On 29 and 30 April the Nairobi Forum hosted a workshop to discuss the impact of war, prolonged conflict, displacement and exile on Somali men and youth. The workshop, convened by Judith Gardner (co-author of The Untold Story: The War…
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There could hardly be a more poignant or devastating reminder of divisive instability that has spread throughout the Horn of Africa. On Monday, I moderated a discussion panel on how arts and literature can help rebuild society in the…
As fighting continues in Kordofan and Darfur, in Sudan, a report by the Kampala-based International Refugee Rights Initiative (IRRI), The disappearance of Sudan? Life in Khartoum for citizens without rights, examines the experiences of people from South Sudan and Western…
Princeton Lyman, US special envoy for Sudan and South Sudan, is stepping down. A White House source characterised Lyman’s departure as “the kind of personnel change that is normal at the end of a president’s first term and start…
In June the Nairobi Forum hosted a consultation on the future of humanitarian action in the Horn of Africa and East Africa with the Feinstein International Centre at Tufts University and InterAction. The Forum also held a book launch for The Golden Fleece:…
On November 28, for the fifth time in 10 years, the former British protectorate of Somaliland held multiparty elections. With more than 2,000 candidates from seven political parties and associations contesting 379 seats, international observers described the polls as…
Rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo said on Tuesday they would pull out of the eastern city of Goma in an apparent stalling of their drive to "liberate" the whole country. However, the situation on the ground remained…
By Magdi El Gazouli The contradictions ravaging the Sudanese Islamic Movement (SIM) matured in the folds of its 8th General Conference into an antagonism between loyalists and dissidents, an antagonism that the state attempted to resolve by means of…
Even before it kicks off in earnest, the assault on Somalia's port city of Kismayo is causing jitters. A preliminary push by UN-backed African Union troops on the last bastion of Somalia's Al-Shabab insurgency has already added to Somalia's…
The United Nations Security Council has voted to sanction the leaders of Congo's M23 rebel force that has occupied the eastern Congolese city of Goma as UN peacekeepers stood by without resisting. President Joseph Kabila said war had been…
Recent Publications
INFORMAL TRADE, GENDER AND CONFLICT DYNAMICS ON THE NEW KENYA-ETHIOPIA TRADE CORRIDOR
January 31, 2025
This report examines the effects of infrastructure development and shifting political conditions on trade and conflict at the Kenya–Ethiopia border, including on gender dynamics. In doing so, it focuses on how small-town cross-border traders in the town of Moyale, which
ELECTIONS IN SOUTH SUDAN: LESSONS FROM EVERYDAY DEMOCRACY
January 31, 2025
South Sudanese people are suffering under economic and climatic crises and political stasis. The last two years have involved a rapid deterioration of basic living conditions and safety for the majority. Popular engagement with national elections must be understood in
POLITICAL UNCERTAINTY AND CONTINUING CONFLICT IN BENISHANGUL-GUMUZ
January 27, 2025
This paper offers an analysis of conflict trends in Ethiopia’s Benishangul–Gumuz Regional State, focusing on the period since the 2018 national political transition. As well as providing a historical overview, it examines the drivers of contemporary violence, the role of