined as the share of population combining the above indicator with either severe material deprivation and/or the fact of living in a household with low work intensity. Material deprivation is experienced when individuals or households cannot afford consumption goods and services that are considered typical for other people in that country or society. This is typically measured by identifying basic goods and services that are considered normal or reasonable – then typically if a household cannot afford two or more commodities/services in the reference period they are considered to be experiencing material deprivation. Sometimes this may also be referred to as enforced or severe material deprivation. The identification or selection of typical goods and services often proves controversial.
Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
The Convention on Biological Diversity is a multilateral treaty intended to further the development of national strategies for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity. The Convention represents a dramatic step forward in the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components, and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of genetic resources. The Convention was adopted at a conference in Nairobi in May 1992 and entered into force on 29 December 1993 with 168 country signatories. See https://www.cbd.int/convention/.
Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS)
Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), also known as the Bonn Convention, aims to conserve terrestrial, aquatic and avian migratory species throughout their range. CMS brings together the States through which migratory animals pass, the range States, and lays the legal foundation for internationally coordinated conservation measures throughout a migratory range. See http://www.cms.int/.
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)
CITES is an international agreement between governments. Its aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival. The Convention was agreed at a meeting of representatives of 80 countries in Washington, D.C., on 3 March 1973, and on 1 July 1975 CITES entered into force. See https://www.cites.org/eng/disc/what.php.
Convention on Wetlands
The Convention on Wetlands, also known as the Ramsar Convention, is an intergovernmental treaty providing a framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources. The treaty was negotiated through the 1960s and adopted in the Iranian city of Ramsar in 1971. The Ramsar Convention came into force in 1975. See http://www.ramsar.org/.
Copyright
Copyright is a legal term used to describe the rights that creators have over their literary and artistic works. Works covered by copyright range from books, music, paintings, sculpture and films, to computer programs, databases, advertisements, maps and technical drawings.
Cost-benefit analysis
Cost-benefit analysis is a systematic approach to estimating the strengths and weaknesses of alternatives that satisfy transactions, activities or functional requirements for a business.
Cost-of-basic-needs
The cost-of-basic-needs method is usually defined using a "basic-needs" approach; that is, the cost of a bundle of basic needs. Models that ignore consumer preferences have proven less useful for policy. Most models today attempt to anchor the choice of basic needs to existing demand behaviour.
Day-to-day hunger
The desire, craving or need for food (Anderson, 1990).
Demand elasticity
This shows how sensitive the demand for a good is to changes in other economic variables. Demand elasticity is important because it helps firms model the potential change in demand due to changes in price of the good, the effect of changes in prices of other goods and many other important market factors. Understanding demand elasticity helps to guide firms towards more optimal competitive behaviour. Elasticities greater than 1 are called elastic; elasticities less than 1 are inelastic and elasticities equal to 1 are unit elastic.
Dependency ratio
Dependency ratio (sometimes known as total dependency ratio or age dependency ratio) is defined as the ratio of the number of children (0–14 years old) and older persons (65 years or over) to the working-age population (15–64 years old). In other words, it is the ratio of dependents to the working or productive cohort of the population. This is relevant for policy, as it highlights the likely impact of changing population age structures for social support and transfers. See https://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/natlinfo/indicators/methodology_sheets/demographics/dependency_ratio.pdf.
Developing country coherence
Consistency between developing countries’ policies and the wider international climate.
Discount rate
A discount rate is used to inform on how it is worth investing today in environmental conservation considering future benefits. The discount rate reflects the responsibility of the present generation to the future one. High discount rates typically lead to long-term degradation of biodiversity and ecosystems.
Discriminatory family code
Discrimination institutionalized in family code is measured using four indicators: (a) legal age of marriage; (b) early marriage; (c) parental authority; (d) inheritance.
Distribution of agricultural holders by sex
The distribution of agricultural holders by sex measures the percentage of female agricultural holders out of total agricultural holders and the percentage of male agricultural holders out of total agricultural holders. It is an indicator of management of agricultural holdings. FAO and Food Policy Research Institute (2005) define an agricultural holder as the civil or juridical person who makes the major decisions regarding resource use and exercises management control over the agricultural holding operation. The agricultural holder has technical and economic responsibility for the holding and may undertake all responsibilities directly, or delegate responsibilities related to day-to-day work management to a hired manager.
Dry cargo
Cargo which is of solid, dry material. It is not liquid or gas, and generally the term excludes cargo requiring special temperature controls.
Economic assets
Buildings, transport infrastructure, utility infrastructure, physical assets within built infrastructure, vehicles and other assets.
Economic infrastructure
Economic infrastructure or basic economic infrastructure is physical forms of capital investments in land used for production and habitation. These include large-scale systems of water management, including desalination, water purification generally, dams, canals, irrigation, and so on. The most prominently featured categories of physical infrastructure improvements are water management, transportation, energy and power production and distribution, sanitation, and communications systems. Improvements in economic infrastructure are traditionally the economic responsibility of government.
Ecotourism
Environmentally responsible travel and visitation to natural areas in order to enjoy and appreciate nature (and any accompanying cultural features, both past and present) that promote conservation, have a low visitor impact and provide for beneficially active socioeconomic involvement of local people (Ceballos-Lascuráin, 1996).
Education and training
Education and training is measured using four indicators: (a) women’s school life expectancy (primary and secondary); (b) women’s school life expectancy (tertiary); (c) women’s adult literacy rate; (d) the existence of government or non-government programmes offering small and medium-sized enterprise support and development training.
