In 2015, Sudan experienced a further escalation of wars, associated with gross human rights violations in Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile. Despite numerous rounds of peace negotiations, no breakthrough has been made. The entire political landscape of Sudan continues in disarray. Both political and armed and opposition groups suffer from a…

In Ethiopia, elections in May 2015 resulted in victory for the ruling Ethiopian Peoples Democratic Front (EPRDF) with 100 percent of the seats in parliament. While met with incredulity abroad, this outcome meant that the EPRDF, despite the death of long-time leader Meles Zenawi in 2012, would continue to function as before. Meanwhile, peaceful…

Electoral season has hit the Great Lakes region and has brought with it an increase in contentious politics, open conflict and uncertainty. Last year, a violent crisis gripped Burundi after the ruling party announced that President Pierre Nkurunziza would run for a third term, despite arguments by the opposition that the bid was in violation of…

Due to operational reasons beyond RVI’s control, this year’s annual Field Courses will now be held in Entebbe, Uganda rather than Ethiopia. Entebbe was the location of the first Great Lakes Course in 2010. RVI is excited to be returning to Uganda, and looks forward to holding all three courses on the shores of Lake Victoria. Entebbe…

Due to operational reasons beyond RVI’s control, this year’s annual Field Courses will now be held in Entebbe, Uganda rather than Ethiopia. Entebbe was the location of the first Great Lakes Course in 2010. RVI is excited to be returning to Uganda, and looks forward to holding all three courses on the shores of Lake Victoria. Entebbe…

In the course of 2015, recruitment for certain factions of the Raia Mutomboki armed group intensified in the area of Bunyakiri, located in Kalehe territory in the province of South Kivu (Democratic Republic of the Congo). In this blog, Lebon Mulimbi suggests that the reasons for this recent upsurge in recruitment are primarily to be found in…

RVI is sad to announce the loss of our colleague Said Mohamed Dahir, who collapsed and died unexpectedly on 5 March 2016. Born in Hargeysa, Said’s childhood like many others of his generation was marked by civil war, which forced his family to flee their home in 1988 to Ethiopia. After the war Said was able to resume his studies to become one…

Vendredi 10 mai 2013 à 23 heures mourrait assassiné par balles Teso Ntarubibi, chef du village Chifunzi en groupement de Kalonge, territoire de Kalehe. L’infortuné était une des grandes personnalités de la famille royale Nakalonge régnant sur Kalonge. Son assassinat ne tardât pas à créer la panique dans le milieu. De centaines de familles…

La présence sur le sol congolais des Forces Démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda  (FDLR), un mouvement armé des combattants Hutu rwandais créée en 1999/2000, remonte à la période post-génocide au Rwanda après 1994. En République démocratique du Congo (Zaïre à l’époque), ces combattants commencèrent à se regrouper et à se réarmer dans les…

While refugees and the war in Syria have dominated the headlines this year, other conflicts continue to rumble on. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, a recent count identified 70 armed groups in one province alone. Why are there so many and what is behind the fiendishly complex and endlessly shifting alliances and breakaway factions? A new…