Book Launch: We Kissed the Ground | Carrada Ayaan Dhunkannay

We Kissed the Ground

In 2015, an estimated 154,000 migrants entered Europe via the Mediterranean from Libya. Somalis – most of them young men – were among the top five nationalities crossing the Mediterranean during the first six months of 2015. Although much has been written about the rise in migration to Europe and migrant deaths at sea, little […]

Dhaqaalaha ku baxa Doorashooyinka Soomaalilaand

‘Xogta ku jirta warbixntu waa dhab iyo ‘xaqiiqo’…waxa jira wax badan oo arintan laga baranayo.’  SUCAAD IBRAAHIM, PROGRESSIO, SOOMAALILAAND ‘Daraasaddani waa mid gaar ah sababtuna waa su’aasha laga duulayo, waxana taa kasii muhiimsan, waa jiritaanka iyo muhiimadda wixii ka soo baxay. Waxa ay si balaadhan wax uga taraysaa arimaha badankooda lala xidhiidhiyo xaaladda doorashooyinka Soomaalilaand. […]

LAPSSET

‘This study is in-depth, up-to-date and the first of its kind on a massive infrastructure development project in the region, examining its history, politics, evolution, the emergence of actors and interests and effects on the poor and marginalized. It presents the ambitions and ambiguities of a megaproject never seen in the development history of the […]

Stabilization in Eastern and Central Africa

‘The conference has put into perspective what stabilization means in South Sudan as opposed to what it means in Somalia and in the DRC. And putting my own insights on stabilization alongside those of the speakers here has given me a different lens through which to understand and evaluate events in Somalia.’  SAGAL SHEIKH ALI, […]

Carrada Ayaan Dhunkannay

‘Waa sheeko ka mid ah kuwii ugu xiisaha badnaa ee aan la kulmo, oo ka warramaysa waayoaragnimada qurbaawi Soomaali ah, oo ka raadsanaya meel kale, nolol aayatiin dhaanta tan aan xasilloonayn ee geyiga Soomaalida. Akhriskeedu waxa uu ii noqdey mid caqiibo leh, si cilmiyeysan u qoran, oo aanad ka xiiso goynayn. Waan dhiirigelinayaa akhriska sheekadan.’ […]

Political settlements and public authority in the DRC

Source: UN

On 8 December 2017, the Rift Valley Forum hosted a panel discussion on political settlements, public authority and armed groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The panel brought together researchers from the Political Settlements Research Programme (PSRP), a four-year research programme funded by the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) and led […]

The impact of war on Somali men and its effects on the family, women and children

In recent years Somalia has earned the ignominy of being ranked ‘one of the worst places in the world to be a woman’, the worst place on Earth to be a mother and ‘one of the worst places in the world to be a child.’ Contributing factors cited include high female illiteracy, widespread Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), early and […]

Preliminary Observations from the 2017 Somaliland Presidential Elections

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Listen to Part 2 and the Q&A here. Somaliland declared independence on 18 May 1991. Since then, the country has enjoyed effective autonomy and established significant international cooperation and diplomatic ties with other countries. It has held a series of elections in the presence of international electoral observers. On 13 November 2017, Somalilanders went to […]

Coal: Development, energy and employment

The mining of Kenya’s coal deposits has started in earnest in line with Kenya’s aspiration to become a middle-income industrialized country by the year 2030. A key element in reaching this goal is the generation of energy to power industries and making electricity more widely accessible to the population in Kenya.  While the government is […]

Cultural Identity: Kenya and the coast

During 2010 and 2011, a secessionist campaign led by a group calling itself the Mombasa Republican Council (MRC) dominated debates about coastal politics. As a result of local grievances, the MRC’s call for secession attracted a degree of public sympathy on the coast.  Debates emerged that portrayed two contrasting images of Kenya: the inclusive nation […]