Embodied and disembodied technical change
Embodied technical change refers to improvements in the design or quality of new capital goods or intermediate inputs. Disembodied technical change is the shift in the production function (production frontier) over time. Disembodied technical change is not incorporated in a specific factor of production (OECD, 2001).
Employment
A work performed for pay or profit. Manufacturing employment is obtained by summing up the number of employed in all manufacturing activities. The manufacturing employment indicator is presented in absolute terms as well as relative to total employment.
Environmental goods and services
Eurostat define environmental products as goods and services that are produced for the purpose of preventing, reducing and eliminating pollution and any other degradation of the environment and preserving and maintaining the stock of natural resources and hence safeguarding against depletion.
See http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Environmental_goods_and_services_sector
Ex outs
Exclusion of certain products out of the products covered under the HS six-digit level of classification according to their national tariff lines.
Extinction
Extinction is an absolute term, meaning that no individual of a species remains alive.
Fixed broadband
Connections with a download speed equal to or greater than 256 Kbit/s, in one or both directions, using technologies such as Digital Subscriber Line, cable modem, high-speed leased lines, fibre-to-the-home, powerline, satellite, fixed wireless, Wireless Local Area Network and WiMAX (UNCTAD, 2009).
Fixed Internet broadband subscriptions
Subscriptions to high-speed access to the public Internet (a transmission control protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP) connection), at downstream speeds equal to or greater than 256 kbit/s. This includes cable modem, DSL, fibre-to-the-home/building, other fixed (wired) broadband subscriptions, satellite broadband and terrestrial fixed wireless broadband. This total is measured irrespective of the method of payment. It excludes subscriptions that have access to data communications, including the Internet, via mobile cellular networks. It should include fixed WiMAX and any other fixed wireless technologies. It includes both residential subscriptions and subscriptions for organizations.
Food loss
Decrease in edible food mass available for human consumption throughout the different segments of the supply chain. In addition to quantitative loss, food products can also face a deterioration of quality, leading to a loss of economic and nutritional value (Segre et al., 2014).
Food-energy-intake
The food-energy-intake method uses the consumption expenditure or income level to meet some predetermined food-energy requirement. Determining what an appropriate food-energy requirement should be is complex, as requirements will vary across individuals, geographic location and life cycle. Assumptions must also be made about activity levels that determine energy requirements beyond those needed to maintain the human body’s metabolic rate at rest.
Food security
Food security exists when all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life (The World Food Summit, 1996).
Food waste
Food losses resulting from decisions to discard food that still has value. Food waste is most often associated with the behaviour of the retailers of the food service sector and of the consumers, but food waste and loss take place all along food supply chains (Segre et al., 2014).
Fragile states
Fragile States are low-income countries that face particularly severe development challenges, such as weak governance, limited administrative capacity, violence, or the legacy of conflict. In defining policies and approaches towards fragile States, different organizations have used differing criteria and terms. Countries that score less than 3.2 on the World Bank’s Country Policy and Institutional Performance Assessment belong to this group. Some 14 countries of Africa are in this category. Examples include Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Sudan (Foster and Briceño-Garmendia, 2010).
Free trade agreements
These are treaties (such as the Free Trade Area of the Americas or the North American Free Trade Agreement) between two or more countries that establish free trade agreements under which commerce in goods and services can be conducted across the countries’ common borders, without tariffs or hindrances but (in contrast to a common market) capital or labour may not move freely. Member countries usually impose a uniform tariff (called a common external tariff) on trade with non-member countries.
Gender equality
UN Women (the United Nations entity for gender equality and the empowerment of women) defines equality between women and men (gender equality) as: the equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities of women and men and girls and boys. Equality does not mean that women and men will become the same but that women’s and men’s rights, responsibilities and opportunities will not depend on whether they are born male or female. Gender equality implies that the interests, needs and priorities of both women and men are taken into consideration, recognizing the diversity of different groups of women and men. Gender equality is not a women’s issue but should concern and fully engage men as well as women. Equality between women and men is seen both as a human rights issue and as a precondition for, and indicator of, sustainable people-centered development. See https://www.un.org/womenwatch/osagi/conceptsandefinitions.htm. The International Labour Organization defines gender equality to mean that women and men have equal conditions for realizing their full human rights and for contributing to, and benefiting from, economic, social, cultural and political development. Gender equality is therefore the equal valuing by society of the similarities and the differences of men and women, and the roles they play. It is based on women and men being full partners in their home, their community and their society. Gender equality starts with equal valuing. See http://www.fao-ilo.org/fileadmin/user_upload/fao_ilo/pdf/FAQs/Definitions__2_.pdf.
Gender Gap Index
The GGI was developed in 2006 by World Economic Forum to address the need for a consistent and comprehensive measure for gender equality that can track a country’s progress over time.
Gender inequality in economic participation
Gender inequality in economic participation and opportunity is measured using three concepts: (a) the participation gap – the difference between women and men in labour force participation rates; (b) the remuneration gap – measured using a combination of two indicators – ratio of estimated female-to-male earned income and wage equality for similar work; (c) the advancement gap – measured using a combination of two indicators – the ratio of women to men among legislators, senior officials and managers, and the ratio of women to men among technical and professional workers.
