Glossary
We want our content to be as clear and accessible as possible. This glossary explains the key terms, concepts, and acronyms used across the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement and the social innovation ecosystem.
A
Accountability
Actions taken before a disaster or crisis occurs, based on forecasts and early warning systems, to reduce humanitarian impact and protect lives and livelihoods.
Anticipatory Action
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
B
Beneficiary
C
Cash and Voucher Assistance (CVA)
Community Engagement
Community engagement is the process of actively involving community members in the decisions and actions that affect them, through meaningful participation, two-way communication, and ongoing dialogue.
L
landfall
A storm moving over land after being over water
LLA (Locally Led Adaptation)
Local adaptation to climate change, an approach that places genuine decision-making power in the hands of local actors to design, implement, and evaluate adaptation actions
M
Media Guide
This is a test
O
Open collaboration
By open collaboration, we mean stepping beyond the boundaries of the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement to share our challenges, insights, and solutions with a broad ecosystem of actors — including social entrepreneurs, public institutions, private companies, researchers, and NGOs.
P
Participatory Design
Participatory design is a collaborative approach that actively involves people and communities in identifying challenges, developing solutions and making decisions that affect their lives.
Rather than designing solutions for communities, it focuses on designing with them, recognising their knowledge, experiences and capacities as essential to the process.
In humanitarian action, participatory design helps ensure that solutions are relevant, inclusive and adapted to local realities. It promotes shared ownership, strengthens community participation and supports more effective and sustainable outcomes.
S
Social innovation
By social innovation, we mean all solutions designed to address unmet or poorly met social needs and vulnerabilities — from new tools and methods to services, processes, or partnerships that create lasting impact within communities.