The United Nations (UN), once hailed as humanity’s great hope for peace and cooperation, has increasingly been criticized for its inability to resolve conflicts, address global inequities, and adapt to shifting power dynamics. While it has made notable contributions in humanitarian assistance, development, and norm-setting, its failures in preventing genocides, mitigating wars, and reforming its governance structures undermine its legitimacy. This paper critically analyses the UN’s performance from its inception to the present, focusing on systemic weaknesses, geopolitical manipulation, and structural inertia. Drawing from UN reports, scholarly works, and speeches of past Secretaries-General, the paper argues that substantial reforms—particularly in the Security Council—are indispensable if the UN is to remain relevant in the twenty-first century.

Two years into Ajay Banga’s presidency, the World Bank is reshaping itself at speed — decentralising leadership from Washington to regional hubs, scaling up climate finance to 45 per cent of total operations, and betting on private capital mobilisation and job creation as the unifying purpose of development.

This transformation, if properly anchored, could redefine multilateral development finance for a new era of climate urgency and fiscal constraint. But it also carries risks: over-financialisaton, excessive donor dominance, and growing distance from the poorest.

Drawing on the latest data and country-level evidence from Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Ghana, and Ethiopia, this essay examines whether Banga’s reform drive is making the World Bank faster and fairer — or merely leaner and riskier.