Summary The RVI Sudan Abductee Database is the outcome of an eighteen-month field investigation into abduction during the civil war in South Sudan. The research was designed to create a useable record of persons missing, abducted, enslaved and/or…
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Summary The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of the 2010 presidential elections on peace and security in Somaliland and suggest areas where external assistance could be of value. The report, Securing the Peace in Somaliland, was…
Aims This programme comprises a series of studies of electoral processes and politics in Eastern and Central Africa. It aims to provide those involved in elections—electoral officials, civil society organisations, election monitors, donor agencies and others working in the…
Background In 2008, the Redsea Cultural Foundation and Kayd, Somali diaspora organisations in Italy and the UK, joined ranks to establish the Hargeysa International Book Fair. Now in its fourteenth year, the Fair has grown to become one of…
Background How do so-called fragile states exercise and maintain political power? What actors and institutions are involved in this process? How do they distribute the spoils of power amongst the elite and the population at large? These questions lie…
The RVI Usalama Project The eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo has been mired in violence for two decades and continues to be plagued by rampant insecurity. Yet, the drivers of this insecurity remain poorly understood. The Usalama Project…
When Kenyans voted in favour of a new constitution in the 2010 referendum, they endorsed many considerable changes to the country’s political, legal and institutional landscape. This included the introduction of a quota system intended to limit the domination…
The Rift Valley Institute’s Impact of War on Somali Men (IWM) study is a project which fills a critical knowledge gap on the impact of war and state collapse on Somali men and manhood. It provides important insights for…
Aims of the Project The Rift Valley Forum for Research, Policy and Local Knowledge, previously the Nairobi Forum, was established in 2012 to provide a new space for critical discussion of political, economic and social issues in Eastern and…
Aims of the Project The Contested Borderlands reports are authoritative studies of borders and border communities in Eastern and Central Africa, informed by historical archive work and anthropological field research. The series brings local knowledge and academic rigour to…
Recent Publications
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
ELECTIONS IN SOUTH SUDAN: LESSONS FROM EVERYDAY DEMOCRACY
January 31, 2025
South Sudanese people are suffering under economic and climatic crises and political stasis. The last two years have involved a rapid deterioration of basic living conditions and safety for the majority. Popular engagement with national elections must be understood in
POLITICAL UNCERTAINTY AND CONTINUING CONFLICT IN BENISHANGUL-GUMUZ
January 27, 2025
This paper offers an analysis of conflict trends in Ethiopia’s Benishangul–Gumuz Regional State, focusing on the period since the 2018 national political transition. As well as providing a historical overview, it examines the drivers of contemporary violence, the role of