There are substantive differences between "relief" and "development" organizations and efforts.

Briefly, relief is about bringing healing to acute crisis situations, responding to the emergency needs of people in order to get them through a period of transition so they can get to a point of stability.

Development, on the other hand, is about the long term, about addressing the root causes of problems, and developing the skills, resources and assets that allow people the dignity of self-sufficiency.

"The difference is similar to that between an investment and a gift. Do we teach people to grow bamboo so they can make fishing rods; provide them with latrines and wastewater treatment plants so the lake heals and the fish thrive; build road and communications systems so the fish can get to the market, or do we give them a fish so they can eat today?," explains Lallie Lloyd, author of "Eradicating Global Poverty - A Christian Study Guide on the MDGs."

Relief and development can be interrelated, in that relief might be necessary as a precursor to create a context where development can happen. But the MDG Subcommittee of the Diocese of North Carolina will always focus on development, on what happens after the hand-outs.

Acronyms

Throughout this website, and in other websites and literature devoted in part or all to the subject of the Millennium Development Goals, are acronyms. Here, in alphabetical order, are some of the most commonly used abbreviations, and, where possible, links to additional information.