By Sally Healy The election of Hassan Sheikh Mohamud by Somalia’s Transitional Parliament is an unexpected success for the hugely discredited political process in the country. It could prove to be a turning point in Somalia’s recovery. With twenty…
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By Aly Verjee Amid continuing political drama in both Egypt and Ethiopia, the management of Africa's longest river might not seem an urgent priority. But every year that passes without meaningful cooperation between the Nile Basin's two most populous…
Ethiopia has said acting prime minister Hailemariam Desalegn will remain at the helm until elections in 2015. The announcement came as the body of autocratic ruler Meles Zenawi was brought home for burial. … Sally Healy is an expert…
On 18 April, the Nairobi Forum, in partnership with Kwani Trust, hosted an evening with renowned Somali author Nuruddin Farah. Nuruddin is winner of the Neustadt International Prize for literature and the Lettre Ulysses Award, and has been nominated for…
On 18-19 February 2013, RVI and the Somalia NGO Consortium co-hosted a two-day 'Introduction to Somalia' course at the Lukenya Getaway in Kenya. RVI managed the first day's event, providing a brief introduction to the history, politics, and culture of…
The annual Hargeysa International Book Fair took place in August 2013 in the Somaliland capital. The star attraction was the poet Mohamed Ibrahim Warsame, “Hadraawi”, now in his seventies. (The meaning of his nickname, "Hadraawi", which was given to…
Somali author Nuruddin Farah discusses his writing—and its relation to Somalia and the African condition—with Tom Odhiambo of Nairobi University. The interview was filmed for the Rift Valley Review. …
In this essay for the Rift Valley Review, Christopher Clapham, distinguished historian of Ethiopia, discusses the distinctive features and fraught history of the Horn of Africa, its arbitrary frontiers, its contrasting styles of government, and its hold on the scholarly imagination Why is the…
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…
Recent Publications

የድንበሮች ውዝግቦችና ሊያስከትሉት የሚችሉት ምስቅልቅል: በምስራቅ ኢትዮጵያ በኦሮሚያ እና ሶማሊ ክልል አዋሳኝ አካባቢዎች የሚታየው የወሰን ውዝግብና እና ጥንቃቄ የሚሻው የሰላም ጥረት
July 18, 2025
በኦሮሚያ እና በሶማሊ ክልል ድንበር አካባቢ የሚገኙ አከራካሪ ቦታዎች ላይ አስተዳደራዊ ቁጥጥርን ለማጠናከር በሚደረገው ፉክክር የሚነሱ ግጭቶች የተዳፈኑ ቢመስሉም ጨርሰው አልጠፉም። ይህ በምስራቅ አፍሪካ ረጅሙ የሀገር ውስጥ የክልሎች ወሰን ሲሆን፥ አካባቢው ከ2009–2011 ግጭት እና የአገር ውስጥ መፈናቀልን ያስከተለም ነበር። የኢትዮጵያ

የከተሞች ውዝግቦች በኢትዮጵያ፡ የድሬ ዳዋ፥ ሐዋሳና ሆሳዕና ጥናቶች ጭምቅ
July 18, 2025
በኢትዮጵያ ከአዲስ አበባ ያሉ ከተሞች ውስጥ የሚታዩ ውዝግቦችን ማጥናት ከመዲናይቱ በመቀጠል ያሉ ከተሞች ጉልህ በሆኑ የማኅበረ-ኢኮኖሚያዊና ፖለቲካዊ ለውጦች መሐል እንዴት እየተለዋወጡ እንደመጡ ለመረዳት ያግዛል። የኢትዮጵያ የከተማ ማዕከሎች የአገሪቱ የፖለቲካ ግጭቶች፥ የኢኮኖሚ ምስቅልቅሎችና ማኅበረ-ባህላዊ ስብራቶች የሚገኙባቸው ስፍራዎች ናቸው። ይህ ጭምቅ የጥናቶች

የሕዝባዊ ክዋኔዎችና የፖለቲካ መልክ በአዲስ አበባ
July 18, 2025
ከ2010 ወዲህ ያለው የኢትዮጵያ የፖለቲካ ምህዳር በጋራ ትውስታዎች የተሰናሰሉ የታሪክ አተረጓጎሞች የፖለቲካ ወገንተንነትን እንደሚቀርፁ የሚያሳይ ነው። ጠቅላይ ሚኒስትር ዐቢይ አህመድ ወደ ሥልጣን እንደመጡ የታላቁ ትውፊት ትርክቶችን (great tradition narratives) ማቀንቀናቸው የርሳቸው ድጋፍ ማዕከል ከሆነውና ይህንን ትርክት ከሚገዳደረው የኦሮሞ ማኅበረሰብ የታሪክ