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Publications

Publications

The Institute publishes books, research reports, research papers, briefings and meeting reports in a range of formats. Publications cover policy, research, arts, culture and local knowledge in the countries of eastern and central Africa. Research publications—books, reports and papers—are peer-reviewed. Some RVI publications are also available in French and/or Arabic. Blogs can be read here.

The RVI is a signatory of the Budapest Open Access Initiative (2001); all publications are free for download in PDF format under Creative Commons licences. Print versions of most books and reports, and digital versions in Kindle and other specialist formats, are available for sale from Amazon and other online retailers, and from selected bookstores. Proceeds from sales are allocated to the Institute's Scholarship Fund, which provides support to researchers and activists from eastern and central Africa.

The views expressed in books and reports published by the RVI are those of the authors, not the Institute.

Nuruddin Farah in conversation with Binyavanga Wainaina
Rift Valley ForumRift Valley Forum
Horn of Africa
Meeting Reports
Nuruddin Farah in conversation with Binyavanga Wainaina
By
Florence Sipalla
2013
RVI - Nairobi Forum - Nuruddin Farah Meeting Report - 12 May 2013.pdf
Key points

Fiction is a powerful tool through which one can map a place, expose its complex identity and people to a wider audience, and keep a place alive for the exiled writer.

Local knowledge is key in understanding a place and her people, in particularly demystifying inventions about the place.

African nations have a responsibility to help Somalia rebuild, as…

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Continuity and change in Somalia
Rift Valley ForumRift Valley Forum
Horn of Africa
Meeting Reports
Continuity and change in Somalia
By
Nöelle Lee Okoth
2013
RVI - Nairobi Forum - Continuities and Change Meeting Report.pdf
Key points

Hybrid political orders are a reality in Somalia and have played an important role in political recovery and stabilization, but can become an obstacle to democratization.

War can serve as a tool of state-building and can create opportunities for women to be more active political players.

Despite the mixed results of devolved government in the region…

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The perils of peacekeeping without politics
UsalamaUsalama
Great Lakes
Briefings
The perils of peacekeeping without politics
By
Emily Paddon
2013
RVI Usalama Project - Briefing Paper 3 - UN peacekeeping in the DRC.pdf

This Usalama Briefing Paper sets out the history of UN involvement in the eastern DRC and analyses the challenges that continue to face the mission, even as it prepares to deploy a new intervention brigade, charged with neutralizing and disarming rebel groups and bolstering Congolese state reform. ‘The UN’s ability to play a constructive role in the Congo,’ Paddon notes, ‘has been constrained…

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L'homme fort de l'est de la RDC
UsalamaUsalama
Great Lakes
Briefings
L'homme fort de l'est de la RDC
By
Jason Stearns
2013
RVI Projet Usalama - Briefing 2 - Profil Ntaganda.pdf

Ce briefing du Projet Usalama présente un profil de l'un des commandants les plus importants du M23, le général Bosco Ntaganda. Malgré son inculpation par la Cour pénale internationale sur des accusations d’enrôlement et utilisation d’enfants soldats, de meurtre, de viol et d’esclavage sexuel, Ntaganda a toujours encore une audience considérable dans les rangs du M23. Les derniers combats ont…

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UsalamaUsalama
Great Lakes
Research Reports
L’UPC en Ituri
By
Henning Tamm
2013
RVI Usalama Project 5 L'UPC en Ituri FR.pdf

Ce rapport Usalama par Henning Tamm étudie la convergence des facteurs qui ont contribué à la formation puis à la dislocation de l’Union des patriotes congolais (UPC), l’un des groupes armés les plus puissants de l’Ituri. Créée dans le contexte de l’occupation ougandaise, qui entraîna une militarisation accrue de la politique, l’UPC constituait une tentative, à l’échelon local, de…

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UPC in Ituri: The External Militarization of Local Politics in North-eastern Congo
UsalamaUsalama
Great Lakes
Research Reports
UPC in Ituri
By
Henning Tamm
2013
RVI Usalama Project 5 UPC in Ituri.pdf

This report by Henning Tamm examines the convergence of factors that helped create and then broke apart the Union des patriotes congolais (UPC, Union of Congolese Patriots), one of Ituri’s most powerful armed groups. Created in the context of Ugandan occupation, which led to an increased militarization of politics, the UPC represented a local attempt to regain political and military…

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L'Ituri: or, questions foncières et ethnicité dans le nord-est du Congo
UsalamaUsalama
Great Lakes
Research Reports
L’Ituri
By
Dan Fahey
2013
RVI Usalama Project 4 Ituri FR.pdf

Ce rapport par Dan Fahey fournit le contexte historique des années de conflit dans le district de l’Ituri dans le nord-est du Congo. La nature particulièrement violente de la guerre qui sévit en Ituri––massacres à grande échelle, violences sexuelles généralisées et utilisation d’enfants soldats––a conduit l’Union européenne et les Nations Unies à intervenir et incité la Cour pénale…

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Ituri: Gold, Land, and Ethnicity in North-eastern Congo
UsalamaUsalama
Great Lakes
Research Reports
Ituri
By
Dan Fahey
2013
RVI Usalama Project 4 Ituri.pdf

This Usalama report by Dan Fahey sets out the background to the years of conflict in Ituri district of the north-eastern DRC. The particularly vicious nature of war in Ituri––including large-scale massacres, widespread sexual violence, and the use of child soldiers––led to interventions by the European Union and United Nations, and prompted the International Criminal Court (ICC) to indict four…

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Strongman of the eastern DRC: A profile of General Bosco Ntaganda
UsalamaUsalama
Great Lakes
Briefings
Strongman of the eastern DRC
By
Jason Stearns
2013
RVI Usalama Project - Briefing - Ntaganda Profile.pdf
About this publication

This Usalama Project Briefing presents a profile of one of the M23’s most important commanders, General Bosco Ntaganda. Despite his indictment by the International Criminal Court on charges of recruiting child soldiers, murder, rape, and sexual slavery, Ntaganda still has a considerable following in M23 ranks. The latest fighting comes in spite of the UN-mediated…

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Somalia's Jubbaland
Rift Valley ForumRift Valley Forum
Horn of Africa
Meeting Reports
Somalia's Jubbaland: Past, present and potential futures
By
Ndanu Mung'ala
2013
RVI - Nairobi Forum - Somalia's Jubaland Report.pdf
Key points

Due to its natural resources and location, Jubbaland has the potential to be one of Somalia’s richest regions, but conflict has kept it chronically unstable for over two decades.

The regions of Jubbaland are not linked by road and have no history of shared administration. As an administrative unit, Jubbaland is not likely to be functional.

The Somali…

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