9-12 JUNE 2025 THEME: ‘WAR MAKES STATES AND STATES MAKE WAR’ Led by Nicki Kindersley and Raga Makawi Failed transitions, war and economic collapse have shaped Sudan and South Sudan in the last year. Our course will tackle immediate…
Education and Training
Watch the trailer above to learn more about RVI’s field courses.
RVI Courses
RVI’s field-based education and training courses aim to inform key constituencies working in eastern and central Africa about the people and communities in the countries where they work. The education programme includes the Annual Field Courses on Sudan and South Sudan, the Horn of Africa, and the Great Lakes, and bespoke courses tailored for a variety of international organizations.
RVI’s first field course took place in 2004 in Kenya. Since then, the three annual courses have taken place in Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, southern Sudan and Uganda, while bespoke courses have taken place in more than 15 countries in Africa and in the UK.
RVI courses are tailored to the needs of the organizations who participate and are taught be leading experts and practitioners in the fields of political science, economics, anthropology, history, security, development, humanitarianism, policymaking, media and activism. RVI courses utilize multiple teaching formats including lectures, panel discussion, working groups, interviews and video presentations.
Researcher Training
RVI is also committed to working with researchers from eastern and central Africa to develop skills, experience, and provide mentorship as participants pursue careers in the research sector. While researchers from east and central Africa play a central role in all RVI research projects, often authoring or co-authoring reports and papers, the Institute currently manages two projects that are specifically aimed at provided training for researchers from the region. The projects are the Research Communities of Practice project (RCoP), supported by the Carnegie Corporation; and the South Sudan Women’s Research Network (SSWRN), funded by the European Union in South Sudan. To find out more about these projects please visit RVI’s projects page.
More information on our courses and researcher training opportunities can be found below:
REGION
SEARCH
2-5 JUNE 2025 THEME: CRISES NEW AND OLD? CONFLICT, CLIMATE AND GOVERNANCE IN THE GREAT LAKES Led by Jason Kayani Stearns The Great Lakes region of Africa faces its most severe political crisis in more than twenty years. The…
26-29 MAY 2025 THEME: TURBULENT WATERS IN THE HORN Led by Ken Menkhaus The Horn of Africa is entering a fifth year of extreme turbulence, a period that is testing the resilience of its states and citizens. The onset…
The Rift Valley Institute (RVI) is pleased to announce that applications are open for our 2025 annual field courses on the Horn of Africa, Sudan and South Sudan, and the Great Lakes. The RVI annual residential field courses, running since 2004, are taught by leading academics, researchers…
19-21 June 2024 Theme: Crises new and old? Conflict, climate and governance in the Great Lakes The Great Lakes region faces its most severe political crisis in over twenty years. While the UN peacekeeping mission withdraws from the DRC,…
This Q&A provides an overview of the topics to be covered during our Annual 2024 Great Lakes Course. This includes the political crisis in the Great Lakes region which focuses on conflict dynamics, governance issues, security sector reform, gender…
Applications are open for our annual field courses. This year our three courses on the Great Lakes, the Horn of Africa, and Sudan and South Sudan will be held at a tranquil location in Kilifi in Kenya. Our three-day residential courses offer critical…
This Year in the Horn of Africa: Latest Developments In Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Somaliland and Djibouti By Michael Woldermarian & Ken Menkhaus This briefing was written by Micheal Woldemariam and Ken Menkhaus, the Co-Directors of Studies for the Rift…
This Q&A explores the ecological crisis in the Horn of Africa, its impact on regional conflicts, changing foreign policies’ effects, shifts in donor priorities, and emerging strategies for refugees and internally displaced persons. It serves as a primer for…
In September 2022, the Rift Valley Institute in collaboration with Carnegie Corporation and the Open Society University Network launched the first cohort of the Early Career Researchers’ Training, part of the RVI’s Research Community of Practice (RCoP) project. The project…
Recent Publications
Making Sense of Borderlands
March 27, 2025
This think piece is an extract of a longer paper taking stock of the roughly 40 X-Border studies carried out between 2019 and 2025 under the auspices of the Rift Valley Institute’s XCEPT programme. If we are to fully grasp
Politicizing Public Events in Addis Ababa
March 26, 2025
The political landscape in Ethiopia since 2018 exemplifies how historical interpretations rooted in collective memory can shape political alignments. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali’s initial embrace of great tradition narratives clashed with the historical perspectives of his core constituency, the
Contested Urban Spaces in Ethiopia: A synthesis of case studies in Dire Dawa, Hawassa and Hosanna
March 25, 2025
Studying urban contestations in Ethiopia’s secondary cities can help us understand how the urban centres outside of Addis Ababa are evolving during an ongoing period of significant socio-economic and political change. Ethiopia’s urban centres are the location of ongoing political