A/HRC/35/35 6. In her report to the General Assembly, the Independent Expert examined in detail four key issues that had emerged from the discussions held during the regional consultations and that were highly relevant in revising the proposed draft declaration and producing the final version of the draft. She highlighted the following issues: updating the preamble to amplify the legal framework for international solidarity; articulating the conceptualization and nature of the right to international solidarity; taking into account both economic, social and cultural rights and civil and political rights in the consideration of the extraterritorial obligations of States; and identifying which non-State actors are being addressed in the proposed draft declaration, and elaborating their roles as required by the right to international solidarity. 3. Convening a side event at the seventy-first session of the General Assembly 7. While in New York to present her report to the seventy-first session of the General Assembly, the Independent Expert took the opportunity, with the co-sponsorship of the Permanent Mission of Panama to the United Nations, to convene a side event on 20 October 2016 to discuss the significance of international solidarity for a transformative change in global partnerships. The occasion was also an opportunity to engage with Member States and relevant stakeholders on the role that the mandate could play in promoting international solidarity as an indispensable factor in attaining the transformative shift towards the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, particularly through Goal 17, which is to strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development. The event featured presentations from a panel of United Nations human right experts and representatives of Member States and civil society. 8. The interactive discussions that followed the presentations focused on: (a) How States can utilize their human rights treaty obligations as their legal and operational framework to implement their development and environmental policies at the national level; (b) How existing human rights standards and accountability mechanisms can inform global partnerships; (c) The role of civil society in promoting international solidarity in global partnerships; (d) The added value of integrating human rights in international solidarity towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. 4. Dialogue with civil society organizations 9. The Independent Expert was invited by the umbrella organization Iniciativas de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarollo to a dialogue with civil society organizations on 17 February 2017 in Madrid. She gave a presentation on the mandate of human rights and international solidarity, tracing the history and evolution of the mandate, and shared her experiences on crafting the draft declaration on the right to international solidarity. In particular, she explained the nature of international cooperation as an obligation of States towards the fulfilment of human rights, and the role of civil society organizations such as NGOs in complementing government efforts in that regard. She stressed that international cooperation is even more important now that the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals is country-driven. 10. During her visit to Madrid, the Independent Expert also visited a local city government office in order to interact with officials and members of the community regarding their projects to promote the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. She took the opportunity to explain to them how a human rights-based approach to development can be integrated into their projects. 4