Does the United Nations need a makeover?

Leaders from the United Nations’ 193 member states are in New York for the annual meeting of the UN’s General Assembly.

It is an opportunity to set out their agenda for the upcoming session.

And there is a lot to do this year, including finding a replacement for the outgoing Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon.

But as has been the case in recent years, the war in Syria will take centre stage, along with the refugee crisis and climate change.

But despite the UN’s many achievements since its creation in 1945, it does have its share of critics.

Those who accuse it of being ineffective, bogged down in bureaucracy, self-serving and in desperate need of reform.

Is the United Nations failing in its mission?

Presenter: Martine Dennis

Guests:

Carne Ross – former British diplomat and founder of the Independent Diplomat, a non-profit advisory group

Peter Anthony Gallo – a former UN Investigator who worked in the Office of Internal Oversight Services

Natalie Samarasinghe – executive director of the United Nations Association, a UN watchdog