The remaining posts affected by the decentralisation drive will move largely to Bonn, Germany.

Albares said the decision reflected “Spain’s commitment to development cooperation and multilateralism,” welcoming Madrid as the destination for about 100 UNDP jobs leaving New York. 

Why the relocation?

The UNDP said the relocation was part of an effort to adapt to an evolving financial and development landscape, strengthen partnerships and improve its ability to support vulnerable populations. 

Germany is already a major UNDP hub, with Bonn hosting the United Nations Volunteers programme. With the new transfers, the organisation’s footprint in the German city will exceed 400 positions. 

UNDP said it was “grateful to Germany and Spain for offering to host the organisation,” noting that the agreements would reinforce joint efforts “to eradicate poverty, reduce inequalities, protect the environment, and support crisis stabilisation and recovery.”

While New York will remain the UNDP’s global headquarters, only a small fraction of its workforce is based there. 

Fewer than 7% of staff work in the US city, according to the agency, which operates in about 170 countries and territories and employs roughly 22,000 people worldwide. More than 19,000 of them are already based in country offices and regional hubs.

The shift away from New York has been underway for months. At the start of 2026, UNDP also relocated 30 positions from the US to regional offices in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Arab States, Central Europe, and Asia and the Pacific, in a move aimed at placing staff closer to the communities they serve.

Is Trump building his own UN?

This UNDP exodus from New York comes as Trump establishes the so-called “Board of Peace,” a US-led initiative that some diplomats and analysts see as an attempt to sidestep the United Nations’ existing role in global conflict management.

According to the White House, the board will be central to implementing Trump’s 20-point plan to end the Gaza war, providing strategic oversight, mobilising international funding and ensuring accountability as the territory shifts from conflict to reconstruction. 

The initiative has triggered unease at the UN. 

La Neice Collins , spokesperson for the president of the UN General Assembly, stressed that global peace and security remain the UN’s exclusive mandate. 

“There is one universal multilateral organisation to deal with peace and security issues, and that is the United Nations,” she said.

The timing of the Board of Peace — alongside the relocation of hundreds of UN jobs out of New York — has sharpened questions about whether Washington is reshaping multilateral diplomacy around US-controlled structures, potentially eroding the authority of the UN system it once helped to build.

Together, these crisis zones will shape migration flows, global security , trade routes, and diplomatic alignments well beyond their borders.

Sudan

Sudan remains the most severe humanitarian emergency globally. The civil war that erupted in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces has devastated the country, displacing millions and pushing large populations toward famine. In the last year, the conflict showed little sign of resolution, with fighting increasingly fragmented and spilling into neighbouring states such as Chad, South Sudan, and Ethiopia. This year, the country could risk sliding further toward de facto partition, a scenario that would entrench instability across the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea corridor.

Yemen

In Yemen, the conflict is evolving rather than ending. While large-scale fighting has reduced in some areas, the country is increasingly divided between Houthi-controlled territories in the north and rival factions in the south backed by regional powers. This fragmentation weakens prospects for national reconciliation and carries global implications due to Yemen’s proximity to vital Red Sea shipping lanes. As maritime security concerns grow, Yemen’s instability in 2026 will remain tightly linked to regional geopolitics and global trade.

Myanmar

Myanmar enters 2026 locked in a protracted civil war following the 2021 military coup. Armed resistance groups now control significant territory, while the junta struggles to govern beyond major urban centres. Planned or proposed elections under these conditions risk deepening Myanmar’s legitimacy crisis rather than resolving it. The humanitarian toll continues to rise, with millions displaced and neighbouring countries such as Thailand, China, and Bangladesh absorbing the spillover effects.

DR Congo

In eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, violence persists despite diplomatic efforts to stabilise the region. Armed groups, including M23, continue to challenge state authority, exploiting ethnic tensions, especially in Goma and competition over mineral resources. Peace agreements reached last year still face serious implementation challenges , and failure to consolidate them in 2026 could destabilise the wider Great Lakes region, where conflict has long crossed borders and drawn in neighbouring states.

Nigeria

Nigeria’s crisis heading into 2026 is defined by overlapping insurgency, criminal violence, and worsening economic pressure, with jihadist groups such as Boko Haram and ISWAP continuing attacks across the northeast and northwest. In the Middle Belt and parts of the north, violence has increasingly targeted Christian communities, with deadly attacks in late 2025 killing dozens of civilians in Benue and Plateau states, particularly around the Christmas period.

