Speakers at a Nairobi forum sponsored by the Rift Valley Institute expressed concern for the future of South Sudan following a ceasefire agreement brokered in Addis Ababa late last week. Participants also raised issues concerning the presence of Ugandan…
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Sudanese President Umar al-Bashir’s appointment as vice president of a former military officer who helped him seize power a quarter-century ago strengthens the country’s army against Islamists who may threaten his rule, according to Magdi El Gizouli at the…
JUBA, 21 January 2014 (IRIN) – The UN warned this month that acts committed by both sides in the South Sudan crisis could amount to crimes against humanity, and urged parties engaged in peace talks to establish mechanisms to…
Charlotte Mertens, a researcher into sexual violence in the DRC, warns that Congolese victims of rape have different ideas about the kind of help they need from those who are trying to help them. Her commentary first appeared in…
RVI Fellow Mary Harper of the BBC World Service, Nuur Sheekh, Coordinator of the RVI Nairobi Forum and Sitara Jibreen of the International Committee of the Red Cross discuss the compromises made by aid agencies operating in al-Shabaab-controlled areas of…
'South Sudan can still be a successful country, but it requires leadership that is prepared to do that and so, on both sides of the current dispute between Riek Machar and Salva Kiir, both sides need to find it…
In a recent article for the Journal of African History, DRC specialist René Lemarchand writes that ‘there can be no doubt about Jason Stearns’ impressive command of l’histoire évènementielle, a fact amply confirmed by the excellence of the several monographs…
The president of South Sudan said his guards fended off renegade soldiers who were attempting to overthrow the government, a clash that exposes the oil-rich nation's fragmented and fragile political situation. Dressed in military fatigues, President Salva Kiir told…
KHARTOUM, Sudan — The United States has demanded negotiations. Uganda has threatened to intervene. China has called for an immediate cease-fire. The conflict in South Sudan has attracted attention from around the world, but nowhere are leaders watching the…
Countries in the East African region are sharply divided over military intervention in South Sudan, as the talks in Addis Ababa flounder over political detainees and the presence of Ugandan troops… Kenya and Ethiopia have resisted [President] Kiir’s appeal…
Recent Publications

DOMINANT PATTERNS AND DYNAMICS OF URBAN CONTESTATIONS IN HAWASSA
February 12, 2025
Studying urban contestations in Ethiopia’s secondary cities can help us understand how the urban centres outside of Addis Ababa are evolving during an ongoing period of significant socio-economic and political change. In this regard, Hawassa in Sidama region provides an

RESTRUCTURING THE MARGINS: EMERGING POLITICAL ORDERS IN KENYA’S BORDERLANDS
February 11, 2025
During the past decade, northern Kenya’s peripheral border counties have become key to the central state’s political and economic agenda. This synthesis report therefore uses the concept of ‘restructuring the margins’ to unpack the findings of two case study reports

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