A/HRC/36/35 I. Introduction 1. The present report was prepared pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 9/3 in which the Council decided to renew the mandate of the Working Group until it has completed the tasks entrusted to it, and that the Working Group would convene annual sessions of five working days and submit its reports to the Council. 2. The mandate of the Working Group on the Right to Development established by the Commission on Human Rights in its resolution 1998/72 is to monitor and review progress made in the promotion and implementation of the right to development as elaborated in the Declaration on the Right to Development, at the national and international levels, providing recommendations thereon and further analysing obstacles to its full enjoyment, focusing each year on specific commitments in the Declaration; to review reports and any other information submitted by States, United Nations agencies, other relevant international organizations and non-governmental organizations on the relationship between their activities and the right to development; and to present for the consideration of the Commission a sessional report on its deliberations, including advice to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on the implementation of the right to development, and suggesting possible programmes of technical assistance at the request of interested countries with the aim of promoting the implementation of the right to development. The mandate was extended by the Human Rights Council in its decision 1/102 and renewed in successive resolutions. II. Organization of the session 3. The Working Group convened its eighteenth session in Geneva from 3 to 7 April 2017. The session was opened by the United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights. In her opening statement, 1 the Deputy High Commissioner assured the Working Group of the High Commissioner’s continued and full support in its efforts aimed at the promotion of and respect for the right to development. She noted that the right to development had its roots in decolonization and the quest for economic, not just political, independence. The human rights of all were to be fully protected and economic development was to be achieved through the creation of a more collaborative and cooperative vision of global economic relations, including respect for the interests of developing States in those relations. One dominant theme of the right to development was therefore the creation of fairer economic conditions for all countries, whereby developing countries could genuinely exercise their economic autonomy without being subjected to the hegemonic interests of dominant States. 4. At its first meeting on 3 April 2017, the Working Group re-elected by acclamation Zamir Akram as Chair-Rapporteur. In his opening statement, 2 the Chair-Rapporteur noted the endorsement by the Human Rights Council on 24 March 2017 of the appointment of Saad Alfarargi as Special Rapporteur on the right to development. The newly created mandate (see Council resolution 33/14) includes contributing to the work of the Working Group, taking into account its deliberations and recommendations while avoiding any duplication and engaging with relevant stakeholders for cooperation in implementing the right to development. He highlighted that the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals was in its second year and that the theme of the meeting of the Highlevel Political Forum on Sustainable Development, to be held in July 2017, would be “Eradicating poverty and promoting prosperity in a changing world”. He considered it important to maximize the impact of all those processes for development and to ensure complementarity, cooperation and coordination among the various mechanisms and 1 2 The full text of the statement is available from www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Development/Pages/ 18thSession.aspx. The full text of the statement is available from www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Development/Pages/ 18thSession.aspx. 3