The situation escalated internationally when the United States carried out airstrikes on December 24–25, 2025, hitting ISIS-linked camps in northwest Nigeria at the request of the Nigerian government. While the strikes disrupted militant operations, analysts warn that without addressing governance failures, poverty, and local grievances, Nigeria’s insecurity is likely to persist and deepen in 2026.

Taiwan vs. China

Beyond active war zones, strategic flashpoints are also reshaping risk in the Global South. Rising tensions between China and Taiwan, while centred in East Asia, carry global consequences that will be felt acutely across developing economies. Any escalation would disrupt trade , shipping routes, and semiconductor supply chains, forcing many Global South countries, deeply tied to both Chinese and Western economic systems, to navigate difficult diplomatic and economic choices.

These two countries join a host of others, like Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali and Gabon, among others.

Madagascar

After weeks of violent and deadly protests powered by Madagascan Gen Z over alleged corruption, the country's Army Personnel Administration Centre (CAPSAT) seized the sovereign power led by Colonel Michael Randrianirina . The Gen Z demonstrations grew beyond service issues into a broader rejection of the leadership of then-President Andry Rajoelina, who became the world's youngest head of state at 34 through a coup in 2009. The situation reached a tipping point when an elite military unit defected and joined the protesters, refusing orders to fire on civilians, effectively cutting Rajoelina off from core state security support.

This shift in military allegiance significantly undermined his ability to remain in power. Facing explicit threats to his life amid the rebellion and the loss of military backing, Rajoelina left Madagascar for a “safe location,” later confirmed to be outside the country, while claiming an attempted illegal power grab was underway. Colonel Michael Randrianirina has been in power since declaring a two-year transition exercise.

Guinea-Bissau

Army officers in Guinea-Bissau announced on Wednesday, November 26, that they had deposed President Umaro Sissoco Embaló , accusing him of mismanaging the political crisis and undermining democratic stability. The officers declared that the existing government had been dissolved and pledged to restore order and constitutional governance, though details about a transition timeline were not immediately clear. The announcement came amid heightened tensions following contested elections on the 23rd and reflected longstanding military influence over the country’s political landscape.

On the same day, sustained gunfire erupted near the national election commission headquarters amidst tensions over a tightly contested presidential election, with residents fleeing the area as shots were heard near multiple government buildings. The outbreak of gunfire occurred just as provisional results were expected. However, protesters took to the streets in Guinea-Bissau on Friday, December 12, to denounce the military coup and demand the restoration of democratic governance , highlighting deep public frustration with the political instability that has plagued the country.

Benin could have become the third country, but for the swift intervention of Nigeria and the country's loyalist forces that protected President Patrice Talon's sovereignty. Armed soldiers went on national television on December 7 to declare they had taken power in a coup , but by evening, the situation had calmed, and everywhere was clear.

Since August 2020, Africa has experienced ten coups.

In Dakar, Senegal, Djibril Gningue of the Research Group and Dappio – Council for Participatory Democracy and Good Governance (GRADEC) dismissed claims that the boycott is linked to allegations of a so-called “white farmer genocide” in South Africa. Instead, he argued that Washington’s decision reflects broader strategic anxieties.

Gningue said a “wind” of countries asserting their sovereignty is “blowing across the world and especially over Africa,” and warned that the US is ramping up pressure on the Global South as a result.

He suggested the boycott highlights a deeper shift in global power. “Isn’t it time to go in that direction, in the direction of a multipolar world ? Isn’t it also in the direction of sovereignism?” he asked, warning that attempts to pressure the Global South “will lead to the definitive decline of the West.”

“Of course, we’ve seen these election results, but it does not, of course, undermine the incredible, enormous relationship the Prime Minister has with President Trump, and the accomplishments that we have been able to get to because of this relationship that they have forged together,” said Israeli government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian.

“We have a bond that is stronger than ever between Israel and the United States right now, and of course, it’s based on our shared democratic values and dedication to our security and peace for countries in the entire free world,” Bedrosian added.

Mamdani won more than 50% of the votes to become New York’s first Muslim mayor and first mayor born in Africa , as well as the youngest mayor since 1892. 

During his campaign, Mamdani was tough on Israel, asserting that the country was committing genocide in Gaza, where nearly 70,000 have been killed in a dragging battle between Israeli forces and the Palestinian group Hamas. 

Mamdani had also labeled Netanyahu a “ war criminal.”

