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…
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
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…
By Liz Mahiri After a two-year hiatus caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, RVI held its first in-person residential course at the end of June 2022 in Naivasha, Kenya. The programme restarted with the popular Horn of Africa course, which…
This briefing was written by Micheal Woldemariam and Peter Chonka, the Co-Directors of Studies for the Rift Valley Institute’s Horn of Africa Field Course, which will be taking place in Kenya from 27 June to 01 July 2022. Michael and…
The 2022 Horn of Africa Course examines the Somali-speaking lands, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti and northern Kenya. It explores the historical and contemporary features that make the Horn one of the world’s most crisis-ridden regions. The Q&A brief provides a contextualised…
This blog post was written by Alden Young and Naomi Pendle, the Co-Directors of Studies for the Rift Valley Institute’s Sudan and South Sudan Course, which will be taking place in Ethiopia from 24-28 June 2019. Alden and Naomi will be…
This blog post was written by Michael Woldemariam and Jutta Bakonyi, the Co-Directors of Studies for the Rift Valley Institute’s Horn of Africa Course, which will be taking place in Ethiopia from 17-21 June 2019. Michael and Jutta will be joined…
This blog post was written by Yolande Bouka and Marco Jowell, the Co-Directors of Studies for the Rift Valley Institute’s Great Lakes Field Course, which will be taking place in Ethiopia from 3-7 June 2019. Yolande and Marco will be joined…
The Rift Valley Institute’s three field courses offer a unique opportunity to spend an intensive week with an outstanding group of experts and fellow participants, away from routine distractions. Held annually in the summer, the courses are taught by teams of…
Recent Publications
WAR AND THE BORDERLAND: NORTHERN BAHR EL-GHAZAL DURING THE SUDAN CONFLICT
March 28, 2024
The devastating war in Sudan between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has also had a profound impact on the country’s neighbours, particularly South Sudan. This is especially the case for areas that border Sudan, including
RELIGION, CONFLICT AND SOCIAL COHESIVENESS: INSIGHTS FROM JIMMA
March 28, 2024
SUMMARY • Despite its predominantly Muslim surrounding area, Jimma is one of the most heterogeneous cities in Ethiopia’s Oromia region. Unlike other Ethiopian cities and towns, Jimma has not seen any major inter-religious or -ethnic clashes since the fall of
PROSPERITY TO THE PERIPHERY?
March 26, 2024
THE POLITICS OF RESOURCE EXTRACTION IN ETHIOPIA, POST-2018 SUMMARY • With the formation of the Prosperity Party (PP) in 2019, Abiy Ahmed’s government set out to redress the relationship between the central government and ‘peripheral’ regional states. This included reforms