• lead or participate in multi-partner independent monitoring mechanisms (IMMs) that have been established by government to monitor New Zealand’s compliance with the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, Convention on the Rights of the Child, and United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) • engage with the international human rights system, such as through reports to the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review and UN treaty bodies on New Zealand’s treaty compliance. Te Tiriti o Waitangi and human rights Cognisant of its status as an independent Crown entity, the Commission also aspires to reflect the Crown’s duties under Te Tiriti through a commitment to developing over time into a Te Tiriti-based Organisation (TBO). Since 2019, this commitment has been reflected operationally by the growth of the Commission’s indigenous rights team, the implementation of a TBO workplan, the establishment of the Pou Ārahi role, and externally through the development of a relationship with the National Iwi Chairs Forum (NICF). The Commission also has a statutory mandate in the area of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and human rights i.e. a function under s 5(2)(d) of the HRA to “promote by research, education, and discussion a better understanding of the human rights dimensions” of Te Tiriti “and their relationship with domestic and international human rights law.” This fortifies the Commission’s work on the relationship between the State’s constitutional commitments under Te Tiriti and human rights, as well as its mahi promoting and monitoring implementation of UNDRIP. Our priorities: non-discrimination and beyond The HRA requires the Commission to give particular attention to the right to freedom from discrimination. This is reflected in several ways, for example, the statute establishes three Commissioners with a particular orientation to non-discrimination (s 5(1) (c), (d) and (e)). Also, as referred to above, the HRA limits the jurisdiction of the Commission’s dispute resolution service to complaints regarding discrimination, and sexual and racial harassment. However, the HRA also provides the Commission with a much broader statutory human rights role, as signalled in the Act’s long title and repeatedly set out in s 5(1) and (2). This includes the encouragement of ‘the maintenance and development of harmonious relations between individuals and among the diverse groups in New Zealand society’, as well as the advancement of the human rights that the government has approved, or agreed to be legally bound by, in international human right instruments. This covers the entire spectrum of human rights, including civil rights, political rights, workers’ rights, social rights, cultural rights, and the rights of indigenous peoples. The Commission prioritises its areas of strategic focus. Our overlapping priorities are: • inclusion, equality and belonging • popularising human rights and Te Tiriti o Waitangi • eliminating poverty • eliminating violence and abuse • organisational excellence as a Te Tiriti and human rights exemplar To promote and advance the human rights that are engaged by these priorities, the Commission undertakes specific initiatives and projects, mandated by our functions under the HRA. Our strategic objectives are the roadmap that guide the Commission’s work for the period 2021/22 to 2024/25. 9