How the UN Can Help Syria

It’s a new day in Damascus. But what about New York?

For the last 14 years, the United Nations’ role in Syria has been relegated to the circumscribed (but vital) task of supporting the humanitarian needs of millions of Syrians. Now, there is an opportunity for the UN and the broader international community to support Syria’s political transition, post-conflict recovery, and reconstruction.

These are areas in which the United Nations, in other contexts, has established a decent track record over the years. So, what needs to happen in Damascus and New York to make that a reality?

In this week’s episode of To Save Us From Hell Anjali Dayal and I discuss how the UN can help Syria right now. This includes taking a fresh look at a nine-year-old Security Council resolution that creates a newly useful process for crafting a constitution for Syria and addressing the thorny question of de-listing the de facto authorities, HTS, as a proscribed terrorist group. To both ends, we discuss the work of the UN’s intrepid Syria Envoy, Geir Pedersen, and several of his key tasks ahead.

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