A/HRC/27/45 16. At its first meeting, on 12 May 2014, the Working Group re-elected by acclamation Tamara Kunanayakam (Sri Lanka) as Chair-Rapporteur. In her opening statement,3 the Chair-Rapporteur reported on activities since the previous session of the Working Group, namely the informal consultations and the informal inter-sessional meeting. In addition, she reported on the results of her interactive dialogue at the twenty-fourth session of the Human Rights Council and at the sixty-eighth session of the General Assembly. During its previous two sessions, the Working Group had completed the first reading of the criteria and the first part of the operational subcriteria, aided by the submission of detailed views and comments. It had also been assisted by the active participation of United Nations funds and programmes, NGOs and indigenous peoples’ groups. 17. The Chair-Rapporteur reminded the Working Group that the first reading of the draft operational subcriteria was part of a broader and longer-term process. She recalled Human Rights Council resolution 24/4, in which the Council had decided that, once considered, revised and endorsed by the Working Group, the criteria and corresponding operational subcriteria should be used, as appropriate, in the elaboration of a comprehensive and coherent set of standards for the implementation of the right to development, and that the Working Group should take appropriate steps to ensure the practical application of the standards, which could take various forms, including guidelines on the implementation of the right to development, and evolve into a basis for consideration of an international legal standard of a binding nature through a collaborative process of engagement. 18. Several proposals had emerged from the inter-sessional meetings on improving the effectiveness of the fifteenth session, and they remained on the table. She expressed the hope that, following past tradition, the Group’s conclusions and recommendations would be adopted by consensus. 19. The Chair-Rapporteur drew attention to the context in which the fifteenth session was being held. The International Year of Small Island Developing States was a reminder of the gravity of the current global crisis, its multidimensional and systemic character and the urgent need for collective action when those States were facing unprecedented challenges in achieving development, with climate change threatening their very existence,. Rising inequalities, within and between countries, unequally affecting those more closely integrated in the global market and less resilient to external influences, along with intensifying exploitation and social injustice, posed a threat to international peace and security, as well as to the ability of the planet to sustain life. There was increasing recognition that inequality was a key issue that had been neglected in the Millennium Development Goals. 20. The post-2015 process provided an opportunity for the Working Group to contribute actively to shaping the development agenda. With the mandate to promote a vision of development based on the principles of equality, non-discrimination, social justice, participation and solidarity at national and international levels, and international cooperation, and also to mainstream the right to development in the United Nations system, the Working Group was in a privileged position to contribute significantly to advancing the framework for an alternative vision of society, based on values and principles, and in harmony with the environment, so that life with dignity became a reality for all without discrimination, for present and future generations. 21. She expressed the hope that the fifteenth anniversary of the Working Group would provide inspiration to move forward with the sense of urgency that the current global 3 6 The Chair-Rapporteur’s opening statement is available from www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Development/Pages/15thSession.aspx.