Infant Mortality: The number of babies (0-12 months) dying per 1000 live births. There is an inverse relationship between the wealth of a country and infant mortality.
GNI: Gross National Income is a measure of a country's wealth.
GNP: Gross National Product is also a measure of wealth but does not take account of some business taxes.
Development Measure: Statistics used to show the level of development, which allows countries to be compared.
Human Development Index (HDI): An index based on three variables: life expectancy at birth; level of education, including both literacy rate and years spent in school; income adjusted for purchasing power (how much it will buy).
Physical Quality of Life Index (PQLI): The average if three social indicators: literacy rate, life expectancy and infant mortality.
Tariffs: Government taxes on imported or exported goods.
Debt Relief: Forgiving a debt in part or in total i.e. writing it off.
Fair Trade: A system whereby agricultural producers in countries at lesser stages of development are paid a fair price for their produce. This helps them to attain a reasonable standard of living.
Short-Term Aid: Aid given to relieve a disaster situation, e.g. people who have been made homeless and are starving after a serious flood.
Long-Term Aid: Aid given over a significant period, which aims to promote economic development.
Donor Country: A country giving aid to another country.
Receiving Country: A country receiving aid from another country.
Bilateral Aid: Aid given by one government to another. It may include trade and business agreements tied to that aid.
Multilateral Aid: Countries at further stages of development give money to international organisations such as the World Bank, the Internation Monetry Fund (IMF) or the United Nations (UN), which then redistribute it to development projects in countries at lesser stages of development.
Top-Down Aid: Aid used so that governments can run more efficiently or to build infrastructure such as roads or bridges.
Bottom-Up Aid: Aid used to provide basic health care for communities, clean drinking water and money for education.
Economic Periphery: The edge of a country or region in terms of economics. It may not physically be the edge, but is a more remote, difficult area, where people tend to be poorer. A less well-developed area.
Economic Core: The centre of a country or region economically, where businesses thrive, people have opportunities and are relatively wealthy. A highly developed area.
Sustainable Development: This allows economic growth to occur, which can continue over a long period of time, and will not harm the environment. It benefits people alive today, but does not compromise future generations.