A/HRC/36/49 Report of the Special Rapporteur on the right to development I. Introduction 1. The Human Rights Council, in its resolution 33/14, decided to appoint a Special Rapporteur on the right to development. In section VI below, the Special Rapporteur outlines the main focus areas of the mandate set out in the resolution. In the same resolution the Council, among other things: (a) Invited all Governments to cooperate fully with the Special Rapporteur in the performance of the tasks and duties mandated, including by providing all necessary information requested, and to give due consideration to the recommendations of the mandate holder; (b) Encouraged relevant bodies of the United Nations system, within their respective mandates, including United Nations specialized agencies, funds and programmes, relevant international organizations, including the World Trade Organization and relevant stakeholders, including civil society organizations, to give due consideration to the right to development in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, to contribute further to the work of the Working Group on the Right to Development, and to cooperate with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Special Rapporteur in the fulfilment of their mandates with regard to the implementation of the right to development. 2. At its thirty-fourth session, the Human Rights Council appointed Saad Alfarargi as Special Rapporteur on the right to development for a period of three years. The Special Rapporteur took up his functions on 1 May 2017. 3. After taking up his functions, the Special Rapporteur conducted a round of introductory exchanges with States, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations agencies, international organizations, non-governmental organizations and other stakeholders, seeking inputs to help further develop his vision, methods of work and focus areas. Numerous inputs were received; the Special Rapporteur is very grateful to all who have contributed to and participated in these consultations to date and is looking forward to continuing to work with them. 4. The present report was drafted during the short period after the Special Rapporteur entered into office. In the report the Special Rapporteur presents his preliminary views concerning the background and context of the mandate, highlights certain challenges for its implementation and outlines the preliminary strategy that will inform his work under the mandate, including strategic considerations that he will take into account and specific work streams. The report also includes the Special Rapporteur��s approach to engagement with stakeholders, the overarching considerations for his mandate and a description of his methods of work. II. Historical background 5. The right to development was first mentioned in 1966, when then-Foreign Minister of Senegal, Doudou Thiam, referred to the right to development of the “Third World” before the General Assembly. Reflecting on the decades of failure of States to meet the goals of the first United Nations Development Decade, he linked that failure to the failure of newly decolonized States to resolve the growing economic imbalance between the developing and developed worlds. The Declaration on the Right to Development was adopted by the General Assembly on 4 December 1986. The Declaration was built on the edifice of the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 2