A/HRC/24/27 organizations. In the questionnaire sent to Member States, one of the questions specifically approached the right to development. It requested Member States to “describe the measures taken to contribute to the realization of Millennium Development Goal 8” and to what extent the respective Government had contributed to its achievement. Responses received will be reflected in the Independent Expert’s upcoming reports to the Human Rights Council and General Assembly. In October 2012, the Independent Expert participated in the Human Rights Council’s Social Forum on people-centred development and globalization and delivered a substantive paper on democratic governance and reform initiatives. 25. In September 2012, the Human Rights Council in resolution 21/11 adopted by consensus the guiding principles on extreme poverty and human rights. The guiding principles deal in chapter VI with the obligations of international assistance and cooperation, highlighting inter alia the duty of States in a position to do so to provide international assistance to contribute to the fulfilment of human rights and poverty reduction as an element of the duty of international assistance and cooperation as well as the duty of States to take deliberate, specific and targeted steps, individually and jointly, to create an international enabling environment conducive to poverty reduction, including in matters relating to bilateral and multilateral trade, investment, taxation, finance, environmental protection and development cooperation. 26. The Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights has emphasized the importance of participation in all her reports, including the conceptual framework outlined at the start of her mandate (then the independent expert on extreme poverty and human rights, A/63/274). The report examines the key human rights principles and standards that determine the content of the right to participation with regard to the poorest and most marginalized members of society. Drawing from these norms and standards, the report presents a human rights-based framework for meaningful, empowering participation and elucidates the necessary actions and enabling factors to support and enable such participation for people living in poverty. The Special Rapporteur has noted that, while the issue of participation of people living in poverty is a common theme in the literature of development and humanitarian aid, there has been little discussion of this topic from a human rights perspective. 27. In February 2013, the Open-ended Intergovernmental Working Group on the Draft United Nations Declaration on the Right to Peace held its first session during which it considered the draft declaration on the right to peace prepared by the Advisory Committee. Article 9 of this draft document is devoted to the right to development and specifically links peace and security with development. 8 28. In April 2013, a group of United Nations experts (extreme poverty, indigenous peoples, right to food and foreign debt) issued a press statement9 and called on the Word Bank to adopt human rights standards during the review of its environmental and social policies – also known as “safeguard policies” – which apply to project finance. The Special Rapporteur on the effects of foreign debt on the full enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights underlined that the World Bank, as a development institution and a member of the United Nations family, and in line with the Declaration on the Right to Development, was obligated to ensure that its policies and activities did not undermine national 8 9 For the report of the Open-ended Inter-Governmental Working Group on the Draft United Nations Declaration on the Right to Peace, see A/HRC/WG.13/1/2. See press release, “UN experts urge World Bank to adopt human rights standards on the eve of key gathering in Washington”, 18 April 2013. Available from www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=13248&LangID=E. 9