Minister Woods referred to the “right to a warm, safe, dry home” when she appeared before the committee on 23rd February 2021. In its response to a written question on disability, Kāinga Ora referred to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. However, to the best of our knowledge, no committee member referred to human rights in any question to HUD or Kāinga Ora. Nor does the committee’s annual review report make any reference to human rights, including the right to a decent home. The same committee also has annual oversight of the social sector, including the Ministry of Social Development’s management of emergency housing and the Accommodation Supplement. In relation to 2019/20, the committee asked more than 350 questions and held an in-person hearing on 23rd February 2021. To the best of our knowledge, there were no written or in-person questions about human rights or the right to a decent home, except for one which asked about the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Again, the annual review report is silent on human rights. Committee members asked questions implicitly related to the right to a decent home but, apart from one question out of more than 650, we found no evidence that any committee members: • were aware of the government’s legally binding obligations arising from the right to a decent home, or • had any knowledge of the right to a decent home, or • used human rights as a lens through which to scrutinise the government’s work on housing, including emergency housing. In short, the committee did not provide effective and accessible accountability in relation to the right to a decent home grounded on Te Tiriti o Waitangi. 16 Human Rights Commission International accountability As explained in the Guidelines, the right to a decent home and other social rights are included in various international human rights instruments. This includes the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), Convention on the Rights of the Child, Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Each human rights treaty has an independent United Nations (UN) committee that reviews the performance of countries that have ratified the relevant treaty. For example, the UN Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights reviews the performance of countries that have ratified ICESCR. This independent committee of experts assesses how well governments are protecting and promoting their people’s economic (i.e. workers’ rights), social, and cultural rights. It then makes recommendations to governments about areas that need improving. New Zealand has ratified these important human rights treaties and is routinely held accountable in the UN for its performance in relation to the right to a decent home. There are other UN human rights procedures that hold the government to account in relation to the right to a decent home, such as the scrutiny provided by the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing.25 These international procedures provide a valuable way to publicly hold the New Zealand government accountable on the global stage for its performance regarding the right to a decent home. The procedures are strong on independent review and weak on remedial action. Nonetheless, they rival any national accountability mechanism in Aotearoa on the right to a decent home grounded on Te Tiriti o Waitangi.