A/HRC/45/29 I. Introduction 1. The Human Rights Council, in its resolution 42/23 of 27 September 2019, decided to establish a subsidiary expert mechanism to provide the Council with thematic expertise on the right to development in searching for, identifying and sharing best practices with Member States and to promote the implementation of the right to development worldwide. 2. On 13 March 2020, the Human Rights Council appointed Koen De Feyter (Belgium), Armando Antonio De Negri Filho (Brazil), Bonny Ibhawoh (Nigeria), Mihir Kanade (India) and Klentiana Mahmutaj (Albania) as members of the Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development for a three-year period starting from 1 May 2020. 1 The selection was carried out in accordance with the procedure established in paragraphs 39 to 53 of the annex to Council resolution 5/1. The members of the Expert Mechanism may be re-elected for one additional period. 3. The Expert Mechanism meets twice annually for three days each in Geneva and in New York. Its sessions may be a combination of public and private meetings. The meetings of the Expert Mechanism are open to the participation, as observers, of States, United Nations mechanisms, bodies and specialized agencies, funds and programmes, intergovernmental organizations, regional organizations and mechanisms in the field of human rights, national human rights institutions and other relevant national bodies, academics and experts on development issues, and non-governmental organizations in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council. The Expert Mechanism reports annually to the Human Rights Council on its work, followed by an interactive dialogue with the Council. 4. The summary of the discussions set out in sections III and IV below is not intended to be a verbatim record, but rather an overview of the main points discussed by the Expert Mechanism. The report contains the vision of the Expert Mechanism and includes a number of recommendations concerning its future work and mandate for consideration and approval by the Human Rights Council. II. Organization of the session 5. The first session of the Expert Mechanism was scheduled to be held in New York from 30 June to 2 July 2020. However, it could not be held as an in-person meeting owing to the lockdown measures and travel restrictions imposed in the context of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. For technical reasons, it was not possible to hold an open virtual meeting with simultaneous interpretation in the six official languages of the United Nations: the Expert Mechanism is aware of the shortcomings as a result of these circumstances and expresses hope that its future sessions can be held in public. The first session was therefore held virtually, composed of a series of private meetings, held on 16, 23 and 30 April, 7, 14 and 28 May and 11, 23 and 25 June 2020. A. Attendance 6. B. All five members of the Expert Mechanism attended the first session. Opening of the session 7. In her opening statement, the President of the Human Rights Council, Elisabeth Tichy-Fisslberger, highlighted the importance of multilateralism in the achievement of the goals of the Human Rights Council and its mechanisms. The COVID-19 pandemic and 1 2 Further information on the Expert Mechanism is available on its web page (www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Development/EMD/Pages/Expert-Mechanism-on-the-Right-toDevelopment.aspx).