After six days stationary in the Suez Canal, the Ever Given—a Panamanian-flagged container ship traveling from Malaysia to the Netherlands—was finally unstuck and able to continue its journey. While the name Ever Given will soon become a piece of trivia associated with a temporary blocking of one of the world’s most important…

RVI's Magnus Taylor speaks with RVI researchers, Joseph Diing Majok and Nicki Kindersley, about their latest report, Breaking Out of the Borderlands: Understanding migrant pathways from Northern Bahr el-Ghazal, South Sudan.

The Rift Valley Institute, in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, Museums and National Heritage, is sharing selected, approved documents from the South Sudan National Archives through social media channels to showcase the range of information available in the collection. This project is implemented in partnership with UNESCO with…

The Rift Valley Institute, Catholic University of South Sudan, and Likikiri Collective are pleased to release the fruits of their latest collaboration. 'We're Graduates Now...' An Oral History Exhibition of University Graduates' Educational Journeys is borne out of an oral history course hosted by the three institutions for faculty and…

In the second conversation with researchers from the Displaced Tastes project, Magnus Taylor—RVI’s Publications Manager—talks to Luga Aquila about his work on the cultural and economic significance of cassava for the Pujulu people of Central Equatoria, South Sudan. In particular, Luga explains the significance of Yoyoji-yojaja…

In this short conversation with RVI researcher Elizabeth Nyibol, Magnus Taylor—RVI’s Publications Manager—discusses the life of Elizabeth’s aunt, Mary Ajok, who is the main subject of a paper written by Nyibol in 2020. Mary’s life illustrates the extraordinary lengths that South Sudanese women have gone to in order to preserve their culture of…

In many countries around the world, the suppression of infectious disease has dominated life in 2020. Living through the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been impossible to ignore the fact that diseases, and human efforts to control them, are deeply shaped by social and political factors, as much as they are by biological ones.

After a long battle with cancer, our friend and colleague Santino passed away on 28 October 2020 in Khartoum in the care of his family.

Dr Adan Yusuf Abokor (‘Dr Adan’ to his colleagues and friends) who died last week in Turkey, was a remarkable man.

Over the past five years of RVI's South Sudan Customary Authorities project, the Institute has built a strong level of trust with customary authorities across the country. Continued engagement with chiefs is essential, particularly in finding ways to support and present the views and interests of their communities at the national level, and to…