The M23 Congolese rebel group (Guardian), widely thought to be backed by the Rwandan government, has been making significant gains in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in recent weeks. The rebels occupied the vital city of Goma for ten…
News
SEARCH
NEWS TYPES
REGION
Congo's M23 rebels have pulled back from the city of Goma but they are calling all the shots, leaving an increasingly isolated President Joseph Kabila with tough military and political challenges. The mining hub of Goma, the main city…
As our team drives out of our Goma hotel, we are told to wait at the barrier. The police commissioner of Goma has just returned to this city. Twelve bodyguards with ray ban sunglasses, clutching semi-automatic rifles and even…
With fighting continuing between rival factions of the M23 rebel movement in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the RVI’s Usalama Project presents a profile of one of the M23’s most important commanders, General Bosco Ntaganda. Despite his…
Radio France Internationale “Le Débat du jour”, 4 December 2012 Thomas-Daquin Muiti, président de la Société Civile du Nord-Kivu en direct de RDC Aloys Tegera, directeur de recherche au Pôle Institut de Goma Jason Stearns, directeur du Projet Usalama…
On 13 March 2013, RVI published French editions of the Usalama Project’s latest reports on armed groups in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). L’UPC en Ituri: la militarisation externe de la politique locale dans le nord-est du…
If recent events in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo seem familiar, it is because in many ways they are. History is repeating itself – as it tends to in places where deep-seated problems are left to fester. The…
Un nuevo grupo rebelde – M23 – han sacudido Congo, al gobierno congoleño, los países vecinos y la comunidad internacional. Ahora amenaza con dirigirse hacia la capital del país, Kinshasa. Más de 500.000 personas se han visto desplazadas en…
The Democratic Republic of Congo’s M23 rebel group said it’s preparing to withdraw from Goma, a day after saying any pull-out would be conditional on President Joseph Kabila’s government meeting a series of demands. The renegade fighters plan to…
Rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo kept a firm grip on Wednesday over towns captured from government forces, despite a pledge to respect a deal brokered by Uganda and withdraw. World powers and regional neighbors are scrambling to…
Recent Publications

Commodification and Conflict in the Horn of Africa Borderlands
April 1, 2026
This report synthesizes findings from the Rift Valley Institute’s X-Border Local Research Network (2019–2025). In the surveyed studies, 25 leading local and international area specialists conducted extensive qualitative fieldwork across borderlands in South Sudan, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya and the Somali

Peace and Instability: Tigray since the Pretoria Agreement
March 26, 2026
CONFLICT TRENDS ANALYSIS / MARCH 2026 Summary THE ETHIOPIA PEACE RESEARCH FACILITY This conflict trends analysis was produced by the Ethiopia Peace Research Facility (PRF). The PRF is an independent facility combining timely analysis on peace and conflict from Ethiopian

Political Economy of Cash and Markets in Sudan
February 27, 2026
The research provides a snapshot of the war in Sudan in the period from February to April 2025. However, the war is dynamic, with political alliances and territorial control changing. The April 2023 conflict between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF)