RVI Horn of Africa and East Africa Regional Director Mark Bradbury and RVI Senior Researcher Aly Verjee will be part of the International Election Observer team observing the Somaliland district and council elections on 28 November. These are the…
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The RVI US office and the Chinua Achebe Center presented a conversation at Bard College on 21 March between Zimbabwean writer NoViolet Bulawayo and Teju Cole, author of Open City and Every Day Is For The Thief. NoViolet's story…
In a contribution to a new book, The Golden Fleece: Manipulation and Independence in Humanitarian Action (Kumarian Press), Mark Bradbury writes on the political fallout from the failure of state-building in Somalia. He and his co-author, Robert Maletta, review…
RVI Great Lakes Project Officer Michel Thill writes in opendemocracy.net on the history of anti-government rebellions in the Kivu provinces of the eastern DRC. 'Though triggered by a combination of recent events,' he writes, 'the pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial…
Faisal Goes West is a tragicomic drama about a Sudanese family's adjustment to life in the United States. The film is directed by Bentley Brown and produced by Rani Birchfield with a largely Sudanese and American production team and…
On 2 November 2012, the RVI launched the first of a series of reports on the M23 and other armed groups in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), part of RVI’s Usalama Project on armed groups in…
In November Fergus Nicoll, the Institute's Publications Manager, won the Association of International Broadcasters annual radio news award for his work for the BBC covering the independence of South Sudan. In their citation, the judges wrote: 'The judges were…
RVI is seeking to recruit two new staff members for the Rift Valley Institute office in London, one entry-level position and one senior post. The successful candidates will join the RVI's small core administrative team in our London office….
Channel 4 International News Editor and RVI Trustee Lindsey Hilsum's Sandstorm: Libya in the Time of Revolution was launched in the UK in April to a chorus of praise from reviewers. It traces the history of Gaddafi’s long regime…
A two-day series of lectures was held in Juba on 2 and 3 June 2011, in the run-up to the independence celebrations in South Sudan. The theme of the lectures – the second in an annual series – was…
Recent Publications

Minor Demarcations, Micro-Dams—Major Drama? Ethno-territorial expansionism and precarious peace in the Oromia–Somali borderlands of eastern Ethiopia
May 20, 2025
The report highlights the overlapping claims to and distributive struggles over territory and resources in the Oromia-Somali borderlands which animated inter-regional competition between the Oromia Regional State (ORS) and Somali Regional State (SRS), resulted in the brief 2023 uptick in

When Women Sing: How Murle women use arts and cultural mediums to communicate
May 16, 2025
This research explores how Murle women in the Greater Pibor area of central eastern South Sudan use not just songs but dance, hairstyles, body marks and beads to express themselves. Its objective is to draw attention to the ways Murle
Effectiveness of Women in Politics and Improving Gender Equality in South Sudan
May 2, 2025
This report argues that, in order to improve women’s participation in politics and promote gender-responsive policies in the country, there is a need to enlarge government capacity for women’s leadership by introducing equal gender quotas for decision-making positions. Summary Women’s