A/HRC/19/39 should be more operational through cooperation with the Human Rights Council and the Working Group. 18. It was stressed that, while the right to development was far from being operationalized and realized, the agenda remained highly relevant. Waves of changes arising from the global crisis and stirrings in the Arab world constituted challenges and must be responded to from a shared duty to cooperate to create favourable conditions for the right to development. Some delegations considered that the right to development contained principles to which all could subscribe, despite the changes arising from the global crisis. 19. Having noted the slow progress in the realization of the right to development, several delegations recommended that the international community should take concrete steps in both policy and practice. Achieving the right to development required collective action, and international cooperation was a key strategy and should provide an enabling environment. Despite progress, the implementation of the right to development was impeded by many factors that required joint efforts by the international community. The international community should support an enabling environment for development, including through the removal of obstacles to the realization of the right to development. In this regard, it was noted that pressures, sanctions, embargoes, conflicts and foreign occupation were all obstacles to the realization of the right to development and not conducive to helping countries to promote human rights and pursue sustainable development. 20. According to some speakers, financial and economic institutions had failed the world. There was a need for reform in global governance, transparency and accountability at the international level. Concerns of developing countries had to be heard in global forums. The prevailing economic order was unjust and exploitative in favour of developed countries, and the markets of advanced economies were largely inaccessible to poor countries. This situation had to be addressed through a global coordinated effort, involving particularly multilateral financial, trade and development institutions. Global partnerships for development should be strengthened among the United Nations, the private sector and civil society. It was also recommended that new financial mechanisms should be set up to fight poverty. 21. Speakers referred to the failure of aid policy and pointed to the need for a more pragmatic approach, the need to consider what should be the give-and-take in providing for development and how we provide for the poorest. Funding for development assistance is a policy tool in international cooperation. International aid programmes, debt cancellation, provision of loans and other social programmes should be implemented with due attention to the right to development. International development cooperation without conditionalities could strengthen international relations. South-South cooperation must also be addressed in the context of development assistance. Developed countries had to have the political will to provide resource and technical aid. Developing countries had to broaden their tax base, fight corruption and mobilize their resources to realize the right to development. The challenge was the unequal level of development within and between countries. 22. Some delegates argued that the right to development was not about charity but empowerment. States had the primary responsibility for their own economic development, and an enabling environment for the right to development had to be supported by a democratic Government. The right to development was an individual right, and it was only when all human rights are promoted and improved that the right to development could be realized. Good governance, the rule of law, anti-corruption measures and participation were important. While international cooperation was important, effective national policies at the national level were also crucial to create an enabling environment at the international level. 7