Geneva: Europe and the Arabs
After the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria, the country entered a period of uncertainty. In light of this development, the United Nations seeks to contribute significantly to ensuring an orderly transition of power to renewed and stable organizations, while continuing its efforts that it began since the beginning of the Syrian revolution in 2011 to bring the parties together.
Its efforts are focused on helping Syria reach a political solution that provides dignity, freedom and justice for the people. According to an article on the most important efforts on the political track in Syria, the UN daily news bulletin stated, “Less than a year after the pro-democracy demonstrations in Syria in March 2011 - within the framework of what was called the Arab Spring, and the violent repression that was met by the Syrian authorities - former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan was appointed to be a joint envoy of the United Nations and the League of Arab States to facilitate efforts to resolve the conflict. Annan developed a six-point plan calling for an end to the violence, ensuring humanitarian agencies’ access to those affected, releasing detainees, starting a comprehensive political dialogue, and allowing international media unhindered access to Syria. The Security Council endorsed the plan in April 2012, by adopting resolutions 2042 and 2043, which led to the establishment of the United Nations Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS), whose work ended in August of the same year as the conflict escalated. 2012 also witnessed the issuance of the Geneva Declaration of the meeting of the Action Group for Syria, which included a number of countries in the Middle East and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (the United States of America, the United Kingdom, France, China, Russia).

The declaration - endorsed by the UN Security Council and General Assembly - was based on the peace plan drawn up by Kofi Annan and has guided UN mediation efforts towards a political solution ever since.

2014: Stalemate in Geneva
Annan left office in August 2012 and was replaced by veteran Algerian diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi, whose tenure saw the conflict escalate dramatically.

In January 2014, then UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon convened an international conference known as Geneva II, which was followed by talks between representatives of the Syrian government and opposition forces, facilitated by Brahimi.
The two sides failed to reach an agreement, and Brahimi suspended the negotiations and ended his term in office in May 2014.
While the long-serving UN negotiator Staffan de Mistura was in charge of the mission of envoy to Syria, what can be described as an achievement was achieved. Intensive diplomatic talks in 2015 between Russia, the United States, and other key international actors led to the creation of the International Syria Support Group, to explore how to accelerate the end of the conflict.
The talks resulted in the adoption of Security Council Resolution 2254, which set a timetable for a political transition, including negotiations on the establishment of an inclusive and credible government, and outlined the process for drafting a new constitution. The resolution also called for free and fair elections under UN supervision.
2016: Fighting Impunity
Impunity is a hallmark of the Syrian conflict, has hampered efforts to resolve the conflict and challenged one of the core values ​​of the United Nations: accountability. Throughout the conflict, the United Nations has worked to investigate human rights abuses and monitor the actions of terrorist groups.
Resolution 2254 reiterated previous calls on UN Member States to prevent and suppress acts of terrorism specifically committed by ISIL, Jabhat al-Nusra, and all individuals and groups associated with Al-Qaida, ISIL, and other terrorist groups. The resolution called on the parties concerned to immediately allow humanitarian access to all those in need and to release those arbitrarily detained, especially women and children.

A significant step towards addressing impunity was taken on 21 December 2016, when the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism was established by a resolution of the United Nations General Assembly to assist in the investigation and prosecution of the most serious crimes under international law, in particular genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

On 8 December 2016, with news of the fall of the Assad regime, the Mechanism issued a press statement expressing hope that Syrians would have the opportunity to live in a country based on justice and the rule of law.

It said that accountability for the immense suffering of the past thirteen years must be central to future discussions and efforts by Syrians and the international community alike to begin to address the rampant impunity for all atrocities, from the bombing of hospitals, the use of chemical weapons and systematic torture in government prisons to widespread sexual and gender-based violence and even genocide.
2024: A new era of hope and uncertainty
Secretary-General António Guterres said that “the fall of the dictatorial regime” represents a historic opportunity for Syrians to build a stable and peaceful future. But he stressed that much more needs to be done to ensure an orderly political transition to renewed institutions.
The UN Special Envoy for Syria, Norwegian diplomat Geir Pedersen, who was appointed to his post in October 2018, called on 7 December for urgent political talks in Geneva to secure a peaceful future for Syria and said after meeting officials from a number of key countries that they supported his call.
On Sunday (8 December), he told reporters that “this dark chapter left deep scars, but today we look forward with cautious hope to open a new era of peace, reconciliation, dignity and inclusion for all Syrians.”
In Geneva, the UN envoy held a press conference, in which he stressed that nothing should stand in the way of a peaceful transition. He said that Syria is going through a critical moment in its history and that it stands at a crossroads that heralds great opportunities but also warns of grave dangers. “There is a real opportunity for change, but this opportunity must be seized by the Syrians themselves with the support of the United Nations and the international community.”