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Where RVI Works

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.

CoursesContested BorderlandsSudan Open ArchiveRift Valley ReviewRift Valley ForumUsalama
Sudan and South SudanEast AfricaGreat LakesHorn of AfricaAll Regions
Gérard Prunier discusses the history of Darfur
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Gérard Prunier discusses the history of Darfur on the RVI Sudan Course 2005 in Rumbek, Sudan.

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Sudan and South SudanGreat Lakes
Acuil Malith Banggol on the history of basketball in Sudan
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Sudan Open ArchiveCoursesContested BorderlandsRift Valley ForumRift Valley ReviewUsalama
Sudan and South SudanHorn of AfricaEast AfricaGreat LakesAll Regions
My Mother Will Not Come to Juba Report Launch
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In South Sudan, delays in the formulation of a new national constitution have led to growing public concern. My Mother Will Not Come to Juba: South Sudanese Debate the Constitution is the record of a series of public lectures and discussions held at the University of Juba in March 2013. The launch of the report, which is available for free download, featured many of the participants…

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Sudan Open ArchiveCoursesContested BorderlandsRift Valley ForumRift Valley ReviewUsalama
Sudan and South SudanEast AfricaGreat LakesHorn of AfricaAll Regions
Miraya FM South Sudan Archive feature
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On 15 June 2013, Miraya FM in Juba broadcast a feature on the process of digitizing documents for the South Sudan National Archives. The project is a collaboration between the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, RVI, UNESCO, UNOPS and the Government of Norway. ‘The documents are important,’ the report says, ‘as they will form part of the foundations of South Sudanese national identity. They…

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Rift Valley ForumRift Valley ReviewCoursesContested BorderlandsUsalamaSudan Open Archive
Horn of AfricaGreat LakesEast AfricaSudan and South SudanAll Regions
A Somali Spring?
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More than two hundred people attended 'A Somali Spring?', the first event of the RVI's Nairobi Forum on 11 October 2012. This is a 44-minute podcast featuring the highlights of the discussion between Kenneth Menkhaus, Jabril Abdulle, Amal Ismail, and Matt Bryden. The panellists discussed current developments in Somalia and the country's prospects following the election of President Hassan…

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Rift Valley ForumRift Valley ReviewCoursesContested BorderlandsSudan Open ArchiveUsalama
Horn of AfricaGreat LakesEast AfricaSudan and South SudanAll Regions
Somaliland election observers
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On 4 December 2012, the RVI's Nairobi Forum presented the assessments of five members of the International Election Observer team who monitored district elections in the Republic of Somaliland on 28 November. They were the fifth democratic elections held in Somaliland since 2002 and followed several weeks of campaigning. The observers presenting their findings at the event, held at the British…

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Rift Valley ForumRift Valley ReviewSudan Open ArchiveCoursesContested BorderlandsUsalama
Horn of AfricaEast AfricaGreat LakesSudan and South SudanAll Regions
Remittance transfers to Somalia
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On 11 September the RVI Nairobi Forum hosted a discussion about UK and US banks' discontinuation of their services to Somali remittance companies. The occasion was the launch of a report by Oxfam and Adeso Keeping the Lifeline Open: Remittances and Markets in Somalia. The report highlights the positive impact of remittances on Somali livelihoods and assesses the compliance of money transfer…

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CoursesContested BorderlandsSudan Open ArchiveRift Valley ReviewRift Valley ForumUsalama
Great LakesEast AfricaHorn of AfricaSudan and South SudanAll Regions
René Lemarchand
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René Lemarchand discusses the divergent responses to ethnicity in post-conflict Rwanda and Burundi during the Rift Valley Institute Great Lakes course, July 2010, Entebbe, Uganda.

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Rift Valley ForumRift Valley ReviewSudan Open ArchiveCoursesContested BorderlandsUsalama
Horn of AfricaEast AfricaGreat LakesSudan and South SudanAll Regions
Hasty Repatriation of Somali refugees
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On 15 February 2013, the Nairobi Forum hosted the launch of a report by the Mogadishu-based think tank, the Heritage Institute for Policy Studies (HIPS), entitled ‘Hasty Repatriation: Kenya's attempt to send Somali refugees home’. The research was undertaken in late 2012, after the Kenyan government called for Somali refugees to assemble in refugee camps and return to Somalia. With…

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Rift Valley ForumRift Valley ReviewContested BorderlandsCoursesSudan Open ArchiveUsalama
Horn of AfricaGreat LakesEast AfricaSudan and South SudanAll Regions
Nuruddin Farah and Binyavanga Wainaina in conversation
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On 18 April, the Rift Valley Institute's Nairobi Forum, in partnership with Kwani Trust, hosted an evening with renowned Somali author Nuruddin Farah. Nuruddin is winner of the Neustadt International Prize for literature and the Lettre Ulysses Award, and has been nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature several times. His body of work includes two trilogies, Variations on the Theme of…

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