The Rift Valley Institute works in partnership with the Ministry of Culture, Museums and National Heritage (MoCMNH) on the preservation and digitization of the South Sudan National Archives (SSNA). Under the current project, funded by the Government of Norway, through UNESCO, various activities are underway to showcase the information available…

After six days stationary in the Suez Canal, the Ever Given—a Panamanian-flagged container ship traveling from Malaysia to the Netherlands—was finally unstuck and able to continue its journey. While the name Ever Given will soon become a piece of trivia associated with a temporary blocking of one of the world’s most important…

RVI's Magnus Taylor speaks with RVI researchers, Joseph Diing Majok and Nicki Kindersley, about their latest report, Breaking Out of the Borderlands: Understanding migrant pathways from Northern Bahr el-Ghazal, South Sudan.

In the second conversation with researchers from the Displaced Tastes project, Magnus Taylor—RVI’s Publications Manager—talks to Luga Aquila about his work on the cultural and economic significance of cassava for the Pujulu people of Central Equatoria, South Sudan. In particular, Luga explains the significance of Yoyoji-yojaja…

In this short conversation with RVI researcher Elizabeth Nyibol, Magnus Taylor—RVI’s Publications Manager—discusses the life of Elizabeth’s aunt, Mary Ajok, who is the main subject of a paper written by Nyibol in 2020. Mary’s life illustrates the extraordinary lengths that South Sudanese women have gone to in order to preserve their culture of…

In many countries around the world, the suppression of infectious disease has dominated life in 2020. Living through the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been impossible to ignore the fact that diseases, and human efforts to control them, are deeply shaped by social and political factors, as much as they are by biological ones.

In April 2020 many of RVI’s South Sudanese researchers decided to return to their hometowns to avoid what they believed would be a large outbreak in the country’s capital, Juba. Following discussions with friends and family, the researchers proposed that RVI work with them to conduct a programme of messaging and awareness-raising on COVID-19.…

The South Sudan National Archives contains thousands of files, a rich historical record documenting the colonial period, and the early period of Sudan’s independence. One such file, numbered ‘EP 11 B 2’ is a collection of compensation claims, which were made by individuals whose homes were destroyed by the Sudan Armed Forces on 8 July 1965 in…

Somaliland reported its first case of Covid-19 in March, yet financial support from the international community and the diaspora has been largely absent. When diaspora assistance has been mobilized, it has been through less traditional mechanisms: younger, educated activists using online platforms.

This blog reflects on archival research into the construction of the grave of King Gbudwe in Yambio, carried out in the South Sudan National Archives. This is supplemented with recent photographs of the grave in Yambio, shared with me by Atem el-Fatih. Also included is some more recent (but very limited) information about the role of grave in…