# IFRC preferred spellings This is an alphabetical list of some common problem words and expressions. If a word is not in this list, consult the New Oxford Dictionary of English. The most important point to bear in mind is that usage should be consistent throughout a manuscript. ## A ad hoc (not italic) advertise/advertisement advice (noun) advise (verb) ageing analyse anglocentric antenatal anti-personnel anti-retroviral therapy (ART) apprise Aral Sea (but the Black and the Aral seas) arise Atlantic Ocean (but the Pacific and the Atlantic oceans) audiovisual authorise/authorisation awareness-raising ## B back-up (noun) back up (verb) better- (adjective, as in better-coordinated disaster response) bilingual billion = thousand million blood donor (but blood-donor centre) Bosnia and Herzegovina break-up (noun) break up (verb) by-law ## C capacity building capitalize cardiopulmonary resuscitation caregiver/caregiving case study catalyze categorize ceasefire central Africa Central African Republic central America Central Asia central Europe centralize centre century: from first to tenth century, number spelled out; thereafter in figures: 21st century, etc. changeover (noun) change over (verb) childbirth childcare coastguard coexist co-management community-based first aid community-based health worker comprise compromise computerise Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the cooperate/cooperation coordinate/coordination Côte d’Ivoire (not Ivory Coast) criticize ## D Darién jungle; Darién National Park (not Darién Gap) data (treat as singular, as in “the data reveals” and “the data was collected”, not “the data reveal” and “the data were collected”.) data bank/database dates: always day, month, year (for example, 20 March 2024) death toll debt relief (noun) debt-relief process (adjective) decision-maker/decision-making demise department(s) (in the IFRC): always lower case, so digital transformation department, communications department, etc. (see also: IFRC departments and job titles) dependant (noun) dependent (adjective) despise destabilize devise diarrhoea digital transformation not digitalization disenfranchise disguise ## E East (but the earthquake struck the east of the province) East Africa eastern Africa east Asia Eastern (of or relating to the East) eastern Europe economize e.g., (with full stops and followed by a comma) El Salvador (capital: San Salvador) email emergency obstetric care emphasise en bloc (not italic) enfranchise enquiry (Note: use enquiry for the act of asking a question, especially of a person; use inquiry when referring to an investigation, especially an official one) en route (not italic) enterprize equalise etc. (with full stop and followed by a comma in the middle of a sentence) euro (currency) eurocentric excise exercise ex officio (not italic) extranet ## F far-reaching feedback female genital mutilation (FGM) fertilise finalise first aid (but first-aid courses, and never First Aid) first-class first-hand first-rate flood waters flood plain floodgate(s) ...fold (as in twofold, tenfold) focused, focusing (not focussed, focussing) food security follow-up (noun) follow up (verb) foothold forego (to precede) forever forgo (to relinquish, give up) formalize formulas formulae (scientific or mathematical) forums (never fora) front line (but front-line operations) fulfil/fulfilment full time (but full-time job) Fundamental Principles of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (but the fundamental principles) fundraise, fundraising, fundraiser ## G galvanize generalize General Assembly (of the IFRC, but the Malaysian Red Crescent's general assembly. Note: to avoid confusion, always specify United Nations General Assembly/UN General Assembly) goodwill (of a firm, but good will) grass roots (but at the grass-roots level) guideline(s) ## H haemorrhage/haemorrhagic half-hour (but half an hour) handbook hand-picked hard-line hardest-hit countries (but the hardest hit countries are....) harmonize high-income countries high-quality products (but the product is of high quality) high-risk areas (but the community is at high risk) hi-tech material HIV-positive home-based care Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China human development index Hurricane Franklin (but a hurricane hit the region) ## I i.e., (with full stops and followed by a comma) ill-advised ill health immunize improvise incise industrialize infant mortality rate information-sharing inquiry (Note: use inquiry when referring to an investigation, especially an official one; use enquiry for the act of asking a question, especially of a person) insecticide-treated net institutionalize interact/interaction intergovernmental internally displaced people international non-governmental organization (INGO) internet interpersonal interrelate intertribal intranet Iran, the Islamic Republic of ## J jeopardize ## K Kazakhstan Korea, Democratic People’s Republic of (North Korea) Korea, Republic of (South Korea) Kosovo (N.B. refer to Kosovo as a territory, not a country or State) know-how Kyrgyzstan ## L labour-intensive laissez-faire (not italic) laissez-passer (not italic) Lao People’s Democratic Republic landlocked landmine landslide large-scale operation (but on a large