The first Secretary-General of the United Nations, Trygve Lie, famously described his role as ‘the most impossible job in the world’. These words are likely to resonate with António Guterres, who has taken over the reins of the UN during one of the most trying periods it has yet had to confront.

In an event held by the Overseas Development Institute on 2 February, the Oxford Martin School's Director Achim Steiner joined Urvashi Aneja, Associate Professor and Executive Director at the Centre for Global Governance and Policy, Jindal School of International Affairs, India; Lord Purvis of Tweed, Liberal Democrat Member of the House of Lords International Relations Committee; Christina Bennett, Head of Programme, Humanitarian Policy Group, ODI; and Alex Thier, Executive Director, ODI, to discuss the priorities for the new Secretary-General.