Glossary / Terminology

  • Activity (also referred to as "project activity" or "partner activity") - Something a partner or cluster might be working on. As an example "Reunification of unaccompanied children". Another example: "“Water trucking in camps A and B” / “Distribution of school kits in province XYZ” etc.

  • Annex B - Annex B is used for progress reporting in humanitarian situations. It is more simple to fill out than Annex C but generally requires more frequent submissions.

  • Annex C - The FACE form is used for progress reporting using the standard template in the programme document (Annex C Part 2), or as agreed in the SSFA.

  • Calculation Method - Refers to how reported data is aggregated across locations or reporting periods

  • CC - Cluster Coordinator

  • Cluster - Groups of humanitarian organizations, both UN and non-UN, in each of the main sectors of humanitarian action, e.g. water, health and logistics. They are designated by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) and have clear responsibilities for coordination. See more here.

  • Country Programme Document (CPD) – A description of the outcomes, outputs and strategies to be adopted in a proposed country programme of cooperation. The CPD is submitted to the UNICEF Executive Board first as a draft for comments and then for final approval, together with a summary results matrix. (It was previously referred to as a country note and country programme recommendation.)

  • CO - Country office

  • CSO - Civil Society Organization

  • CSP - Civil Society Partnership. When partnerships require a transfer of resources from UNICEF to the CSO, there are two established modalities: 1) a Small Scale Funding Agreement (SSFA), or a 2) Programme Cooperation Agreement (PCA).

  • Disaggregation - How reported data is split based on certain key indicating dimensions, eg. gender, age etc.

  • FA - Flash Appeal

  • FACE - Funding Authorization and Certification of Expenditures. FACE form in Annex J, along with the itemized cost estimate, is used to request cash transfers, report on expenditures and certify expenditures. FACE is used for all types of fund transfers; Cash Advance/Direct cash transfers, direct payments and reimbursements.

  • FRG - Field Results Group. Presentation.

  • FTS - Financial Tracking System, by OCHA.

  • HR (Humanitarian Report) - This is a report submitted by a partner to UNICEF for a particular reporting period and it contains progress on indicators that are either high frequency non-cluster or high frequency cluster indicators.

  • HRP - Humanitarian Response Plan

  • IMO - Information Management Officer

  • Indicator - A way to measure progress towards a certain goal. Indicators are usually specific to one or more locations, have targets/baseline/in-need associate with them and the core concept against which then progress is reported on. An example could be "No. children screened for acute malnutrition in a community". Another example could be (see Activity example above) "# of Unaccompanied children reunified with their biological families". An indicator will typically have a baseline, target and in-need number associated with it.

  • Indicator Report - Data submitted by a partner for a particular indicator for a specific time period and one or more locations.

  • IP (Implementing Partner) - a CSO that receives resources from UNICEF for the implementation of a programme document or small-scale funding agreement.

  • LLO - Lower Level Output

  • Location - A geographic area at a certain admin level

  • OCHA - Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Website.

  • Output - Think of this as a statement of what is expected to be achieved.

  • QPR (Quarterly Progress Report) - This is a report that the partner files with UNICEF, typically on a quarterly basis to report progress on indicators as part of a PD. This report contains progress on all indicators, irrespective of whether they PD indicators, high frequency non-cluster or high frequency cluster indicators.

  • Programme Document (PD) - At least one programme document is required to operationalize the PCA (Annex C of the CSO Procedure). One PCA can have many PD's. One SSFA has one PD only.

  • PO - Programme Officer

  • PMP - Partnership Management Portal (part of eTools)

  • Progress Report - A grouping report that is filed by the partner for a certain reporting period and contains one or more indicator reports, along with narrative data.

  • Project (partner project) - In the cluster context, the set of activities that an organization (the project owner) (intends to) implement, as a contribution to the crisis response. Example: “Oxfam water distribution project in camps A and B” / “Save the Children Education project in province XYZ” / “ACF Wash and Nut project”.

  • PRP - Partner Reporting Portal

  • PRP-Cluster - Partner Reporting Portal for members of humanitarian clusters

  • PRP-IP - Partner Reporting Portal for UNICEF Implementing Partners

  • PCA - Programme Cooperation Agreement. A PCA is an umbrella agreement with a CSO; once it is signed it remains valid through the end of the UNICEF country programme. One PCA can have many PD's.

  • RPM - Response Planning & Monitoring, by OCHA. Video.

  • Reporting Period - The time period (start date -> end date) for which a report is being filed.

  • Response Plan - Higher level abstraction than a cluster that captures details and strategies for a humanitarian response. Example HRP document.

  • RO - Regional office

  • SR (Special Report) - Report filed by partner, per UNICEF request, for the IP to provide specific information on an ad hoc basis.

  • SSFA - Small-Scale Funding Agreement. One SSFA has one PD only.

  • TOR - Terms of Reference

  • UNPP - UN Partner Portal

Some helpful information about the partnership cycle, terminology, reporting cycle, standard forms etc. can be found here:

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