Humanitarian Coordination System EN–FR Mini-Glossary
This mini-glossary brings together English–French terminology used in the UN-led humanitarian coordination system: clusters, pooled funds, leadership roles, approaches and key mechanisms around civil–military coordination, scale-up and response planning.
It is designed as a practical tool for translators and revisers who need reliable equivalents and institution-aware variants, rather than ad hoc renderings of acronyms and titles. Many entries reflect usage and preferences from OCHA, IASC, UNDAC guidance and field practice, with notes flagging where certain French forms are recommended — or to be avoided — in official documents.
Because this is a mini-glossary, it focuses on high-frequency system terms: coordination structures, core documents (HNO, HRP, SITREP), leadership roles (RC/HC, ERC), funding mechanisms and nexus language. It is not exhaustive and will be expanded progressively as new coordination tools and formulations stabilize across institutions.
This public version is a snapshot of the larger Humanitarian Coordination System Glossary we maintain at Words We Trust for client work and internal QA.
How to read this mini-glossary
The table below uses three columns:
- EN term – source term or phrase as typically found in institutional English documents;
- FR term – recommended French equivalents and common variants;
- Notes
Where the Notes cell is empty, the term is generally self-explanatory or stable across contexts. Where several French options are listed, the note indicates when to prefer one form over another (for example: high-level official documents vs. field usage, or generic concept vs. specific mechanism).
| EN term | FR term | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| affected populations | populations touchées | |
| Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM) Cluster | Groupe de la coordination et de la gestion des camps | It’s possible to use « Cluster coordination et gestion des camps » / « Cluster CCCM » in some documents and contexts. |
| Central Emergency Response Fund | Fonds central pour les interventions d’urgence | |
| Civil-Military Cooperation (CIMIC) | coopération civilo-militaire | Military function serving the military mission; distinct from humanitarian CMCoord. |
| Civil-Military Coordination (CMCoord) | Coordination civilo-militaire | Humanitarian concept; often kept as “CMCoord” in FR or rendered as “Coordination civilo-militaire.” |
| cluster (as sectoral coordination group) | Groupe sectoriel | Official FR term; e.g. « Groupe Santé ». « Cluster Santé » etc., frequent in field usage. |
| cluster coordination | coordination par groupe sectoriel | |
| cluster lead | chef de file sectoriel | |
| cluster system | approche sectorielle de l’aide humanitaire | |
| Common Humanitarian Action Plan | Plan d’action humanitaire commun | |
| country-based pooled funds | fonds de financement commun pour un pays | |
| Early Recovery cluster | Groupe du relèvement rapide | |
| Education cluster | Groupe éducation | Global Education Cluster; co-led by UNICEF and Save the Children. |
| Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC) | Coordonnateur ou Coordonnatrice des secours d’urgence (ERC) | |
| Emergency Telecommunications cluster | Groupe sectoriel pour la télécommunications d’urgence | |
| Food Security cluster | Groupe de la sécurité alimentaire | |
| Health cluster | Groupe sectoriel pour la santé | « Cluster Santé » also common in field usage. |
| Humanitarian civil-military coordination (CMCoord) | coordination civilo-militaire des activités humanitaires | |
| Humanitarian coordinator | Coordonnateur ou Coordonnatrice de l’action humanitaire | Although you may encounter many different French renderings of Humanitarian Coordinator — including forms with « des opérations humanitaires », « de l’assistance humanitaire » — OCHA requests that, in texts referring to it, the form « Coordonnateur ou Coordonnatrice de l’action humanitaire » be used. |
| Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) | équipe de pays pour l’action humanitaire | Do not use « équipe de pays humanitaire » nor « équipe humanitaire de pays ». |
| Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus (HDP nexus) | nexus humanitaire-développement-paix | Term validated in official FR sources; use also « double nexus », « triple nexus », and « approche nexus » where relevant. |
