A/HRC/38/40 and human rights manifest themselves in State practice. The predecessors of the current mandate holder carried out visits to Brazil, Morocco, Norway and Cuba. 11 9. Thus far, the mandate has largely been invested in the process of discussing, preparing and submitting the draft declaration on the right to international solidarity, a process that was outlined in phases by the former Independent Expert, Virginia Dandan. 10. The “first phase” of the process began in 2004 with the submission of a working paper on human rights and international solidarity to the then Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights of the Commission on Human Rights by one of its members, Rui Baltazar dos Santos Alves. This first phase continued with the work of the first Independent Expert on human rights and international solidarity, Rudi Muhammad Rizki, who gathered ideas on the theme of the mandate from States, United Nations agencies, other international bodies, regional organizations and civil society, and drew on those ideas to identify elements of a conceptual and normative framework of human rights and international solidarity. 11. With the appointment of Virginia Dandan as the second Independent Expert, in 2011, the “second phase” of the mandate began, and it involved an in-depth examination of the relevant issues, principles, standards and norms that would shift the focus from the principle of international solidarity to the right to international solidarity. 12. Subsequently, Ms. Dandan moved on to the “third phase”, which involved consolidating and analysing the results of the previous two stages; writing and circulating a preliminary text of the draft declaration, for consultation; consolidating additional comments and inputs that were received; and finalizing the initial draft declaration for submission to the Human Rights Council. 13. The draft declaration on the right to international solidarity was submitted as an annex to Ms. Dandan’s last report to the Human Rights Council, 12 and presented to the world and all relevant stakeholders. The document is the result of years of research and thoughtful consideration by previous mandate holders, as well as significant input from States, civil society and leading scholars. In the view of the current Independent Expert, the draft declaration “is an extraordinary document, which presents a genuine practical tool for the expansion of international solidarity and human rights around the world, with the ultimate goal of realizing what was promised by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: a social and international order in which all human rights and fundamental freedoms can be realized”.13 14. Furthermore, the draft declaration recognizes that international solidarity underlies the duty of States to cooperate with one another in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, and is reflected in the Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, as well as throughout international law. 15. The draft declaration provides a definition of international solidarity as the expression of a spirit of unity among individuals, peoples, States and international organizations, encompassing the union of interests, purposes and actions and the recognition of different needs and rights to achieve common goals. The components of international solidarity are identified as preventive solidarity, through which stakeholders act to proactively address shared challenges; reactive solidarity, or collective actions of the international community to respond to situations of crisis; and international cooperation. The draft declaration provides concrete guidance to States and other stakeholders on how they must act in order to make this principle a reality and to fulfil their human rights obligations. 11 12 13 See A/HRC/23/45/Add.1, A/HRC/32/43/Add.1, A/HRC/35/35/Add.1 and A/HRC/38/40/Add.1. See A/HRC/35/35. Statement delivered at the seventy-second session of the General Assembly, on 17 October 2017. 5