Nimo-llhan Ali and Rashid Abdi discuss migration, the meaning of tahriib, and the challenges faced by returning youth in Somaliland and diaspora. The discussion took place on the 2014 Horn of Africa Course.

Ngundeng Bong, the most famous of the Nuer prophets, lived between c.1830 and 1906. His father, Bong Can, was a kuar muon ('earth-master' or 'leopard-skin chief'), originally from the Bul Nuer in the west of the Nuer area, who came to live among the Gaajok in the east, near the Ethiopian border. His mother, Nyayiel, was from the Lou…

In National Dialogue in Sudan, a paper for the Sudan Democracy First Group, RVI Fellow Atta el-Battahani examines the successes and failures of  national dialogue in Sudan and South Sudan, from  1956 to 2012. He identifies a series of recurrent obstacles: the bad faith of the protagonists, the limited scope and inadequate…

In National Dialogue in Sudan, a paper for the Sudan Democracy First Group, RVI Fellow Atta el-Battahani examines the successes and failures of  national dialogue in Sudan and South Sudan, from  1956 to 2012. He identifies a series of recurrent obstacles: the bad faith of the protagonists, the limited scope and inadequate…

Today, the Redsea Cultural Foundation supported by the Rift Valley Institute, with the assistance of the European Union, launched the "Hargeysa Cultural Centre". This new Centre, the first of its kind, will contribute to the protection of the Somali cultural heritage and the revival of Somali culture. It will create new spaces for cultural…

Today, the Redsea Cultural Foundation supported by the Rift Valley Institute, with the assistance of the European Union, launched the "Hargeysa Cultural Centre". This new Centre, the first of its kind, will contribute to the protection of the Somali cultural heritage and the revival of Somali culture. It will create new spaces for cultural…

More than forty specialists on Eastern and Central African history, politics, economics and culture taught on the RVI’s annual field courses this year. Journalists and activists joined academics, humanitarians, and policy-makers for three intensive one-week events covering the Horn of Africa, the Sudans, and the Great Lakes. The courses took…

A leading scholar of South Sudanese affairs said Saturday that federalism is not the same as Kokora. Giving a lecture on federalism during a debate at Juba University, Dr Douglas Johnson of the Rift Valley Institute said that Kokora should not be considered as a system of government. “Let us be clear, Kokora is not the same as federalism,”…

A leading scholar of South Sudanese affairs said Saturday that federalism is not the same as Kokora. Giving a lecture on federalism during a debate at Juba University, Dr Douglas Johnson of the Rift Valley Institute said that Kokora should not be considered as a system of government. “Let us be clear, Kokora is not the same as federalism,”…

The U.S. military can sometimes seem unaware of how inaccessible their African counterparts are to their own civilians. African militaries often serve corrupt dictators and routinely commit grave human rights abuses. In Nigeria, the military is essentially an oil-skimming operation so dysfunctional that it has been unable to act on U.S. and…