| Humanitarian Needs Overview (HNO) | aperçu des besoins humanitaires | |
| humanitarian principles | principes humanitaires | Also: « principes de l’action humanitaire ». |
| Humanitarian Programme Cycle | cycle des programmes d’action humanitaire | |
| Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) | plan de réponse humanitaire | Plans named: « plan de réponse humanitaire [année] pour [article + country name] ». For Libya, Somalia, Syria: « plan d’aide humanitaire ». |
| Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) | Comité permanent interorganisations (CPI) | No hyphen in “interorganisations .” |
| Joint Operations Center | Centre d’opérations conjoint | Avoid translating « Joint Operations Centre » with « centre d’opérations civilo-militaires » (superseded, 2013). Do not translate with « centre d’opérations commun ». |
| Logistics cluster | Groupe Logistiques | Previously Module mondial de la logistique |
| multi-cluster initial rapid assessment (MIRA) | évaluation rapide initiale groupée | |
| Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) | Bureau de la coordination des affaires humanitaires (BCAH) | Usage of the French acronym BCAH was discontinued in 2012 at OCHA’s request. Must not use the acronym in high-level official documents. |
| nexus approach | approche nexus | Use in contexts relating to the humanitarian-development-peace nexus. |
| non-UN agencies | organismes hors ONU | Also: organismes n’appartenant pas au système de l’ONU; organismes extérieurs au système des Nations Unies. |
| Nutrition cluster | Groupe nutrition | |
| Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) | Bureau de la coordination des affaires humanitaires (OCHA) | Acronym OCHA used in EN and FR; in FR write « l’OCHA ». |
| On-Site Operations Coordination Centre (OSOCC) | Centre local de coordination des opérations (OSOCC) | In FR, usually « l’OSOCC »; if expanded, use this form. |
| policy guidance | directives de politique générale (for documents) / orientations générales | |
| pooled funds | fonds de financement commun | |
| protracted emergency | situation d’urgence prolongée | |
| Protection cluster | Groupe de la protection | |
| Resident Coordinator (RC) | Coordonnateur résident ou coordinatrice résidente (RC) | |
| Resident Coordinator / Humanitarian Coordinator (RC/HC) | Coordonnateur résident ou coordinatrice résidente et Coordonnateur ou coordinatrice de l’action humanitaire (RC/HC) | |
| relief efforts | activités de secours | |
| Resident Coordinator (RC) | coordonnateur résident / coordonnatrice résidente — CR | |
| situation report (SITREP) | compte rendu de situation (SITREP) | | At OCHA “Situation Report” is not used to report on chronic emergencies where the humanitarian situation may be dire but is not rapidly changing. A regular weekly report is to be used to convey this information. In other contexts, like demining, a standard radio report is used to detail progress. In peace operations, situation reports are sent daily to summarize the day’s events. |
| surge capacities | renforts mobilisables | Also in other contexts: capacité de montée en puissance, moyens supplémentaires (santé, médecine); surcapacité temporaire (budget). |
| System-Wide Scale-Up | intensification à l’échelle du système humanitaire [des actions contre…] | Humanitarian “turbo” mechanism; previously “L3 Emergency” (état d’urgence de niveau 3). |
| UN and non-UN agencies | organismes appartenant ou non au système des Nations Unies | |
| UN agencies (plural) | ONU et organisations apparentées / ONU et organismes apparentés | |
| UN agency (singular) | organisme des Nations Unies | |
| UN Country Team (UNCT) | équipe de pays des Nations Unies | Led by the RC. |
| UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) teams | équipes des Nations Unies pour l’évaluation et la coordination en cas de catastrophe (UNDAC) | |
| UN Secretariat | Secrétariat de l’ONU | |
| United Nations Civil-Military Coordination (UN-CMCoord) | UN-CMCoord / Coordination civilo-militaire | Humanitarian civil-military coordination function managed by OCHA. |
| Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) | eau, assainissement et hygiène (WASH) | Keep the acronym WASH in FR; at UNICEF’s request, do not use EAH. |