Gender inequality in educational attainment
Gender inequality in educational attainment is measured by the gap between women’s and men’s access to education; that is, the ratios of women to men in primary, secondary and tertiary education. A longer-term view of the country’s ability to educate women and men in equal numbers is captured by the ratio of male and female literacy rates.
Gender inequality in health
Gender inequality in health and survival is measured by using two indicators: (a) sex ratio at birth, which aims specifically to capture the phenomenon of missing women prevalent in many countries with a strong preference for sons; (b) the gap between women’s and men’s healthy life expectancy. This measure provides an estimate of the number of years that women and men can expect to live in good health by taking into account the years lost to violence, disease, malnutrition or other relevant factors.
Gender inequality in political empowerment
Gender inequality in political empowerment is measured using the ratio of women to men in minister-level positions and the ratio of women to men in parliamentary positions. In addition, the ratio of women to men in terms of years in executive office (prime minister or president) for the last 50 years is also incorporated. Unfortunately, there are insufficient data to measure male and female participation in local government.
General business environment
General business environment is measured using four indicators: (a) regulatory quality; (b) procedures, duration, cost and paid-in minimum capital for starting a business (a composite measure for starting a business); (c) infrastructure risk; (d) mobile cellular phone subscribers per 100 inhabitants.
Geographical indications
Geographical indications and appellations of origin are signs used on goods that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities, a reputation or characteristics that are essentially attributable to that place of origin. Most commonly, a geographical indication includes the name of the place of origin of the goods.
Geophysical events
Earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic activity.
Gini Index
Named after Italian statistician Corrado Gini, the Gini index (or coefficient) is a measure of statistical dispersion used to measure inequality among values of a frequency distribution. It can be used to measure the inequality of any distribution, but is most commonly used to measure income or wealth inequality. A Gini index of 1 indicates perfect inequality, and 0 (zero) indicates perfect equality. OECD defines the Gini index as a measure of the extent to which the distribution of income among individuals or households within an economy deviates from a perfectly equal distribution. It measures the area between the Lorenz curve and the hypothetical line of absolute equality, expressed as a percentage of the maximum area under the line. There can be issues interpreting a Gini index as the same value may result from several different distribution curves. See https://stats.oecd.org/glossary/detail.asp?ID=4842.
Global Peace Index
The Global Peace Index covers 163 countries and is a composite index of 23 quantitative and qualitative indicators which can be classified into two broad categories: (1) internal peace; (2) external peace. Internal peace consists of 14 indicators: perceptions of criminality; security officers and police rate; homicide rate; incarceration rate; access to small arms; intensity of internal conflict; violent demonstrations; violent crime; political instability; political terror; weapons imports; terrorism impact; deaths from internal conflict; and internal conflicts fought. External peace consists of nine indicators: military expenditure (percentage of gross domestic product); armed services personnel rate; United Nations peacekeeping funding; nuclear and heavy weapons capability; weapons exports; refugees and displaced persons; neighbouring countries relations; number, duration and role in external conflicts; and deaths from external conflict.
Global value chains
The full range of activities undertaken to bring a product or service from its conception to its end use and how these activities are distributed over geographic space and across international borders. Banga (2013) explains a global value chain as the sequence of all functional activities required in the process of value creation involving more than one country.
Green employment
There is no clear, internationally agreed definition of a green job. Martinez-Fernandez et al. (2010) note that in current policy literature there is a tendency to use the concept of green jobs as a one-size-fits-all encompassing notion that covers any job that contributes to improving environmental quality. However, if looked at more closely, it becomes evident that the term is loosely defined which can eventually lead to misconceptions and overly optimistic calculations of the economic and employment growth opportunities created by climate change regulation. For the moment green job is a fuzzy term. The Bureau of Labour Statistics in the United States of America defines green jobs as either: (a) Jobs in businesses that produce goods or provide services that benefit the environment or conserve natural resources; or (b) Jobs in which workers’ duties involve making their establishment’s production processes more environmentally friendly or use fewer natural resources See http://www.bls.gov/green/
Green goods and services
National definitions vary. At the international level only the OECD group of developed countries have adopted the following definition: The environmental goods and services industry consists of activities which produce goods and services to measure, prevent, limit, minimize or correct environmental damage to water, air and soil, as well as problems related to waste, noise and eco-systems. This includes cleaner technologies, products and services that reduce environmental risk and minimize pollution and resource use (OECD, 1999).
Green product space
Product space is a term used to describe the network of relatedness between products and identify products for which a country is competitive in production and export. The concept was initially proposed by Hidalgo et al. (2007) and later adapted by Hamwey et al. (2013) to focus on green goods.
Gross national income
Gross National Income is Gross Domestic Product (GDP) less net taxes on production and imports, less compensation of employees and property income payable to the rest of the world, plus the corresponding items receivable from the rest of the world (in other words, GDP less primary incomes payable to non-resident units, plus primary incomes receivable from non-resident units). An alternative approach to measuring GNI at market prices is as the aggregate value of the balances of gross primary incomes for all sectors. Note that GNI is identical to GNP as previously used in national accounts.
Gross national product
Gross National Product (GNP) is identical to Gross National Income (GNI). It is defined by the United Nations System of National Accounts 1993 as: GDP less net taxes on production and imports, less compensation of employees and property income payable to the rest of the world, plus the corresponding items receivable from the rest of the world (in other words, GDP less primary incomes payable to non-resident units, plus primary incomes receivable from non-resident units). An alternative approach to measuring GNI at market prices is as the aggregate value of the balances of gross primary incomes for all sectors.