For his part, Trump, who had endorsed the No. 2 candidate for New York City mayor, Andrew Cuomo, said any Jew who voted for Mamdani is a “proven and self-professed JEW HATER, is a stupid person!!!”

“It was very certain that Biya was going to clinch another victory,” said Amindeh Blaise Atabong, a Yaounde-based journalist who covers politics and society. “He has the apparatus.”

At 92, Biya is one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders and the world’s oldest head of state. Over 42 years in power, he has built a vast political machinery that critics say extends well beyond the bounds of legality — and deep into the electoral process itself.

Atabong said many Cameroonians have lost faith in the ballot box entirely. The International Foundation for Electoral Systems has described the country as an “electoral autocracy,” one that holds regular votes but fails to meet basic democratic standards.

Protests erupted even before the official proclamation of results, triggering violent clashes in Douala, Cameroon’s commercial capital, that left at least four people dead. 

There were even reports from opposition candidate Issa Tchiroma Bakary, who finished second with 35.2% of the vote, of civilians outside his home being shot at hours before the announcement.

“It was very, very tense, and it has only gotten worse since then, especially after the proclamation of the results,” Atabong told Global South World. 

Biya has acknowledged the post-election violence in a brief statement released online shortly after being declared the winner, in what was his first and only public comment since re-election.

As protests swell across the country, uncertainty now hangs over Biya’s new seven-year term — including whether he will even be able to see it through, which would leave him in office until just shy of his 100th birthday.

“It's possible,” Atabong said when asked if Biya could step down before the term ends. “We've seen that in other places in Africa, with the most recent example being Madagascar, where the president had to flee because of popular protests.”

“So, everything is possible. We can’t rule that out.”

Change or nothing

Biya is set to be inaugurated on November 6 in Cameroon’s capital, Yaoundé. 

Atabong said the president returns to power over a country increasingly weary of the same leadership, with frustration especially high among the youth, a generation that feels locked out of opportunity and excluded from decision-making.

“The youth are really frustrated. Most of them are trying to leave the country. They are fed up with the system, which is mostly owned by octogenarians,” he said. 

Now entering his eighth term, Biya faces a Cameroon under growing strain, from global shocks such as the wars in Ukraine and Gaza to domestic challenges including the long-running Boko Haram insurgency and deep linguistic divisions between the country’s English- and French-speaking regions.

With a 92-year-old president who frequently disappears from public view, questions are mounting over whether Biya remains fit to govern.

“Economically, the country is shrinking, there is bad governance , there is corruption, there is high level of unemployment, the cost of living is high, and we have not really capitalised on the transformation of most of our local resources,” Atabong said. 

“All of that put together, it's a cocktail that can easily degenerate.”

Ruling for more than four decades has left Cameroon deeply dependent on Biya’s grip. Still, Atabong said many citizens are bracing for the inevitable instability that will follow his eventual exit, whenever that comes.

“There is no indication that he is ready to step down because after he modified the constitution in 2008, striking off the term limit, he is still free constitutionally to go in for another mandate after this current one, which he just won,” he said.

“People just want change, even if it means moving from bad to worse.”

What now?

For now, as Biya remains out of public view, opposition figures continue to contest the results of the October 12 election.

Tchiroma had called for a three-day national lockdown, urging Cameroonians to “let the entire country come to a standstill,” to show the world that “we are resisting and that we will not yield” and to remind the Biya government that “the strength of an economy is its people.”

However, following violent clashes outside his Garoua home, Tchiroma was reportedly forced to flee with the help of “loyalist army” members, a move that, if confirmed, could signal growing cracks within Biya’s own ranks.

“The way going forward, I think it will depend on a couple of factors. First of all, it depends on within the rank of the security forces,” Atabong said. “If that doesn't happen, then I think not long from now, the riots will grow. So, it all depends on the days ahead, how it's going to play out.”

Atabong also noted the muted reaction abroad. The African Union even congratulated the longtime Cameroonian president in a statement that also expressed concern over the post-election unrest in the country.

“Since Cameroon, and largely Africa, has been a diplomatic battlefield, most of the foreign powers are very cautious on how they go about relations with the incoming government,” he said.

“Big countries like the US, maybe Russia, maybe China, they will more or less end up at lip service and be more cautious about how they comment on the developments in Cameroon because they have their interest in the country,” he added. “For now, the international community is failing Cameroon.”

