In the present study, the Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development presents best practices and provides recommendations on how non-State actors can contribute to the duty to cooperate for the implementation of the right to development worldwide. The study is focused on foreign, private non-State actors operating in a host State. 

The study is based on: (a) input received during the consultation process; (b) a desk study of investor-State arbitration cases revolving around the failure of foreign investors to secure the support of local communities for mining operations; and (c) a visit to Lesotho, at the invitation of the Government, to review how engagement by non-State actors has affected the realization of the right to development of mountain communities affected by major economic investments in mining and water management. 

With the present study, the Expert Mechanism looks at the operationalization of the general duty of non-State actors to cooperate in the realization of the right to development by breaking the duty to cooperate down into four more practical components: (a) the duty to give notice; (b) the duty to consult and agree; (c) the duty to assist; and (d) the duty to repair harm.