Statistical Terms Glossary

Central point for the collection, sorting, transhipment and distribution of goods for a particular area.

A port served by deep sea and short sea scheduled shipping where trans-shipment activity takes place.

A measure of resilience and depth in financial markets. The ratio relates the volume of trades (as a proportion of the outstanding stock of the instrument) to its impact on prices. The larger the volume of trades relative to the price changes, the deeper and more resilient the market is.

Is productive wealth embodied in labour, skills and knowledge.

Is the process of enlarging people’s choices. Their three essential choices are to lead a long and healthy life, to acquire knowledge and to have access to the resources needed for a decent standard of living.

A composite index measuring average achievement in three basic dimensions of human development—a long and healthy life, knowledge and a decent standard of living.

A collection of biological material and the associated data and information stored in an organised system, for a population or a large subset of a population.

Degree of likelihood that one or more exposures to a hazardous substance may have damaged or will damage the health of the exposed person(s).

Retrovirus that weakens the immune system, particularly by causing the death of many CD4+T cells, which coordinate the human immune system's response to intruders. This weakening of the immune system leaves the body open to attack from opportunistic infections, eventually leading to the development of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).

Is the most common viral infection of the reproductive tract, and can cause cervical cancer, other types of cancer, and genital warts in both men and women.

Human rights are commonly understood as being those rights which are inherent to the human being. The concept of human rights acknowledges that every single human being is entitled to enjoy his or her human rights without distinction as to race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Human rights are legally guaranteed by human rights law, protecting individuals and groups against actions which interfere with fundamental freedoms and human dignity. They are expressed in treaties, customary international law, bodies of principles and other sources of law. Human rights law places an obligation on States to act in a particular way and prohibits States from engaging in specified activities. All human rights and instruments that concern them apply equally to men and women. In addition, the CEDAW has specified and complemented some of them from the perspective of women’s rights.

Women's rights as an integral and inseparable part of all general human rights, including reproductive rights.

This entails consciously and systematically paying attention to human rights in all aspects of programme development. This approach is a conceptual framework for the process of human development that is normatively based on international human rights standards and operationally directed to promoting and protecting human rights. The objective of the HRBA is to empower people (rights-holders) to realize their rights and strengthen the State (duty-bearers) to comply with their human rights obligations and duties. States’ obligations to human rights require them to respect, protect and fulfill women’s and girls’ rights, along with the rights of men and boys. When they fail to do so, the United Nations has a responsibility to work with partners to strengthen capacity to more effectively realize that duty.

Security that has two main aspects: (1) safety from such chronic threats as hunger, disease and repression; (2) protection from sudden and hurtful disruptions in the patterns of daily life—whether in homes, in jobs, or in communities. Such threats can exist at all levels of national income and development.

The term human settlements is an integrative concept that comprises: (a) physical components of shelter and infrastructure; and (b) services to which the physical elements provide support, that is to say, community services such as education, health, culture, welfare, recreation and nutrition

Trafficking in human beings or trafficking in persons.

Traditionally associated with natural disasters such as floods, fires, and famines, but more recently applied to other disasters such as social or political unrest, usually with the consent of the host country. Assistance can include providing food, shelter, clothing, and medicine and medical personnel; evacuating the most vulnerable; and restoring basic amenities (water, sewage, power supplies). Aid can be given during the emergency itself and in the rehabilitation phase.

An issue which dealers have not managed to fully place.

A somewhat arbitrary rate of return, related to the current cost of borrowing money, set by a government or company to guide investment decisions. Below this limit, investment is normally considered inadvisable.

A tropical cyclone with wind speed greater than 119km/h.

A zone that allows the passage of greater quantities of light than an opaque zone.

A defined benefits (DB) plan where benefits depend on a rate of return credited to contributions, where this rate of return is either specified in the plan rules, independently of the actual return on any supporting assets (e.g. fixed, indexed to a market benchmark, tied to salary or profit growth, etc.), or is calculated with reference to the actual return of any supporting assets and a minimum return guarantee specified in the plan rules.

A single matrix account containing both national accounts in monetary terms and physical flow accounts showing the absorption of natural resources and ecosystem inputs and the generation of residuals.

A symmetric table where the SNA monetary input output table is combined with the corresponding physical input output table.