A/HRC/8/WG.2/TF/2 page 4 Introduction 1. At its fifth session, in February 2004, the Working Group on the Right to Development recommended to the Commission on Human Rights that it establish a high-level task force on the implementation of the right to development, in order to assist it in fulfilling its mandate as reflected in paragraph 10 (a) of Commission resolution 1998/7. At its eighth session, in February 2007, the Working Group recommended to the Council to extend its own mandate and the mandate of the high-level task force for a further period of two years (see A/HRC/4/47, para. 58). 2. In its resolution 4/4 of 30 March 2007, the Human Rights Council decided to renew the mandates of the Working Group and the high-level task force for a period of two years, requested the Working Group to convene for an annual period of five days and to present its reports to the Council and requested the task force to convene for seven days annually and present its reports to the Working Group. 3. The high-level task force on the implementation of the right to development convened its fourth session in Geneva from 7 to 15 January 2008. As requested by the Working Group, the mandate of the task force was to consider the criteria for periodic evaluation of global development partnerships - as identified in Millennium Development Goal 8 (MDG 8) - from the perspective of the right to development (“the right to development criteria”), and in an initial phase covering the year of 2007, deepen its study on the three development partnerships considered at its third session, as well as take up an additional partnership, with a view to refining the right to development criteria and corresponding sub-criteria (A/HRC/4/47, para. 54). I. ORGANIZATION OF THE SESSION A. Opening of the session 4. The high-level task force (“task force”) was opened by Maria Francisca Ize-Charrin, Director, Operations, Programmes and Research Division, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), followed by Doru Costea, President of the Human Rights Council, who made a statement referring to the fact that the task force’s meeting is the first of the year marking the sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. He underlined the importance and universality of the right to development and called for a pragmatic and constructive engagement in addressing its realization. Arjun Sengupta (India), who was elected in September 2007 as Chairperson-Rapporteur of the Working Group on the Right to Development, also made a statement highlighting the recent achievements of the task force and the Working Group and the need to make the right-to-development criteria applicable and widely acceptable, while defining obligations in a step-by-step process of consensus building. In conclusion, he introduced the expert and institutional members of the task force. B. Election of the Chairperson-Rapporteur 5. At its first meeting, on 7 January 2008, the task force elected by acclamation Stephen Marks (United States of America) as Chairperson-Rapporteur. Mr. Marks highlighted the importance of the work of the task force in transforming the right-to-development agenda from aspiration to development practice, thereby transcending the political debate.