What future for democracy in Somaliland?
On 27 June 2013, the Nairobi Forum hosted the public launch of a report by Saferworld and the Somaliland Non State Actors Forum (SONSAF) on the 2012 district council elections in Somaliland. The report—Somalilanders Speak: Lessons from the 2012 local elections—records the observations of Somaliland civil society organizations, and highlights the ways in which electoral […]
Keeping the lifeline open
Every year, Somali migrants around the world send approximately $1.3 billion to friends and families at home, dwarfing humanitarian aid to Somalia. Individual transfers are usually less than $300, and often as little as $35. Families depend on the money for basic costs such as food, water, education and healthcare, and to cope with new […]
Rift Valley Forum coast series
The prospect of devolved county government has been met with particular enthusiasm in Kenya’s former Coast province since the passage of the new constitution in 2010. Many see devolution as offering a panacea for decades of the Coast’s perceived marginalization and underdevelopment by the central state. The Coast’s communities welcomed the opportunity of a new […]
Managing Development and Security
Inter-communal violence, cross-border conflict and insecurity in various parts of north-eastern Kenya in recent years have led to the loss of lives, properties and livelihoods. The common view is that these episodes of violence are associated with water and pasture resource scarcity. However, some analysts point to other important drivers of conflict, such as unequal […]
Slavery in the Sudans: Human rights and local moral worlds
John Ryle, Executive Director of the Rift Valley Institute, spoke on ‘Slavery in the Sudans: Human Rights and Local Moral Worlds’ at a conference on The Arts of Human Rights sponsored by the Institute of Social and Economic Research at the University of Witwatersrand (WISER) and Bard College, New York. The three-day event featured presentations […]
Sudan Studies Society Annual Symposium
The annual general meeting of the Sudan Studies Society of the United Kingdom took place in London at the School of Oriental and African Studies on 13 September. The event was held in association with the Royal African Society. The day-long programme featured a panel on South Sudan with speakers including RVI Fellows Douglas H. Johnson, the historian of South […]
A debate on federalism at Juba University
More than seven hundred people attended a lecture on federalism at Juba University on Saturday 5 July. The lecture was delivered by Rift Valley Institute Fellow Douglas H. Johnson and organised by RVI Fellow Luka Biong Deng, formerly Minister in the Office of the President. Dr Johnson’s talk was introduced by John Akec, Vice-Chancellor of […]
Property and Freedom
Experiments in South Africa and around the world are combating poverty while expanding freedom by granting title to assets such as land and public housing. Building on the work of Dr. Hernando de Soto, these experiments seek to integrate poor people into the formal economy where they can access credit, loans and investment income. In addition […]
Eastleigh and beyond
While Kenya considers how to deal with the hundreds of thousands of Somali refugees it has hosted for more than two decades, Somali trade and business in Kenya appears to be booming, with links to a wider global diaspora and trade hubs in the Middle East and Asia. Nairobi’s Eastleigh has become symbolic of this […]
South Sudan: Is Peace Possible?
Thousands have died and hundreds of thousands have been displaced as a result of the political crisis in South Sudan. Armed conflict continues as peace talks between government and opposition begin in Addis Ababa. READ THE MEETING REPORT Leading South Sudanese civil society institutions came together in Nairobi to sponsor discussion of the current […]