scale) Latin America learned (not learnt) least developed countries leukaemia licence (noun) license (verb) life- (as in life-threatening illness) life-saving/life-saver lifestyle localization localize long-lasting insecticidal net long term (but long-term trends) loophole low-income countries low-tech ## M Macau Special Administrative Region of China macroeconomics Maghreb (as in the Maghreb region) Marketplace market research materialize maternal and child health maximize medium-sized organization (but a small organization, a large organization) megacity memorize microaggression micro-bank microcredit microeconomics microfinance micro-project micro state (no hyphen) Middle East North Africa (MENA) middle-income countries Millennium Development Goal(s) minimise Ministry of Health, Ministry of External Affairs (but the ministries of health and external affairs) mobilize Moldova, the Republic of mother-and-child clinic mother-to-child transmission mudslide multicultural multidisciplinary multilateral multinational multi-purpose multiracial ## N National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies National Society/Societies (but the society/societies) nationwide needs-assessment survey (but a needs assessment was carried out…) non-cooperation/non-cooperative non-governmental organization (NGO) no one (no hyphen) North (but the people live in the north of the country) North Macedonia (not Macedonia or Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) North Africa North America Northern (of or relating to the North) northern Europe ## O official development assistance (ODA) offshore ongoing online Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) organization organize orphans and vulnerable children overrate ## P Pacific islands (but a Pacific Islander) Pacific Ocean (but the Pacific and Atlantic oceans) paralyze patronize peace talk(s) peacekeeper/peacekeeping peacetime people living with HIV people-smuggler people-smuggling per cent (use % in tables to save space) policy-maker/policy-making politicize post-natal post-traumatic stress disorder post-war power-sharing practice (noun) practise (verb) premise prenatal primary health care Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (but the Australian prime minister agreed...) prioritize prise (to force open) privatise prize (to value highly) problem-solving programme (but a computer program) profit-sharing promise -prone (as in a disaster-prone area) pro rata (but on a pro-rata basis) psychosocial publicize ## R radioactive/radioactivity raise realize real time (but real-time evaluation) recognize Red Cross and Red Crescent (never RCRC, RC/RC or Red Cross Red Crescent) regionalize -related (as in pregnancy-related diseases) Represent but re-present (to present again) -resistant (as in multi drug-resistant tuberculosis) revise revitalize rise River Thames (but the Indus and Amazon rivers) round table (but round-table talks) Russian Federation ## S Sahel (as in the Sahel region) scale up (verb) scaling-up (noun) schoolchild/schoolchildren (but a pre-school child) search and rescue (but a search-and-rescue team) Second World War (not World War II) secretariat (of IFRC) Secretary General Jagan Chapagain (but the secretary general said…) secretaries general (plural) self-interest Senator Jones (but the senator said…) sensitize sexually transmitted infection (STI) short-term losses (but in the short term) sister society/societies (see page 6) small-scale project (but on a small scale) South Africa (the country, but southern Africa the region) South America South Asia South (the, but the south of the region was flooded) South-East Asia Southern (of or relating to the South) specialize stabilize standardize starting point state(s)/states party (but New York State, the State of New South Wales) stationary (not moving) stationery (paper, envelopes, etc.) Strategy 2030 subcommittee subcontinent subnetwork subregion/subregional sub-Saharan Africa subsidize sub-standard subtotal summarize supervise surmise Sustainable Development Goal(s) Syrian Arab Republic ## T Taiwan Province of China (refer to as ‘area’ not ‘country’) Tanzania, United Republic of task force team player team spirit teamwork televise think tank Timor-Leste (not East Timor) toolkit tsunami Türkiye (not Turkey) but Turkish Red Crescent ## U ultra- (as in ultra-expensive airlifts) uncooperative underpay underrate under way (as in negotiations are under way...) underuse United Nations Secretary-General up-to-date information (but the information is up to date) urbanize ## V Viet Nam (not Vietnam, but Vietnamese) visualize vulnerability and capacity assessment (VCA) ## W wartime water and sanitation (always write out in full, not WatSan or watsan) water, sanitation and hygiene promotion (WASH) web website wellbeing well-established programme (but the programme is well established) well-functioning National Society/well-functioning National Societies well-known organization (but the organization is well known) well-established programme (but the programme is well established) West (the, but the programme was carried out in the west of the country) West Africa western Africa western Europe Western (of or relating to the West) worldwide ## X X-ray