A/HRC/8/WG.2/TF/2 page 18 are enabled to respond better to the broader objectives of the right to development. With respect to item (c) above, the task force welcomed the information provided by UNDP on the MDG Gap Task Force,9 and the country level mappings of the Global Partnership for Development (a joint UNDP-DFID-ODI project) and regards these initiatives as demonstrating the need for and seeking to provide rigorous qualitative and quantitative tools in dealing with MDG 8 and broader global partnership for development.10 70. For these reasons, the task force considers that a proper refinement of the criteria could best be carried out through an expert consultation, and drawing upon the expertise and experience of its institutional members and academic researchers. In this way, the task force could better meet the expectations of the Working Group that it “provide a consistent mapping of the criteria and relevant checklists, viewing the latter as operational sub-criteria”.11 The outcome of the consultation could then be applied during phase III (2009) of the task force’s Work Plan and thus allow it to benefit from methodologically-sound criteria and operational sub-criteria in order to consolidate its findings and present a revised list of the criteria and operational sub-criteria. D. Consideration of additional partnerships: further thematic and regional expansion 71. In phase II (2008), the task force was requested by the Working Group “to study additional partnerships with a view to broaden its coverage of the regions implementing development partnerships, as well as its analysis of thematic issues of international cooperation identified under MDG 8”.12 This step-by-step approach would allow the task force to follow up on the current four partnerships, in various stages of assessment and initiate evaluation of additional partnerships, expanding thematically and geographically. 72. The first three partnerships reviewed by the task force have allowed it to focus primarily on aid and on Africa, while the examination of the Cotonou Agreement has expanded its work thematically to trade and geographically to the Caribbean and Pacific countries. 9 The inter-agency MDG Gap Task Force has the objective of developing a methodology to systematically track international development commitments, primarily under MDG 8, and their fulfilment at the international and country level. It reports to the Secretary-General and suggests improvements to the implementation of existing commitments. 10 The aim of the initiative is to design and pilot a tool to systematically map the ways in which a range of global issues impact on poverty, in particular country contexts. 11 A/HRC/4/47, para. 51. 12 Ibid., para 54.