Headcount ratio
The national poverty headcount ratio is defined as the proportion of people living below national poverty lines.
Health and medical tourism
Health and medical tourism is undertaken when people cross international borders for the exclusive purpose of obtaining medical or health services. This includes, for example, purchasing services from hospitals, clinics, convalescent homes and, more generally, health and social institutions. It includes visiting thalassotherapy and health and spa resorts, and other specialized places to receive medical treatments when they are based on medical advice, including cosmetic surgeries using medical facilities and services. This category includes only short-term treatments (United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2010).
Hepatitis C
Hepatitis C is a liver disease caused by HCV: the virus can cause both acute and chronic hepatitis infection, ranging in severity from a mild illness lasting a few weeks to a serious, lifelong condition. See http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs164/en/.
Human Development Index
The United Nations Development Programme Human Development Index is a composite index measuring average achievement in three basic dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life; knowledge; and a decent standard of living. See http://hdr.undp.org/en/composite/HDI.
Hydrological events
Floods and mass movements of water.
Improved drinking water sources
One that, by the nature of its construction and when properly used, adequately protects the source from outside contamination, particularly faecal matter. Unimproved drinking water sources: Unprotected spring, unprotected dug well, cart with small tank/drum, tanker-truck, surface water and bottled water.
Improved sanitation facilities
Access to sanitation facilities refers to the percentage of the population with at least adequate access to excreta-disposal facilities that can effectively prevent human, animal and insect contact with excreta. Improved facilities range from simple but protected pit latrines to flush toilets with a sewerage connection. To be effective, facilities must be correctly constructed and properly maintained.
Inclusive Wealth Index
The United Nations University International Human Dimensions Programme and United Nations Environment Programme Inclusive Wealth Index is a composite index covering 140 countries providing a metric on global wealth, sustainability and well-being. It combines natural, produced and human capital to offer a comprehensive set of capital accounts. Natural capital consists of fossil fuels, minerals, forest resources and agricultural land. Human capital consists of health and education. Produced capital consists of equipment, machinery, roads and other elements. Specific adjustments are also made to take account of carbon damage, oil capital gains and total factor productivity. The United Nations University International Human Dimensions Programme and United Nations Environment Programme Inclusive Wealth Report 2014 notes that human capital accounts for 54 per cent of total wealth, natural capital 28 per cent and produced capital 18 per cent. See http://inclusivewealthindex.org/.
Industrial design
An industrial design constitutes the ornamental or aesthetic aspect of an article. A design may consist of three-dimensional features, such as the shape or surface of an article, or of two-dimensional features, such as patterns, lines or colours.
Informal employment
Informal employment includes all remunerative work (that is, both self-employment and wage employment) that is not registered, regulated or protected by existing legal or regulatory frameworks, as well as non-remunerative work undertaken in an income-producing enterprise. Informal workers do not have secure employment contracts, workers’ benefits, social protection or workers’ representation (ILO, 2016b).
Infrastructure
The system of public works in a country, State or region, including roads, utility lines and public buildings (OECD, 2000).
Internal coherence
Coherence and consistency between the goals and objectives, modalities and protocols of the development policy itself.
International Seed Treaty
The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, also known as the International Seed Treaty, is a comprehensive international agreement consistent with the Convention on Biological Diversity that aims at safeguarding food security through the conservation, exchange and sustainable use of the world’s plant genetic resources for food and agriculture. The treaty was approved during the thirty-first session of the FAO Conference in November 2001 and entered into force on 29 June 2004. See http://www.planttreaty.org/.
Intragovernmental coherence
Consistency of policies and actions across countries in terms of their contributions to development, to prevent one from unnecessarily interfering with, or failing to reinforce, the others.
Investment facilitation
Investment facilitation is a set of mechanisms to expedite or accelerate investment. Common mechanisms are the reduction of "red tape" or the establishment of “one-stop shops” designed to help investors through all necessary administrative, regulatory and legal steps to start or expand a business and accelerate granting of permits and licences. This allows investors to save both time and money.
Investment incentives
There is no uniform definition. Investment incentives are typically the form of financial incentives, such as outright grants and loans at concessionary rates, fiscal incentives such as tax holidays and reduced tax rates or other incentives, including subsidized infrastructure or services, market preferences and regulatory concessions, including exemptions from labour or environmental standards (UNCTAD, 2004).
IPPC
International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) is an international agreement on plant health aimed at protecting cultivated and wild plants by preventing the introduction and spread of pests. The Convention was signed in 1951 by FAO and came into force in April 1952. It was recognized by the 1989 Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade as a standard-setting organization for the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (the SPS Agreement). See https://www.ippc.int/en/.
Kaya identity
The Kaya identity was developed by Yoichi Kaya of Tokyo University. It is defined by U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) as an equation stating that total energy-related carbon dioxide emissions can be expressed as the product of four inputs: (1) population; (2) GDP (output) per capita; (3) energy use per unit of GDP; and (4) carbon emissions per unit of energy consumed. The change in the four inputs can approximate the change in energy-related CO₂ emissions. In other words, the Kaya Identity attempts to determine the impact of anthropogenic activity on climate, expressed as emissions of the GHG CO₂.
The Kaya identity is expressed in the form:
F = P*(G/P)*(E/G)*(F/E)
Where:
  • F is global CO₂ emissions from human sources
  • P is global population
  • G is world GDP
  • E is global energy consumption.
