A/HRC/4/47 page 8 24. Regarding the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)-Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development/Development Assistance Committee (OECD/DAC) Mutual Review of Development Effectiveness in the context of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), the task force welcomed OECD’s plan to issue its Action-Oriented Policy Paper on human rights and development (DCD/DAC(2007)15/FINAL) and the strategic shift towards greater civil society participation; however, the Mutual Review would gain by explicit attention to human rights including the right to development. 25. In the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, the task force noted the value to be gained from greater attention to ownership, to gender equality and to the research commissioned by OECD on the systematic integration of human rights into the five major themes of aid effectiveness. 26. Mr. Marks then pointed out that the conclusions and recommendations of the task force relate to refining the periodic evaluation and extending them to the Cotonou Partnership Agreement and the World Bank Africa Action Plan. Finally, he identified continuity in the assessment process, methodological rigor, and attention to the political will of governments and other actors to take the right to development seriously, as the three conditions for the success of assessment of global partnerships from the right to development perspective. 27. Considering the recommendations in the task force report, the Working Group discussed the articulation and structuring of the criteria for periodic evaluation of global development partnerships from a right-to-development perspective and the implementation checklist (see A/HRC/4/WG.2/TF/2, annex III). Proposals were made to refer more explicitly in the criteria and checklist to, inter alia, principles of sustainable development, democracy, governance, transparency and accountability, issues on trade, aid, debt burden and technological transfer. Several delegates argued for more systematic and explicit linkages between the criteria and the checklist by subsuming the latter under the former. The view was expressed that, notwithstanding the right of each State to freely choose its own development strategy and priorities, the impacts of tied aid are not necessarily negative in all circumstances. Several delegates also expressed the view that the checklist was unbalanced between developing and developed countries. In relation to their trade component, several delegates expressed interest in considering for examination by the task force the Cotonou Partner Agreement between ACP countries and the EU. The representative of the World Bank (WB) presented the WB Africa Action Plan and outlined reasons for having it considered in light of the identified criteria, highlighting multiple aspects addressed by the plan, including on aid, trade, debt relief and role of non-State actors issues. 28. In the ensuing discussion, the Working Group considered the report of the task force and discussed: the general conclusions; the pilot application of the criteria; refinement of the criteria and other methodological considerations; follow up to the review of global partnerships; and the articulation and structuring of the criteria for periodic evaluation of global development partnerships from a right-to-development perspective and the implementation checklist. 29. Switzerland, Bangladesh, the Islamic Republic of Iran, China, Egypt, Germany, Rwanda, South Africa, Argentina, and representatives of OECD and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES)