Glossary



  • WFP, World Food Programme

    • The United Nations system’s operational food aid arm. From its headquarters in Rome, it has been sending food air out since 1963 to wherever a humanitarian crisis occurs, helping an average of 90 million people in over 80 countries every year. It operates in emergency situations and devises projects for food security at national level and for economic and social development at local level, coordinating them with the national policies and development plans of the countries where it operates. It responds to specific needs, on the other hand, by involving NGO’s, associations and grass-roots communities. The WFP lives exclusively on voluntary contributions from governments, individuals and private enterprise.

  • World Bank

    • The main international organisation for supporting development and fighting poverty. In particular, it provides the developing countries with technical and financial assistance. It was set up in 1945, pursuant to the agreements reached at Bretton Woods, along with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), to back reconstruction in the countries devastated by the world war.

  • WTO, World Trade Organization

    • International organisation set up in 1995 for the purpose of liberalising trade and lowering tariff barriers. The aim is to help producers of goods and services, exporters and importers in the conduct of their business. The pillars on which it is based are the agreements and negotiating results signed by the majority of the countries engaging in world trade and ratified by their respective parliaments: the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) and the Agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measures (TRIMS). It has its headquarters in Geneva and currently comprises 144 members, plus 30 more with observer status and another 30 or so candidates for membership.