Kyoto Protocol
The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement linked to the UNFCCC that commits its Parties by setting internationally binding emission-reduction targets. Recognizing that developed countries are principally responsible for the current high levels of greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere as a result of more than 150 years of industrial activity, the Protocol places a heavier burden on developed nations under the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities. The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan, on 11 December 1997 and entered into force on 16 February 2005. The detailed rules for the implementation of the Protocol were adopted at the seventh session of the Conference of the Parties in Marrakesh, Morocco, in 2001, and are referred to as the Marrakesh Accords.
Labour policy
Labour policy is measured using five indicators: (a) equal pay for equal work; (b) non-discrimination; (c) maternity and paternity leave and provision (benefits); (d) legal restrictions on job types for women; (e) difference between the statutory (pensionable) retirement age between men and women.
Labour practice
Labour practice is measured using four indicators: (a) equal pay for equal work; (b) non-discrimination; (c) degree of de facto discrimination against women in the workplace; (d) availability, affordability and quality of childcare services, as well as the role of the extended family in providing childcare.
Landlocked developing countries
Landlocked countries have no territorial access to the seas, limited border crossings and transit dependence. To consult the list of LLDCs, see http://unohrlls.org/about-lldcs/country-profiles/.
Least developed countries
The category of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) was officially established in 1971 by the UN General Assembly with a view to attracting special international support for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged members of the UN family. Their low level of socio-economic development is characterized by weak human and institutional capacities, low and unequally distributed income and scarcity of domestic financial resources. They often suffer from governance crisis, political instability and, in some cases, internal and external conflicts. Their largely agrarian economies are affected by a vicious cycle of low productivity and low investment. They rely on the export of few primary commodities as major source of export and fiscal earnings, which makes them highly vulnerable to external terms-of-trade shocks. (http://unohrlls.org/about-ldcs/).
Lorenz curve
Developed by American economist Max Lorenz, the Lorenz curve is a graphical representation of the distribution of income or wealth. It shows the proportion of overall income or wealth held by the bottom x per cent of households. Many economists consider it to be a good measure of social inequality.
Manufacturing value added
Manufacturing value added (MVA) is the total value of goods and services net of intermediate consumption. It is generally compiled as the sum of the value added of all manufacturing activity units in operation in the reference period. It can be presented as a percentage of GDP as well as per capita for any reference year. MVA growth rates are given in constant prices (UNIDO).
Median income
Median: The value of the variate which divides the total frequency into two halves.
Median income rather than mean income is a better measure of relative income inequality. While average household income is influenced by the highest values of extremely rich households, median household income is less affected by the presence of extreme outliers (typically, the presence of very rich households).
Meteorological events
Tropical, extratropical, convective and local storms.
Mobile broadband
Connections with a download speed equal to or greater than 256 Kbit/s, in one or both directions, using technologies such as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System, high-speed Downlink Packet Access and Uplink Packet Access (UNCTAD, 2009).
Most favoured nation
Countries cannot normally discriminate between their trading partners. Granting one country a special favour (such as a lower customs duty rate for one of its products) will oblige the granting country to do the same for all other World Trade Organization members (World Trade Organization, 1994).
Multilateral coherence
Consistency across policies and actions of bilateral donors and multilateral organizations to ensure that policies adopted in multilateral forums contribute to development objectives.
Narrowband
Connections with a download speed of less than 256 Kbit/s, in one or both directions (UNCTAD, 2009b).
National data infrastructure
Logical organization of public or administrative data to maximize its potential value.
Non-tariff barriers
A non-tariff barrier is a form of restrictive trade where barriers to trade are set up and take a form other than a tariff. Non-tariff barriers include quotas, levies, embargoes, sanctions and other restrictions.
Non-tariff measures
Non-tariffs measures may include any policy measures other than tariffs that can impact trade flows. At a broad level, such measures can usefully be divided into three categories: (1) those imposed on imports import quotas, import prohibitions, import licensing and customs procedures and administration fees; (2) those imposed on exports (export taxes, export subsidies, export quotas, export prohibitions, and voluntary export restraints); (3) those imposed internally in the domestic economy (domestic legislation covering health/technical/product/labour/environmental standards, internal taxes or charges and domestic subsidies) (Staiger, 2012).
Official development assistance
The flows to countries and territories on the DAC list of ODA recipients and to multilateral institutions which are: (a) provided by official agencies, including State and local governments, or by their executive agencies; and (b) each transaction of which: (i) is administered with the promotion of the economic development and welfare of developing countries as its main objective; and (ii) is concessional in character and conveys a grant element of at least 25 per cent (calculated at a rate of discount of 10 per cent).
Other investment promotion and facilitation policies
Other investment promotion and facilitation policies include, for instance, public-private partnerships (PPPs) for specific investment projects.
Palma index
The Palma index is the ratio of household incomes of the two tails of an income distribution and it compares the income inequality between the two groups. This index is defined as the ratio of average income per capita of the richest 10 per cent of households to that of the poorest 40 per cent: Palma index (per capita) = [(Income share held by the highest 10 per cent)/10] / [(Income share held by lowest 40 per cent)/40]. It therefore differs from the poverty headcount ratio, which indicates the proportion of poorest in the population. The Palma index also has its critics, who argue that an increase in the bottom share and an even greater increase at the top would raise the index, despite the poor being better off (Murawski, 2013).
