A/HRC/4/47 page 11 42. Mr. Salama also noted that the work of the task force and the Working Group would bolster the High Commissioner’s own efforts to encourage implementation of the right to development in the future. C. Address by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights 43. In her closing statement to the Working Group, the High Commissioner welcomed the constructive participation by a large number of States and institutions and she congratulated the Chairperson of the Working Group on his able leadership and guidance in the process. The Working Group’s criteria for evaluating global development partnerships, in her view, offered potentially valuable tools for States, development practitioners and other relevant entities striving for more effective global partnerships. 44. She said that a focused and strategic approach, such as the one taken by the Working Group and the task force, was promising for the consolidation of the right to development as an operational concept, while minimizing the risks of “partnership proliferation”, which might otherwise tax limited resources and institutional capacities at the national and international levels, and offered a workable balance between ambition and pragmatism, aiming towards impact. 45. She welcomed these challenging and positive developments, and their potential to bolster her own efforts to promote the right to development and to deepen the dialogue with multilateral and regional development, trade and financial institutions. She concluded by underlining that OHCHR would continue to provide the highest level of support to the Working Group and the task force in its work on the practical application of these criteria and in all its other efforts to advance the right to development. III. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 46. Based on the discussions in the Working Group, the Chairperson prepared and circulated his draft text for the conclusions and recommendations of the eighth session of the Working Group. The draft text was subsequently discussed, negotiated and amended by delegations. At its final meeting on 2 March 2007, the Working Group adopted, by consensus, its conclusions and recommendations. All regional groups and several States expressed their appreciation for the outcome of the Working Group, the able guidance by the Chairperson, the high quality of support provided by the secretariat, and the quality of work of the task force. 47. In conclusion, the Chairperson stated that the conclusions and recommendations adopted by consensus by the Working Group represented a major breakthrough in the right to development process, and he thanked all delegations for their contributions to this achievement. After adoption by consensus of the conclusions and recommendations, several States and groups presented explanations of their positions with regard to the conclusions and recommendations, namely the NAM, Canada, the EU, and Australia (see annex III).