United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced on 31 October the appointment of Norwegian diplomat Geir Pedersen as UN Special Envoy to Syria. Guterres said “Mr Pederson will support the Syrian parties by facilitating an inclusive and credible political solution that meets the democratic aspirations of the Syrian people”. Pedersen will succeed Staffan de Mistura, who announced on 17 October that he would step down at the end of November after more than four years in the post. During de Mistura’s tenure, the process of negotiations between the main backers of the government and armed opposition has shifted from the UN in Geneva to the Astana process, led by Russia, Iran and Turkey. The group pushed through a number of de-escalation zones last year, and more recently agreed on a buffer zone in northern Syria’s Idlib. De Mistura reiterated this week that he was engaged in a final effort to advance toward a new constitution for Syria. He observed, however, that objections from the Syrian government were holding up the launch of a committee meant to draft the new constitution.