Pan-region
A pan-region is a geographic region or State’s sphere of economic, political and cultural influence extending beyond that State’s borders.
Patent
An exclusive right granted for an invention. Generally speaking, a patent provides the patent owner with the right to decide how - or whether - the invention can be used by others. In exchange for this right, the patent owner makes technical information about the invention publicly available in the published patent document.
Pearson correlation
The Pearson correlation (or Pearson product moment correlation) is the most common measure of correlation used in statistics. It shows the linear relationship between two sets of data.
Physiological hunger
An un-easy sensation caused by a lack of food (Anderson, 1990).
Price elasticity
Price elasticity of demand is a measure of the relationship between a change in the quantity demanded of a particular good and a change in its price.
Primary education
Primary education provides learning and educational activities typically designed to provide students with fundamental skills in reading, writing and mathematics (that is, literacy and numeracy), and to establish a sound foundation for learning and solid understanding of core areas of knowledge and personal development, preparing for lower secondary education. It aims at learning at a basic level of complexity with little if any specialization. See UNESCO.
Principal Component Analysis
Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is a mathematical procedure (dimension-reduction tool) that can be used to reduce a large set of correlated variables to a small set of uncorrelated variables that still contains most of the information in the large set.
Protection of the Ozone Layer
The Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer is a framework convention designed to coordinate efforts to protect the planet’s ozone layer. The Vienna Convention was adopted in 1985 and entered into force on 22 September 1988. In 2009, the Vienna Convention became the first convention of any kind to achieve universal ratification. The objectives of the Convention were for Parties to promote cooperation by means of systematic observations, research and information exchange on the effects of human activities on the ozone layer and to adopt legislative or administrative measures against activities likely to have adverse effects on the ozone layer. See http://ozone.unep.org/en/treaties-and-decisions/vienna-convention-protection-ozone-layer.
Refugees and forcibly displaced persons
Refugees and forcibly displaced persons comprise: refugees (a refugee is someone who has fled his or her home and country owing to a well-founded fear of persecution because of his/her race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion, according to the United Nations 1951 Refugee Convention); asylum seekers (asylum seekers say they are refugees and have fled their homes as refugees do, but their claim to refugee status is not yet definitively evaluated in the country to which they have fled); internally displaced persons (people who have not crossed an international border but have moved to a region different to the one they call home within their own country); stateless persons (stateless persons do not have a recognized nationality and do not belong to any country); and returnees (returnees are former refugees who return to their own countries or regions of origin after time in exile). See https://www.un.org/en/events/refugeeday/background.shtml.
Regional management organizations (RFMOs)
Regional fisheries management organizations or arrangements (RFMOs or RFMAs) exist in the majority of high seas areas that have major deep-sea fisheries. They are usually tasked with collecting fisheries statistics, assessing resources, making management decisions and monitoring activities. RFMOs and RFMAs play a pivotal role in facilitating intergovernmental cooperation in fisheries management. See http://www.fao.org/fishery/topic/166304/en
Relative poverty
Relative poverty is defined in relation to the income distribution of a country; that is, when a person’s income is less than some fraction of average income (income threshold) deemed necessary to maintain a general standard of living (that is, a person has insufficient income to properly participate in normal day-to-day economic, social and cultural activities) in a particular country or region. For example, the income threshold or relative poverty line could be set at 50 or 60 per cent of average income. Relative poverty is a particularly useful measure for measuring poverty at country or regional level as it implicitly incorporates the problem of inequality. But it is a complex measure that requires a lot of detailed data.
Relative preferential margins (RPM)
An RPM is the difference between the preferential rate for LDCs and the applied tariff rates applicable to LDC competitor countries in the same market taking into account the preferential tariff rates that are applicable to them.
Research and development intensity
Research and development expenditure as a proportion of GDP.
Resource-constrained hunger
Recurrent and involuntary lack of access to food (Anderson, 1990).
Restricted civil liberties
Discrimination institutionalized as restricted civil liberties is measured using two indicators: (a) access to public space; (b) political voice.
Restricted physical integrity
Discrimination institutionalized in restricted physical integrity is measured using three indicators: (a) violence against women; (b) female genital mutilation; (c) reproductive autonomy.
Restricted resources and assets
Discrimination institutionalized as restricted resources and assets is measured using three indicators: (a) secure access to land; (b) secure access to non-land assets; (c) access to financial services.
Revealed Comparative Advantage
Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) is used to help assess a country's export potential. The RCA indicates whether a country is in the process of extending the products in which it has a trade potential, as opposed to situations in which the number of products that can be competitively exported is static. It can also provide useful information about potential trade prospects with new partners. Countries with similar RCA profiles are unlikely to have high bilateral trade intensities unless intra-industry trade is involved. RCA measures, if estimated at high levels of product disaggregation, can focus attention on other nontraditional products that might be successfully exported. See Biotrade.org.
Secondary education
Secondary education provides learning and educational activities building on primary education and preparing students for both first labour-market entry as well as post-secondary non-tertiary and tertiary education. Broadly speaking, secondary education aims at learning at an intermediate level of complexity. See UNESCO.
Services
Services are the result of a production activity that changes the conditions of the consuming units or facilitates the exchange of products or financial assets. Services are not generally separate items over which ownership rights can be established and cannot generally be separated from their production (IMF, 2009).
