As outlined in the Guidelines, the full implementation of the right to a decent home may be progressively realised over time.36 However, the United Nations insists that some features of the right to a decent home are so important that they give rise to ‘core obligations of immediate effect’.37 In this report we call these ‘immediate obligations’, because they must be delivered immediately – they cannot be delivered slowly over time. Here we signal four immediate obligations that arise from the right to a decent home in relation to homelessness. There may be others, and we may refine these four immediate obligations in light of discussions with duty-bearers (e.g. public officials) and rights-holders (e.g. those without a decent home). However, there is no doubt that international human rights law places obligations of immediate effect on local government, central government, and the public sector in relation to homelessness. In this section we outline four immediate obligations. In the next section we assess whether these binding international human rights obligations are being respected in Aotearoa New Zealand. Four immediate obligations of the right to a decent home, in relation to homelessness Immediate obligation 1: Provide emergency housing that meets minimum decency standards and other key features of the right to a decent home Emergency housing is not required to fully meet all requirements of the right to a decent home, but it must provide for residents’ basic needs during their stay. These basic needs include: 40 Human Rights Commission a) Minimum decency standards Emergency housing must be clean, dry, safe, secure, and in good repair. The UN decency principles, as highlighted in the Guidelines, require housing to provide for adequate space and protection from cold, damp, heat, rain, wind, disease and other threats to health. They must ensure facilities essential for health, security, and comfort, such as access to safe drinking water, sanitation and washing facilities, refuse disposal and emergency services, and energy for heating, lighting, and cooking.38 b) Other key features of the right to a decent home Emergency housing must be delivered in accordance with equity, equality, and nondiscrimination. Emergency housing that fails to meet the needs of the disabled population, for example, is not consistent with the right to a decent home. Housing laws, regulations, rules, and practices for emergency housing must be fair, reasonable, proportionate, and culturally appropriate. These requirements of decency, equity, equality, and non-discrimination, fairness, reasonableness, proportionality, and cultural appropriateness are all features of the right to a decent home, as identified in international human rights law and outlined in the Guidelines. They apply to emergency and transitional housing. However, whether they are being met will depend on a range of factors, such as the length of time someone is likely to stay in the accommodation.