A/HRC/23/54 60. Jorge M. Dias Ferreira, representing the NGO New Humanity, described his vision for a development paradigm based on solidarity and integrity. Profit, efficiency and productivity should not be the primary aims of development as they reduced people into means of production and did not always improve their well-being. The elevation of these values above others by the neoliberal agenda had led to multiple crises, including a psychological crisis, that had to be dealt with in a comprehensive interdisciplinary fashion. He claimed that the basic purpose of States as political communities was to enable the societies and peoples that composed States to be masters of their own destinies. In order to realize this purpose, he solicited a new development paradigm that promoted solidarity and integral development and prevented serious human rights abuses. In this regard, he called for prioritizing human beings over possessions, and ethics and human rights over economics. 61. Xigen Wang, Professor and Vice-Dean of the Wuhan University Law School in China, spoke about challenges and prospects for implementing the right to development in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. He described several obstacles to the realization of the right to development including exchange rate volatility, reduced overseas investment and trade, excessive debts, rising poverty rates, higher unemployment, reduced economic growth and increased social inequality. In order to address these obstacles, he suggested interpreting the right to development as people-centred development with social justice, and developing a comprehensive strategy for its implementation, including in the financial sector. He further argued for additional emphasis on the links between the right to development and other human rights. Finally, he called for the elaboration and passage of a convention on the right to development as part of a comprehensive development obligation system that included endogenous obligations (ethics and institutions) and instrumental obligations (contracts and a convention). 62. In the ensuing interactive dialogue, Myrna Cunningham and representatives of China, ONG Hope International, North-South XXI, the Association of World Citizens, the People’s Health Movement and the South Asian Feminist Alliance took the floor. Speakers discussed issues such as land grabbing, farmers’ rights, the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities of States, country-specific implementation of the right to development, innovative approaches to promoting traditional indigenous knowledge, South–South cooperation, the equitable distribution of the benefits of commerce, democratizing international institutions, international solidarity, the importance of education and equality of opportunity for health and development, and the recognition of women as economic agents and individual rights holders. It was also proposed that the Human Rights Council consider establishing a mechanism to address the concrete recommendations of the Social Forum. 63. In concluding remarks, Yoandra Muro Valle stressed that morals had to come before economics. While drawing up budgets, it was important to take into account the moral impact and the societal benefits of expenditures. The overall goal should be a better quality of life. Jorge M. Dias Ferreira highlighted the humanist dimension of the right to development, and the interdependence and interdisciplinary nature of the challenges of today. He stressed that the spiritual dimension of development had not been subject to adequate consideration. Xigen Wang elaborated on the effects of the financial crisis on China and made recommendations on how to overcome the impact of the crisis through people-centred development. 17