Great Lakes Course 2012
The third Great Lakes Course was held in Bujumbura, Burundi from 7 to 13 July. The Director of Studies was Jason Stearns, also director of RVI’s Usalama Project and author of the acclaimed Dancing in the Glory of Monsters. The Deputy Director of Studies was Emily Paddon, Trudeau Scholar and Lecturer in International Relations at the University of […]
Livelihood concerns as Kenya kicks off regional infrastructure project
A report from IRIN, published in the Sunday Nation, on a meeting convened by the RVI Nairobi Forum to discuss plans for a Lamu Port and South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport Corridor. The LAPSSET project includes a port in Lamu, a 1,500km standard-gauge railway line from Lamu to Nakodok along the Kenya and South Sudan border, oil pipelines […]
The Future of Humanitarian Action
In June the Nairobi Forum hosted a consultation on the future of humanitarian action in the Horn of Africa and East Africa with the Feinstein International Centre at Tufts University and InterAction. The Forum also held a book launch for The Golden Fleece: Manipulation and Independence in Humanitarian Action (Kumarian 2012) edited by Antonio Donini (Feinstein International Centre).
Hargeisa International Book Fair
The sixth Hargeysa International Book Fair took place in Somaliland from 16-21 August 2013. Organized by the Redsea Online Culture Foundation in partnership with Kayd Somali Arts and Culture, the fair promotes arts and literature through public readings, panel discussions and creative writing competitions, and is particularly concerned to promote the engagement of young people. […]
Somalia CEWERU Conflict Assessment
A launch event for the Somalia Conflict Early Response Unit took place at the Nairobi Forum on 7 November 2013. From the Bottom up: Southern Regions—Perspectives through conflict analysis and key political actor’s mapping of Gedo, Middle Juba, Lower Juba, and Lower Shabelle is a conflict assessment designed to improve understanding of events in southern […]
Is Somalia Ready for Foreign Investment?
Private sector development is crucial to generating employment, stimulating livelihoods, and the provision of basic services in Somalia. Nevertheless, Somalia remains a challenging environment for most Somali and foreign investors. An analysis of market potentials and business strategy, and an understanding of local business practice is necessary. This meeting, organised by HanVard Africa and the Nairobi Forum […]
Somalia’s Puntland State: What Next?
On Friday 7 February 2014, the Nairobi Forum of the Rift Valley Institute (RVI) convened a meeting on the new political dispensation in the Puntland State of Somalia. Speakers and participants discussed issues around transition of power, ethnicity, constitution, and border conflict with Somaliland, piracy and relations with the Federal Government of Somalia. The meeting […]
Kenya will not force Somali refugees out, despite deadline for camp closure
NAIROBI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Kenya will not forcibly repatriate some 336,000 Somalis living in one of the world's largest refugee camps, but the government intends to continue with its plans to close the camp within three months for security reasons, a government official said… "While we are committed to the return of all refugees, […]
Training course in Somaliland on fieldwork methodology
In January, RVI organised a five-day training course in the University of Hargeysa in Somaliland, for Somali researchers, on social science research methodologies. The course brought together researchers from Hargeysa, Burco, Borama, Garowe and Mogadishu involved in RVI research projects in Somaliland, Puntland and south central Somalia. They were joined by staff from the University of […]
Kenya softens its position on proposed closure of Dadaab refugee camp
Kenya appears to have softened its stance on the imminent closure of a camp hosting more than a third of a million Somali refugees, weeks after the deputy president, reacting to the massacre at Garissa University, announced it would happen within three months. “While we are committed to the return of the refugees, you […]