A leading scholar of South Sudanese affairs said Saturday that federalism is not the same as Kokora. Giving a lecture on federalism during a debate at Juba University, Dr Douglas Johnson of the Rift Valley Institute said that Kokora should not…
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When the supporters of Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto began systematically attacking the International Criminal Court (ICC) as a neo-colonialist institution biased against Africans in the run-up to Kenya's 2013 election, their prime concern was domestic: to ensure their…
South Sudanese Intellectuals have called on the government to involve chiefs in decision making process since they play a key role in enhancing policy formulation and implementation. This call came following a two days public lecture on culture and…
Tom Porteous of Human Rights Watch reviews the Sudan Handbook. In 2004 the Rift Valley Institute organised its first Sudan field course. The course was conceived in a spirit of cautious optimism and motivated by a simple idea. Already by that time it…
17 March, 2013 (LONDON) – A delegation of South Sudan’s Traditional Leaders (TLs) has completed a tour of African countries in which a successful synthesis of governance at the local and centralised levels has been achieved. … Between July…
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…
The clock is ticking down on the launch of a military operation in eastern DRC against a Rwandan-Hutu militia that has refused to surrender and disarm. United Nations troops with MONUSCO in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, together…
I was in Juba two weeks ago participating in the Rift Valley Institute’s annual series of lectures at Juba University, whose theme this year was historic peace negotiations. Three sets of negotiations were examined: the 1972 negotiations thatled to…
Aid workers in Somalia, which faces worsening hunger three years after famine struck the country, believe the humanitarian system is "rotten" and are hamstrung by fears of being prosecuted for aiding terrorists, an expert said. … "We have been…
(Bloomberg) — Uganda vowed to expel Sudanese rebel leaders living in the country, signaling a potential thaw in relations between two African nations that in the past have accused each other of supporting anti-government insurgencies. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni…
Recent Publications
Enhancing the Role of Borderland Communities in Ethiopia’s Foreign Policy
October 15, 2025
Ethiopia’s borderland communities (BLCs) have historically influenced the country’s relations with its neighbours. These peripheral regions often serve as hubs for cross-border trade, repositories of natural resources and, at times, flashpoints of conflict. Surrounded by six neighbouring countries – Djibouti,
Women in the Social Sciences and Humanities in Ethiopia: The case of Addis Ababa University
October 10, 2025
This preliminary assessment is part of the launch exercise of the Ethiopian Women Researchers’ Network (EWNET). Focusing on Addis Ababa University as a pioneering higher institution in the country, the study looks into the status of women within these disciplines
Iddir in Contemporary Social Science and Humanities Research in Ethiopia: Historicizing and theorizing local infrastructures of care
October 3, 2025
The second Ethiopian Women Researchers Network (EWNET) seminar was delivered by Desalegn Amsalu, Anteneh Tesfaye, Yasmin Bushra and Helen Zeru on 3 July 2025 at Addis Ababa University’s Alle School of Fine Arts & Design. EWNET SEMINAR SERIES REPORT The