Immediate obligation 2: Do not evict anyone into homelessness This is particularly important when people are living in emergency housing, since it is very unlikely that, if evicted, they will be able to find any alternative housing. Even when government is providing emergency housing via commercial or private providers, government must still meet this human rights obligation and put measures in place to ensure residents are protected against eviction that results in homelessness. Immediate obligation 3: Uphold Te Tiriti o Waitangi alongside other human rights obligations In Aotearoa New Zealand, the right to a decent home must be read alongside Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Progressing the right to a decent home requires acknowledging and addressing the impacts of colonisation, systematic dispossession of Māori from their land, and destruction of their traditional ways of living, including communal land ownership.39 It also requires work to address the ongoing systemic disadvantages faced by Māori in the housing system. Te Tiriti o Waitangi also affirms Tangata Whenua rights, including housing rights and selfdetermination. Te Tiriti requires government to work in partnership and share decision-making with its Tiriti partners, and to respect and support the rangatiratanga authority and mana motuhake of Tangata Whenua. The human right to a decent home cannot be fully achieved unless Te Tiriti o Waitangi obligations are also met. Alongside Te Tiriti o Waitangi, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) creates ethically compelling international aspirations which Aotearoa New Zealand has committed to implement.40 These aspirations include self-determination, Indigenous peoples’ right to the improvement of their economic and social conditions including in housing, and other rights which in many ways affirm and reinforce Te Tiriti rights.41 These must be taken into account in the right to a decent home grounded on Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Immediate obligation 4: Establish effective and accessible accountability arrangements in relation to the emergency housing system Accountability is a crucial feature of human rights. Without accountability, the right to a decent home can become an empty promise. Accountability need not be about blame and punishment, it can be about identifying what works, so it can be repeated, and what does not work, so it can be adjusted. This is called ‘constructive accountability’. Government has an immediate obligation to put in place effective, accessible, constructive accountability arrangements in relation to the emergency housing system. These accountability arrangements will help to ensure there is an emergency housing system which is consistent with the right to a decent home, Te Tiriti, and other important standards. Constructive accountability is outlined in the Guidelines and our Inquiry’s first report Strengthening Accountability and Participation in the Housing System.42 As outlined in that report, this accountability has three elements: • monitoring i.e., the collection of information and data • review, including independent review, in relation to agreed standards and promises made • remedial action i.e., putting things right, so far as possible As we know, government may address its human rights obligation to provide emergency housing by contracting or funding private providers, but this does not mean it can also contract out of its human rights and Te Tiriti obligations.43 The government remains responsible and accountable 41