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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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…
Abaarso Tech is a newly-established secondary school in Somaliland. The school provides international-level education for outstanding students. Rift Valley Fellow Ahmed Esa, one of the school's prime movers, seeks to recruit a number of teachers to join its staff….
On 6 December 2012, the RVI's Nairobi Forum hosted a seminar on ‘Rethinking state-building in Somalia: Negotiated statehood and hybrid governance’. The first discussion was led by Dr Marleen Renders, author of Consider Somaliland: State-Building with Traditional Leaders and…
On 21 June 2013, the Nairobi Forum and the Kwani Trust hosted Nadifa Mohamed, the Somali-British author, in conversation with Ellah Allfrey, Deputy Editor of Granta, which listed Nadifa among the best young British novelists. Born in Hargeisa and raised in South London,…
H. E. Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, President of Somalia’s Federal Government, has stressed that restoration of security is his key priority. Speaking to RVI Fellow Sally Healy during an official visit to London for talks with the British government, he…
On 21 February 2013, the RVI’s Nairobi Forum hosted a panel discussion on the regional implications of the death of Ethiopia’s Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi, in August 2012. The event, entitled ‘Ethiopia after Meles: National and regional implications’, was chaired by…
Videos of Nuruddin Farah in conversation with Binyavanga Wainaina at the Nairobi Forum and tributes by the two writers to Chinua Achebe, are now on YouTube. An interview by Tom Odhiambo with Nuruddin Farah is also available….
The poet Maxamed Ibrahim Warsame ‘Hadraawi’, has been awarded the Prince Claus Award. The award was presented to Hadraawi at a ceremony in Hargeisa on 17 April by Joost Reintjes, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Kenya….
Dozens of new images have been added to a website featuring more than 160 photographs, maps and drawings of Mogadishu, dating back to the late eighteenth century. Visitors to Mogadishu: Images from the Past are invited to add comments under each…
Recent Publications
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‘THE FUEL IS US’: WATER, OIL AND DEBT ON THE SUDAN-SOUTH SUDAN BORDERLANDS
February 18, 2025
South Sudan and Sudan’s borderlands are run by a patchwork of armed authorities. Since early 2019, when opposition forces were effectively wiped out, these zones of control have remained relatively fixed, even as the war in Sudan drew close to
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Conflict, displacement and children in paid work in the Sudan-South Sudan borderlands
February 17, 2025
In this blog, Manal examines the pressures forcing many displaced people, including children, to seek paid labour to supplement dwindling support mechanisms in camps in South Sudan. The author draws on her research in 2024 as part of the XCEPT
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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