With just days to go before Biya’s November 6 inauguration, unrest continues to define the political climate. What unfolds in the coming days could determine not only the next seven years of Biya’s rule, but also whether Cameroon’s fragile calm can hold at all.

China's Tang Renjian (death sentence)

China’s Changchun Intermediate People’s Court handed Tang Renjian, the former minister of agriculture and rural affairs, a death sentence with a two-year reprieve for corruption on Sunday, September 28.

According to the court , over the period from 2007 to 2024, Tang abused both central and local positions to assist companies in securing project contracts, adjust personnel placements, and also leverage his influence in exchange for money and valuables.

The total value of bribes was reported at 268 million yuan($37.6 million).

Tang, however, received a suspended death sentence, which allows for the punishment to be reduced to life in prison after two years if he commits no other offences.

China’s Communist Party expelled Tang in November 2024, just six months after an anti-graft probe removed him from office.

His arrest comes on the back of President Xi Jinping’s sweeping purge of security and political elites, which was launched in 2020 to enforce absolute loyalty. Before becoming agriculture minister, Tang served as governor of Gansu from 2017 to 2020.

DR Congo's Joseph Kabila (death sentence)

Joseph Kabila, who ruled the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 2001 to 2019, met his fate on Tuesday, September 30, when the country's high military court sentenced him to death in absentia.

Although he was not in court and represented by no lawyers, he was convicted of treason, war crimes, crimes against humanity, sexual assault and other grave offences, with the court highlighting his alleged collaboration with the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels, which seized a part of Congo..

Alongside the death sentence, Kabila was ordered to pay $50 billion in damages to the Congolese state and victims.

Kabila was the president of DR Congo from 2001 to 2019. His tenure is reported to have been fraught with chronic instability, resource conflict, and regional interventions in the country.

Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro (27-year sentence)

Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court convicted ex-President Jair Bolsonaro of conspiring to orchestrate a coup after his 2022 election defeat and sentenced him to 27 years and three months in prison on September 11.

He was found guilty of leading a criminal organisation, attempting to abolish democratic rule by force, plotting a coup, committing violent damage, and degrading government property.

Evidence included his alleged role in planning the January 8, 2023, attacks on federal buildings in Brasília, pressuring the military, and even plotting assassinations of President Lula and Supreme Court justices.

The trial was historic, making Bolsonaro the first former Brazilian president convicted for directly attacking democracy. He remains under house arrest in Brasília, denies all charges as political persecution, and has filed an appeal seeking release.

Burkina Faso’s Prime Minister Jean Emmanuel Ouédraogo landed in New York for the 80th UN General Assembly , urging his delegation to project unity and discipline. He said the forum must be used to “expose, in no uncertain terms, Burkina Faso’s position on major global issues.” Starting Monday, September 22, the Burkinabè team will begin a series of high-level meetings, vowing to defend national sovereignty and make their voice “clear and coherent” among world leaders.

Global governance

Burkinabè Foreign Minister Karamoko Jean Marie Traoré met China’s ambassador Zhao Deyong on Friday for the official presentation of President Xi Jinping’s Global Governance Initiative. The framework promotes a multipolar world anchored in respect for sovereignty, international law, and multilateralism. Traoré praised the plan as fully aligned with Captain Ibrahim Traoré’s vision for Burkina Faso, saying the country “fully adheres” to its principles.

International Criminal Court

Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger jointly announced their withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC), blasting it as “a tool of neocolonial repression.” The Alliance of Sahel States (AES) argued that the ICC is incapable of addressing war crimes and is selective in its justice. The move follows their earlier break from ECOWAS and pivot toward Russia, underscoring the bloc’s widening distance from Western institutions.

Guinea-Burkina Faso partnership

Burkina Faso’s Prime Minister Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouédraogo met Equatorial Guinea’s Vice President Teodoro Nguema Obiang on the sidelines of the UNGA, with both sides pushing for ties that go beyond “declarations.” Ouédraogo insisted the political friendship must translate into “operational content” through bilateral consultations and joint commissions. The talks mark a renewed effort to turn warm words into shared projects in security and development.

Visit to Crimea

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry condemned as “illegal” a September 19 visit by ambassadors from Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso to Crimea, where they held talks with local authorities on trade, investment, and education. Kyiv said the move violated international law. The three Sahel states — now aligned as the AES — have already cut ties with Ukraine, citing its alleged support for “terrorist activities” in the Sahel. The controversy adds another layer of strain between Kyiv and the region’s juntas.