About 30 people heard Natalie Samarasinghe, Executive Director of UNA-UK, talk on the topic ‘Is the UN working?’
Natalie outlined some of the UN’s achievements, but many problems persist, such as the limited progress in reducing poverty and the UN being marginalised by member states (e.g. Syria and Crimea). She believed that the UNA must support the UN as a critical friend and push the UK Government to be more proactive at the UN. The UN needs to capture the public imagination by showing greater leadership as the world conscience.