Technical experts, government employees, academics and others are trained at an early age to shorten terms into acronyms. This makes their writing hard to read and difficult to locate on the Internet, writes Floyd Whaley, Editor of the Asian Development Blog, in his second guest post for the United Nations University. … Acronyms – or a series of letters that represent a longer phrase – are common in many professions and organisations but they are also a good way to FYRTCD your writing. Odd...
The excessive use of technical language in international development can keep vital information away from the people who need it the most. Gender-empowering multi-sectoral capacity building facilitates knowledge sharing and engages stakeholders in inclusive sustainability. If you understood that sentence, you probably work in the world of international development. If you did not understand it, you are part of the rest of the world that is essentially locked out of understanding much of the publ...
The upcoming UN Summit for Refugees and Migrants holds the promise of progress. But ahead of the summit, communications staff are pushing a warped view of migrant diversity. Even the International Organization of Migration (IOM) is straying from its mission to uphold the human dignity and well-being of migrants....
As we approach the first anniversary of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), on 25 September 2016, at least one thing is clear: nothing will be achieved without a joined-up approach and an integrated strategy. In practice, this means that the UN’s silos will need to start talking the same language. It’s not about dumbing down; quite the opposite, in fact. It’s about better understanding the work done by partners, including all the nuances and intricacies, so that we can work more effecti...
Do you know the difference between a migrant, a refugee, and an internally displaced person (IDP)? Between a special political mission and a peacekeeping operation? Between Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5 on Gender Equality and SDG 10 on Reduced Inequalities? The UNU Jargon Buster is a glossary app for UN terminology: from simple acronyms to political proceedings to technical designations. All entries are linked to online references or further readings, and arranged alphabetically, by sourc...
‘UN peace operations need less jargon and more direction’ ran a headline in early April – just as we were testing a new version of our app, and just as we were posting a new blog in our peacekeeping series. It was virtual serendipity. The article asks if a new UN mission in Colombia should be designated a ‘peacekeeping operation’ or a ‘special political mission’. First, say the authors, it’s a question of image: as the former is generally associated with failed states. Then it’s a question of fu...
‘No human being is illegal‘ headlined a recent article in the Guardian, stressing how “the phrase ‘illegal immigrants’ is neither ‘accurate nor neutral’.” Heard time and again in the US presidential campaign, it’s yet another example of a dubious, ubiquitous term shaping the political debate — and yet another reason for the UNU Jargon Buster. Our glossary app not only clarifies hundreds of social, political and economic terms, it aims t...
What exactly do people mean by 'agrodiversity', 'formal remittances' and 'sustainable development'? Do leaders and scholars use similar concepts in different ways? Do they know their PoCs from their POCs?...