Slum
There is no universally agreed definition of slum. It can be defined as densely populated urban areas characterized by poor-quality housing, a lack of adequate living space and public services, and accommodating large numbers of informal residents with generally insecure tenure (Marx et al., 2013). UN-Habitat applies the notion of slum household to any household lacking access to improved water, improved sanitation, sufficient living area, durable housing, and secure tenure. Slum areas are generally thought of as geographic areas accommodating informal residents that combine several of these characteristics (UN-Habitat , 2006).
Small and medium-sized enterprises
Non-subsidiary independent firms that employ fewer than a given number of employees. This number varies across countries. The most frequent upper limit designating an SME is 250 employees, as in the European Union. However, some countries set the limit at 200 employees, while the United States considers SMEs to include firms with fewer than 500 employees (OECD).
Small arms and light weapons
There is no universally accepted definition of a small arm or light weapon. However, the 1997 United Nations Panel of Governmental Experts categorized revolvers and self-loading pistols, rifles and carbines, assault rifles, sub-machine guns and light machine guns as small arms. The panel categorized heavy machine guns, hand-held under-barrel and mounted grenade launchers, portable anti-aircraft guns, portable anti-tank guns, recoilless rifles, portable launchers of anti-tank missile and rocket systems; portable launchers of anti-aircraft missile systems; and mortars of calibres of less than 100 millimetres as light weapons. Other classifications, such as that of the Small Arms Survey, have added single-rail-launched rockets and 120 millimetre mortars to this list.
Small arms main exporters
For the purposes of the Small Arms Trade Transparency Barometer, compiled by the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies Small Arms Survey in Geneva, main exporters are defined as those States that are believed to have exported at least US$10 million worth of small arms and light weapons, including their parts, accessories, and ammunition, for at least one calendar year since 2001. The 2016 edition (Pavesi, 2016) is based on activities occurring in 2013 and reported between 1 January 2014 and 31 January 2015. See http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/weapons-and-markets/tools/the-transparency-barometer/interactive-map.html.
Small island developing States (SIDS)
SIDS were recognized as a distinct group of developing countries facing specific social, economic and environmental vulnerabilities at the Earth Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (3-14 June 1992). SIDS tend to confront similar constraints in their sustainable development efforts, such as a narrow resource base depriving them of the benefits of economies of scale; small domestic markets and heavy dependence on a few external and remote markets; high costs for energy, infrastructure, transportation, communication and servicing; long distances from export markets and import resources; low and irregular international traffic volumes; little resilience to natural disasters; growing populations; high volatility of economic growth; limited opportunities for the private sector and a proportionately large reliance of their economies on their public sector; and fragile natural environments (see http://unohrlls.org/about-sids/).
Social expenditure
The OECD define social expenditure as comprising cash benefits, direct in-kind provision of goods and services, and tax breaks with social purposes. Benefits may be targeted at low-income households, the elderly, disabled, sick, unemployed or young persons. To be considered social, programmes have to involve either redistribution of resources across households or compulsory participation. Social benefits are classified as public when general government (that is central, state, and local governments, including social security funds) controls the relevant financial flows. All social benefits not provided by general government are considered private. Net total social expenditure includes both public and private expenditure. It also accounts for the effect of the tax system by direct and indirect taxation and by tax breaks for social purposes.
Social infrastructure
As there is no universally agreed definition, it is sometimes referred to as social or intangible capital. It has been variously defined as the networks, together with shared norms, values, and understandings which facilitate cooperation (OECD) or the degree of trust in a society and the ability of people to work together for common purposes (World Bank) and by Putnam as the features of social organization, such as trust, norms and networks that can improve the efficiency of a society by facilitating coordinated actions (Putman, 1993). Social infrastructure typically includes education, health, population and reproductive health, water supply and sanitary sectors.
Soft infrastructure
The ideas and conceptual frameworks that give shape and direction to what is eventually physically manifest (Governing Institute and the Center for Digital Government, 2013).
Son bias
Discrimination institutionalized as son bias is measured using two indicators: (a) missing women; (b) fertility preferences.
South-South cooperation
The term signifies a broad framework for collaboration among countries of the South in the political, economic, social, cultural, environmental and technical domains. Involving two or more developing countries, it can take place on a bilateral, regional, subregional or interregional basis. Developing countries share knowledge, skills, expertise and resources to meet their development goals through concerted efforts. Recent developments in South-South cooperation have taken the form of increased volume of South-South trade, South-South flows of foreign direct investment, movements towards regional integration, technology transfers, sharing of solutions and experts, and other forms of exchanges.
Special economic zone
A special economic zone is a geographically demarcated region where investors receive specific privileges, such as duty-free enclaves, tax privileges, or access to high quality infrastructure.
State of Food Insecurity Index
Food insecurity is a situation that exists when people lack secure access to sufficient amounts of safe and nutritious food for normal growth and development and an active and healthy life. It may be caused by the unavailability of food, insufficient purchasing power, inappropriate distribution or inadequate use of food at the household level. Food insecurity, poor conditions of health and sanitation and inappropriate care and feeding practices are the major causes of poor nutritional status. Food insecurity may be chronic, seasonal or transitory (FAO et al., 2015).
Strategic Plan on Biodiversity
The Strategic Plan on Biodiversity 2011-2020 was adopted in October 2010 in Nagoya, Japan. This plan provides an overarching framework on biodiversity, not only for the biodiversity-related conventions, but for the entire United Nations system and all other partners engaged in biodiversity management and policy development. The plan includes the Aichi Biodiversity Targets. See https://www.cbd.int/sp/.
