A/HRC/19/52 of all peoples would be better respected and protected. Indonesia stressed that 25 years after the adoption of the Declaration, it was time to move forward despite multifaceted and interlinked challenges in both developed and developing countries in the realization of the right to development. The Working Group should strengthen the social protection dimension targeting the most vulnerable, namely the poor. 10. Senegal, speaking on behalf of the African Group, reaffirmed the Group’s firm commitment to the right to development. This right was self-evident and its value did not need to be demonstrated. This right was conceptualized in Africa and was essential for the realization of all other rights. In this regard, reference was made to articles 22 and 24 of the African Charter of Human and Peoples’ Rights. After 25 years, hesitations and controversies need to be put to rest, and pragmatic, concrete action should be taken to implement this dormant right. Statements associated with the position of the African Group, included that made by Morocco, which pointed out the need for balancing national and international responsibilities and that local development needs could only be met by cooperation, capacity-building and technical assistance from the international community. Morocco also highlighted the fact that the right to development was highly economic, social and cultural, and considered that any attempt to overcome this fact was not a guarantee of success or of the right way to move forward in the realization of this right. The Moroccan delegation also added that evoking indivisibility of rights to manipulate and instrumentalize some political concepts such as self-determination would certainly undermine the whole exercise. Algeria stated that it was vital that the normative implications of this right be taken into account, while noting the lack of political will or of an enabling environment for development. 11. The European Union reiterated its congratulations to the Chairperson-Rapporteur for her election, as well as its continued constructive support for the work of the Working Group. The European Union remained strongly committed to achieving sustainable development and eradicating poverty; promoting respect for all human rights and fundamental freedoms; ensuring security, conflict prevention and resolution; and encouraging good governance, gender equality, human development, accountability and equitable globalization. Reiterating its objection to the elaboration of an international legal standard of a binding nature, the European Union supported the implementation of the right to development through the elaboration of benchmarks and indicators for States to empower individuals as active agents in the development process. Further work will be required in order to make right to development operational. Only when the criteria and subcriteria had been properly assessed and refined should appropriate instruments, such as guidelines, templates or checklists be developed, in order to help all relevant stakeholders and human rights mechanisms and procedures to assess progress in the implementation of this right and to mainstream right-to-development considerations in their work, policies and programmes. Sub-criteria and indicators should be formulated in such a way that they can be applied to all countries; further clarification was needed on the three levels of responsibility identified by the task force; clarification is also needed on the issue of global partnership for development, as used in Millennium Development Goal 8. 12. Having associated itself with the statement made by the European Union, Italy pointed out that an integrated approach in relation to the right to development should be adopted, one which harmonized essential elements such as national ownership and international cooperation. From a broader perspective, recurrent loss of national skills and capacity from developing countries, led to losses. While ensuring that immigrants were treated with respect for their human rights in countries of destination, it was important to also ensure how they might find opportunities in their own countries. As regards international cooperation, the present economic and financial turmoil led to growing poverty and clear curtailment of financial resources devoted to international cooperation. There was a need to turn challenges into opportunities and invest in new instruments such 5