A/HRC/9/17 page 4 through consultation, the different values attached to the different rights and best possible methods of implementation. He believed that the Working Group and the high-level task force had demonstrated a pragmatic approach, which was required in helping to develop social consensus and infusing the process with clear goals, checklists and a road map. It was an approach rightly welcomed by the Council. He emphasized that the process required continuing political support in order to confront challenges which lay ahead, such as the extension of the development discourse beyond Millennium Development Goal 8 and the formulation of binding obligations, whether in the form of a legally binding instrument, a set of guidelines or a code of conduct. B. Organization of work and adoption of the agenda 6. At its first meeting, on 18 August 2008, the Working Group adopted the agenda of the ninth session on the basis of the provisional agenda (A/HRC/WG.2/9/1/Rev.1) (see annex I). C. Attendance 7. The list of attendance is contained in annex II. D. Documentation 8. The Working Group had before it the provisional agenda (A/HRC/WG.2/9/1/Rev.1) and the report on the fourth session of the high-level task force, held in Geneva from 7 to 15 January 2008 (A/HRC/8/WG.2/TF/2). II. SUMMARY OF PROCEEDINGS A. Consideration of the report of the high-level task force on the implementation of the right to development and consideration of next steps 9. Cuba made a general statement on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement, with which China associated itself. It stressed that the fourteenth summit of the Non-Aligned Movement, held in Havana in September 2006, called for the elevation of the right to development to the same level and on a par with all other human rights and fundamental freedoms, as well as to its full operationalization through the elaboration of a convention. This concept had been repeatedly reaffirmed by the international community, including by the General Assembly in its resolution 62/161. More than 20 years have passed since the adoption of the Declaration on the Right to Development. Nevertheless, the gap between developed and developing countries continues to widen owing to the effect of a number of obstacles: the impact of globalization, unfair trade rules and practices, inadequate international cooperation, reductions in and failure to comply with official development assistance (ODA) commitments, debt burdens and lack of democracy in decision-making in international trade, financial and monetary institutions. These obstacles must be comprehensively addressed by the international community if it wants to move the right to development from conceptual debate to full operationalization. The Non-Aligned Movement believes that Millennium Development Goal 8 embodies important features of international cooperation and holds the key to meeting the other seven Goals.