A/HRC/19/39 I. Introduction 1. The Human Rights Council, in its resolution 15/25, and the General Assembly, in its resolution 65/19, requested the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), in consultations with Member States and other relevant stakeholders, to launch preparations for the commemoration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Declaration on the Right to Development. Within this framework, the Council, in its decision 16/117, decided to hold a panel during its eighteenth session on the theme “The way forward in the realization of the right to development: between policy and practice” and requested OHCHR to prepare a summary of the panel discussions for submission to the Working Group on the Right to Development at its twelfth session and to the Human Rights Council at its nineteenth session. II. Organization of the panel 2. The panel discussion was held on 14 September 2011, in Geneva. The panel was moderated by the President of the Human Rights Council and opened by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. The panellists were Ariranga G. Pillay, Chairperson of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; Virginia Dandan, independent expert on human rights and international solidarity; and Joseph K. Ingram, President/CEO of the North-South Institute, Canada. The presentations of the panellists were followed by an interactive discussion, which was divided into two slots of 60 minutes (45 minutes for comments and questions from the floor, followed by 15 minutes for comments and replies by panellists). The interactive discussion was opened by the Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka and newly appointed Chairperson-Rapporteur of the Working Group on the Right to Development, Tamara Kunanayakam. 3. The focus and objectives of the panel discussion were to enhance understanding of the contribution and potential of the Declaration on the Right to Development to thinking, policy and practice on development; to reflect on how the right to development could be implemented in the context of contemporary political, social, environmental and financial challenges; and to contribute to the shaping of future work on the effective implementation of the right to development. III. Opening and contributions by panellists 4. In her opening statement, the High Commissioner recalled that the programme of commemoration of OHCHR for the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Declaration on the Right to Development was premised on four simple messages: that development was a human right for all; that this right belonged to everyone; that it responded to contemporary challenges; and that all must act together in making the right to development a reality for everyone. Real development was about freedom from fear and freedom from want for all, without discrimination. Any successful development policy included a human rights approach that could shed light on critical vulnerabilities, clarify entitlements, duties and responsibilities of rights holders and duty-bearers, and delineate accountability mechanisms for actions and inactions. The constituent elements of the right to development were rooted in the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations, the International Bill of Rights and other United Nations instruments, and included the right to self-determination, to full sovereignty over natural wealth and resources, to participation, fair distribution of benefits, as well as to remedies for inequity. This right entailed a people-centred development policy for constant improvement of the well-being of all. 3