Sustainability report
A report published by a company or organization about the economic, environmental and social impacts caused by its everyday activities. Such a report will also typically present an organization’s values and governance model, and demonstrate the link between its strategy and its commitment to a sustainable global economy. Sustainability reporting can be considered as synonymous with other terms for non-financial reporting, triple-bottom-line reporting, corporate-social-responsibility reporting, inter alia. It is also an intrinsic element of integrated reporting - a more recent development that combines the analysis of financial and non-financial performance. An example of sustainability reporting guidelines were published by the Global Reporting Initiative (Global Reporting Initiative, 2015).
Sustainable consumption
The use of goods and services that respond to basic needs and bring a better quality of life, while minimizing the use of natural resources, toxic materials and emissions of waste and pollutants over the life cycle, so as not to jeopardize the needs of future generations (Oslo Symposium, 1994).
Target 1.4 (SDG)
By 2030, ensure that all men and women, in particular the poor and the vulnerable, have equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to basic services, ownership and control over land and other forms of property, inheritance, natural resources, appropriate new technology and financial services, including microfinance.
Tariff rates
A tariff rate is generally defined ad valorem, that is, as a percentage of the unit c.i.f. (cost, insurance and freight) price of an imported good at the border. In other cases, a tariff rate may be determined by the volume of an imported good (that is, a specific rate) or by a combination of the two.
Terawatt hour
Unit of energy measurement: 1 TWh = 1,000 GWh = 1,000,000 MWh = 1,000,000,000 kWh.
Tertiary education
Tertiary education builds on secondary education, providing learning activities in specialized areas. It aims at learning at a high level of complexity and specialization. Tertiary education includes what is commonly understood as academic education, but also includes advanced vocational or professional education. See UNESCO.
Tier 1 indicator (SDG)
The indicator is conceptually clear, an established methodology and set of standards are available, and data are regularly produced by countries.
Tier 2 indicator (SDG)
The indicator is conceptually clear, an established methodology and set of standards are available, but data are not regularly produced by countries.
Tier 3 indicator (SDG)
An indicator for which there are no established methodology or standards and availability of data is unknown. Methodology and standards are being or must be developed and tested.
Tobin tax
An excise tax assessed on currency conversions. The tax is imposed to help stabilize currency and interest rates by penalizing currency speculation.
Tourism receipts
International tourism receipts are expenditures by international inbound visitors, including payments to national carriers for international transport.
Tourist arrivals
Tourism arrivals are the number of arrivals of international inbound tourists staying at least one night. International inbound tourists are tourists who travel to a country other than that in which they normally reside, but outside their usual environment, for a period not exceeding 12 months, and whose main purpose in visiting is other than an activity remunerated from within the country visited (World Bank, 2016).
Trade costs
Trade costs are defined as ...all costs incurred in getting a good to a final user other than the cost of producing the good itself: transportation costs (both freight costs and time costs), policy barriers (tariffs and non-tariff barriers), information costs, contract enforcement costs, costs associated with the use of different currencies, legal and regulatory costs and local distribution costs (wholesale and retail) (Anderson and Van Wincoop, cited in OECD and WTO, 2015, p. 40).
Trademark
A sign capable of distinguishing the goods or services of one enterprise from those of other enterprises. Trademarks date back to ancient times when craftsmen used to put their signature or “mark” on their products.
Tragedy of the commons
It was coined by biologist Garret Hardin in 1968 (Hardin, G. 1968). It describes a problem that occurs when individuals exploit a shared resource to the extent that demand overwhelms supply and the resource becomes unavailable to some or all. The tragedy of the commons has implications for the use of resources and sustainability. Depletion of non-renewable resources, such as water, is an example of the tragedy of the commons in action.
Turbo-urbanization
The term turbo-urbanization is taken from Robert Muggah’s paper on fragile cities (Muggah, 2016).
Undernourishment
The proportion of undernourished people as a percentage of the population (reflecting the share of the population with insufficient caloric intake).
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
The UNFCCC entered into force on 21 March 1994. Today, it has near-universal membership. The 197 countries that have ratified the Convention are called Parties to the Convention. The UNFCCC is an international convention introduced with the aim of preventing dangerous human impacts on the climate system. It is a “Rio Convention”, one of three adopted at the “Rio Earth Summit” in 1992. The other two Rio Conventions are the CBD and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. The three are intrinsically linked. It is in this context that the Joint Liaison Group was set up to boost cooperation between the three Conventions, with the ultimate aim of developing synergies in their activities on issues of mutual concern. It now also incorporates the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. See http://unfccc.int/essential_background/convention/items/6036.php.
Women’s legal and social status
Women’s legal and social status is measured using five indicators: (a) addressing violence against women (the existence of laws protecting women against violence); (b) freedom of movement (the opportunity to move freely outside the house) for women; (c) property ownership rights (this indicator considers if men and women have equal ownership rights over moveable and immoveable property both by law and in practice); (d) adolescent fertility rate (age-specific fertility rate per 1,000 women, 15–19 years of age); (e) country ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
World Heritage Convention
The Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, or more simply the World Heritage Convention, is an international treaty adopted by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in 1972. The main purpose of the Convention is to identify, recognize, inventory and protect culturally and historically unique and irreplaceable “World Heritage” sites considered to be of outstanding universal value. See http://whc.unesco.org/en/convention/.