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…
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More than forty specialists on Eastern and Central African history, politics, economics and culture taught on the RVI’s annual field courses this year. Journalists and activists joined academics, humanitarians, and policy-makers for three intensive one-week events covering the Horn of Africa,…
The people of Lakes State, in South Sudan–the majority Agar Dinka in particular–have the reputation among some other South Sudanese of being hot-blooded and short-tempered, a wild card in the wider Dinka confederation that constitutes South Sudan’s largest ethnolinguistic…
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…
On 30 November the Rift Valley Institute announced a search for three new senior staff members, to be based in the London and Nairobi offices of the Institute. The RVI London office also has a vacancy for an intern from…
The Rift Valley Institute’s annual field courses will be held in East Africa in June and July 2015. Course applications are now open. Locations of courses will be confirmed in early 2015. ONLINE APPLICATION FORM Taught by teams of…
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