A/HRC/26/34 Nations departments and bodies, specialized agencies, other international organizations, NGOs and special procedures mandate holders of the Human Rights Council. In his last report (A/HRC/15/32), he identified elements of a conceptual and normative framework for human rights and international solidarity, drawing from the responses to the questionnaire and his review of and observations on them, and highlighted significant areas of focus and emerging approaches in international cooperation. 57. In her first report to the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/21/44), the current Independent Expert outlined the work of the mandate towards the elaboration of a draft declaration. Stage One was the work done by her predecessor, Stage Two involved in-depth examination of the relevant issues, principles, standards and norms that would shift the focus from the principle of international solidarity to the right to international solidarity. Consultation with States and various stakeholders, including civil society and grass-roots representatives, was intensified throughout Stage Two. Stage Three was devoted to consolidating and analysing the results of the previous two Stages, writing and circulating the preliminary text of the draft declaration, consolidating additional comments and inputs that were received, and finalizing the draft declaration for submission to the Human Rights Council by 2014. B. Gathering and consolidating data 58. The working paper written by Rui Baltazar Dos Santos Alves and the work of the previous Independent Expert were inspired by the historical and philosophical foundations and, to a certain extent, the link to international law, of the principle of international solidarity and its value in international relations that would lay the basis for the right to international solidarity. 59. Pursuant to Human Rights Council resolutions 9/2, 12/9, 15/13 and 18/5, the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee, working in close cooperation with the current Independent Expert, prepared and submitted a final paper (A/HRC/21/66) in contribution to the work of the Independent Expert on the draft declaration on human rights. In addition, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights held an expert workshop in Geneva in June 2013 in response to Human Rights Council resolution 18/5. The workshop was convened under the auspices of the Independent Expert who gathered 26 experts from all regions. Representatives of States, United Nations agencies and NGOs attended the public segment of the workshop as observers and were invited to participate in its working groups. The discussions in the workshop focused on issues including the content, nature and added value of international solidarity; the definition of international solidarity and a right to international solidarity; the relationships between international solidarity and international cooperation; and looking beyond the MDGs. The workshop participants freely expressed their thoughts based on their individual expertise and exchanged views, as summarized by the Independent Expert (A/HRC/21/44/Add. 1). 60. Convinced that the most effective and appropriate way to understand the policy and practice of international solidarity was through empirical methods of study and observation on the ground, the Independent Expert conducted her first official country study mission to Brazil in June 2012 in order to exchange views with the Government and other actors, and gather information on the so-called “solidarity diplomacy” experiences of Brazil, particularly in the context of its international cooperation activities. As the Independent Expert explained in her report (A/HRC/23/45/Add.1), the country study mission supported the value of best practices as portals to the inherent interface between the policy and practice of international solidarity and the realization of human rights, and how such practices ineluctably lead to desirable outcomes towards the realization of human rights. 13