Jargonbusters

IFRC language should be clear, jargon-free and inclusive.

We want people to have a positive emotional response to the IFRC’s work, and this will only happen if our audience feels we are speaking to them directly.

We also want our readers to care about the people IFRC and National Societies are supporting. So please always put people at the centre of your communications about humanitarian work.

Don’t infantilize or dehumanize people with patronising language such as “the most vulnerable” or “those we serve”.

Please also try to avoid any words or phrases that have military connotations. Our own internal documents are littered with references to people being “targeted”, but it’s always preferable to say that people were “selected” or “identified” – or even just that they are being supported.

The following list includes common IFRC jargon words alongside some ableist, gendered and pejorative language that we should not use. This list is not exhaustive, and IFRC staff are encouraged to add to it by emailing Alison Freebairn.

❌ Words to avoid:	✅ Please use instead:
Aborigine	Indigenous People/Peoples; First Nations
actors	organizations, partners
addict/addicted	person with a substance abuse disorder
additionally	also, and
amongst	among
beneficiaries	people
businessmen	managers, executives
cameraman	camera operator, film-maker
chairman/chairwoman	chair
decimated	badly affected
elderly	an elder/elders, seniors
emotional support	comfort
engaged with	involved
exacerbate, exacerbated	worsen, worsened, made worse
forefathers	ancestors
frequently	often
the handicapped, handicapped people	people with disabilities
homeless person	unhoused person, unsheltered people
impact/impacted	affect/affected
is able to	can
locals	local people, the community
mankind	humanity
man-made	technological, artificial, human-made
manned, manning	worked at, staffed, staffing
manpower	workforce, employees
participate	take part
perished	died, were/was killed
policeman	police officer
prostitute	sex worker
quantify	count, measure
reach out to/reached out to	contact/contacted
recovery actors	humanitarian organizations, Governments
remains engaged	continues
request/requested	ask/asked
scaling up	increasing, expanding
stakeholders	partners
sufficient	enough
target/targeted	select, identify, support
target beneficiaries	help people
the disabled	people with disabilities
the vulnerable/most vulnerable	at-risk people, marginalized people
Third World	developing countries; Majority World
those, e.g., “those we serve”	people, “the people we support”
to a man	unanimously
trainings	training, training courses
transgendered	transgender
transwoman, transman	trans woman, trans man
utilize	use
victims	survivors, affected people