A/HRC/41/50 I. Introduction 1. In its resolution 35/21, the Human Rights Council requested the Advisory Committee to conduct a study on the ways in which development contributes to the enjoyment of all human rights by all, in particular on best experiences and practices, and to submit the report to the Council before its forty-first session. In the resolution, the Council welcomed the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including the pledge therein to leave no one behind, and reaffirmed that the realization of sustainable development in all its three dimensions contributed to the promotion and protection of human rights for all. The Council also reaffirmed that the 2030 Agenda was an agenda of unprecedented scope and significance, accepted by all countries and applicable to all, and that the Sustainable Development Goals and targets were integrated and indivisible, global in nature and universally applicable, took into account different national realities, capacities and levels of development and respected national policies and priorities, while remaining consistent with relevant international rules and commitments. The Council also affirmed that development contributed significantly to the enjoyment of all human rights by all, reaffirming that the existence of extreme poverty inhibited the full and effective enjoyment of human rights, and that its immediate alleviation and eventual eradication must remain a high priority for the international community, and that the efforts towards the achievement of that goal should be strengthened. In the resolution, the Council called upon all countries to realize people-centred development of the people, by the people and for the people, and invited all relevant bodies of the United Nations system to mobilize resources to assist States, as requested, in realizing sustainable and inclusive development. It reiterated that States should cooperate with each other in ensuring sustainable and inclusive development and eliminating obstacles to development, and that the international community should promote effective international cooperation in that regard. 2. At its nineteenth session, held in August 2017, the Advisory Committee heard presentations from experts and established a drafting group for the preparation of the present report. As at February 2019, the group comprised Mohamed Bennani, Lazhari Bouzid, Mikhail Lebedev (rapporteur), Xinsheng Liu (chair), Ajai Malhotra, Dheerujlall Baramlall Seetulsingh, Changrok Soh, Cheikh Tidiane Thiam and Jean Ziegler. A specific questionnaire was sent to Governments, relevant United Nations and other intergovernmental bodies and agencies, non-governmental organizations, national human rights institutions and other stakeholders, with a deadline of 30 November 2017. A second questionnaire was sent with a deadline of 1 June 2018. As at 1 June 2018, 30 responses had been received: 16 from States, 3 from non-governmental organizations and 11 from national human rights institutions. II. Legal and institutional basis 3. The right to development does not reduce development to purely economic aspirations or goals but encompasses a broad, comprehensive understanding of development at the national and international levels. The right to development finds clear resonance in various provisions of several human rights instruments, which emphasizes the multifaceted, multidimensional and complex nature of development processes and the need for development to be inclusive, equitable and sustainable. 4. In the Declaration on the Right to Development, the General Assembly took into consideration the fact that all human rights and fundamental freedoms are indivisible and interdependent, and that, in order to promote development, equal attention must be paid to civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights. There are many striking similarities between the Declaration and the international human rights instruments. Many elements of the right to development are reflected in the provisions and jurisprudence of the human rights instruments, such as self-determination; fair distribution of resources; equality and non-discrimination, particularly on grounds of sex, age, race and disability; active, free and meaningful participation; accountability and transparency; substantive rights relating to an adequate standard of living, including food, water and sanitation, housing, health services, education, employment and enjoyment of culture; freedom of expression, assembly and 2