<h6><strong>Eduardo González</strong></h6> <h4><strong>Madrid will host one of two new offices opened by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to reduce its staffing at its New York headquarters. This comes amid US President Donald Trump's offensive against humanitarian aid and the UN itself, whose headquarters are located in the city.</strong></h4> UNDP announced on Monday, January 19, that it will relocate a substantial portion of its New York staff to other cities. Specifically, the measure will affect 400 employees, 300 of whom will move to Bonn (where the headquarters of the UNDP's United Nations Volunteers (UNV) program is already located) and the remaining 100 to Madrid. Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares celebrated on Tuesday that Spain will host one of the UNDP's headquarters after the organization accepted the Spanish government's offer to host approximately 100 staff members from New York. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, this decision represents "recognition of Spain's commitment to Development Cooperation and multilateralism." As reported by the UNDP in a statement, this move "is part of an ongoing effort to adapt to an evolving financial and development landscape, strengthen partnerships, and maximize UNDP's capacity to support the world's most vulnerable people." "UNDP thanks Germany and Spain for offering to host the organization," the statement continued. The UNDP operates in some 170 countries and territories with a staff of approximately 22,000, the vast majority of whom—more than 19,000—work in country offices and regional centers. Less than seven percent are based in New York, which will nevertheless remain the organization's headquarters. At the beginning of 2026, UNDP also relocated 30 positions from New York to its regional offices in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Arab States, Central Europe, and Asia and the Pacific “to position staff closer to the communities they serve.” In a joint letter, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul (CDU) and Development Minister Reem Alabali Radovan (SPD), along with the Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia, Hendrik Wüst (CDU), and the Mayor of Bonn, Guido Déus (CDU), emphasized that the staff relocation to Bonn headquarters “is an important political signal of confidence in German foreign policy, especially at a time when the UN system and multilateral principles are under pressure.”
