Glossary / Terminology

Academic institution: An academic institution is an educational institution with degree-conferring authority that is dedicated to education and research. Agency: a UN organization (ie UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP) Application: generic term to refer to a Partner’s intent to engage with an Agency CFEI (Call for Expressions of Interest): A Call for Expression of Interest is posted by a UN agency to log its intent of entering into partnership with a CSO. The purpose of publishing the CFEI is to broadly publicize a partnership opportunity to identify potential partners through a competitive process. Concept Note (CN): A concept note is a document submitted by a CSO to express its interest in partnership with the UN. A concept note may either be submitted in response to CFEI, or on an unsolicited basis. Each UN agency has a standardized template that is to be used by CSOs to submit concept notes. Community Based Organization (CBO): A community-based organization is a grass-root association witj small organizational management structure, focused on improving the lives and well-being of a specific community, with local coverage or reach Country Profile: Refers to the profile created in UNPP for a national CSO. It can also refer to the national branch of an INGO. CSO (Civil Society Organization): Civil society organizations (CSOs) are autonomous associations that are independent of the public and for-profit sectors and designed to advance collective interests and ideas. For the purposes of UNPP, CSOs comprise international and national non-governmental organizations (NGOs), community-based organizations (CBOs), and academic/research institutions. Direct Selection & Retention (DSR): This feature allows the participating agencies to select a CSO for partnership without a competitive process. It includes Direct Selection, UN conversion of Unsolicited Concept Notes, and UNHCR’s retention process. Knowledge Library: UNPP’s resource portal for its users HQ Profile: Refers to the profile created in UNPP for the headquarters of an international NGO (INGO). International NGO: An International NGO is a non-governmental organization that has offices in more than one country. International NGOs are generally highly structured in terms of mandate, technical expertise and management systems, and are comprised of a headquarters office and varying networks of regional and/or country-based offices. National NGO: A national NGO is a non-governmental organization that is established in only one country. National NGOs may have varying mandates, structures and systems depending on the country context and specific organization history, but are structured according to areas of common interest and concern by citizens. Observation: An observation is added by a UN agency user to a CSO’s profile to record brief notes, whether positive or negative, on collaboration experience, CSO performance or other key issues. An observation may be marked with a risk flag, if relevant. Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement: The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is an international humanitarian network composed of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and 190 member Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Risk Flag: At the time an observation is being added to a CSO’s profile, a UN user may manually append a risk flag to the observation to indicate that it is related to fraud, corruption, ethical concern, or other reputational risk. A risk flag can be automatically appended to a CSO’s profile upon system detection of a match with the UN Sanctions List. Observations tagged with risk flags may be escalated to UN HQ for review and may subsequently lead to CSO account deactivation. UNPP: UN Partner Portal Unsolicited Concept Note: a Concept Note submitted by a Partner that is not linked to an Agency’s CFEI Verification: UN agencies conduct partner verification (due diligence) to review a CSO’s self-reported profile data, and perform an internet search/consultation of other sources. Verification is a prerequisite for UN partnership with a CSO, and no UN agency may select for partnership a CSO that does not have a "verified" profile status.