LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS The phased process of conducting local government elections (LGEs) in Puntland has now commenced, building on the agreements made between various political actors— mainly the political associations, Puntland state and the Transitional Puntland Electoral Commission (TPEC)….
RVI publishes books, research reports, research papers, briefings and meeting reports in a range of formats. Publications cover policy, research, arts, culture and local knowledge in the countries of eastern and central Africa. Research publications—books, reports and papers—are peer-reviewed. Some RVI publications are also available in French and/or Arabic.
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Overview Amid the major changes to Somalia’s political landscape seen over the past two decades, an abiding feature has been the reliance on clan-based power-sharing models, including the ‘4.5’ formula. Despite the Somali Provisional Constitution containing no reference to…
Overview Since the formation of Jubaland state in 2012, decades of conflict have given way to increased stability across parts of the region. Even so, insecurity, political violence and humanitarian crises have persisted amid recurrent tensions between Jubaland and…
- By Mustafe M. Abdi
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The current conflict over the contested city of Lasanod has the potential to expand into a crisis affecting several of the Somali-speaking territories. This blog – building on research the author conducted in 2021 – looks at the conflict…
- By Abdirahman Edle
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The site of recurrent famines and humanitarian crises, Somalia’s Bay and Bakool regions were once considered the country’s breadbasket. In this blog, researcher and former development worker Abdirahman Edle explains how, over the past two decades, the region has…
BACKGROUND For the past two months, disputes between political associations and the government of Puntland overshadowed the resumption of the local elections. Puntland has nine registered political associations that have competed during the recent early local elections. The rift…
Overview: Hirshabelle’s volatile political settlement Hirshabelle has been the site of continued political instability since its hasty formation as a Federal Member State (FMS) in October 2016, combining the two regions of Hiiraan and Middle Shabelle. Throughout the process,…
OVERVIEW Since 2012, when the internationally recognized Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) replaced the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), Somalia has sought to expand its process for selecting its leaders towards more democratic forms. So far, progress towards universal suffrage…
In 1972, the rate of literacy in the Republic of Somalia was estimated to be 5.40 per cent of the total population. Soon afterwards in 1974 the Siyad Barre government launched ‘The Somalia Rural Literacy Campaign’ – an ambitious campaign…
An all-inclusive Community Conference held in Garowe from May-August 1998 established Puntland State of Somalia. A guiding three-year Provisional Charter, endorsed in the Community Conference, sanctioned the formation of basic governance functions divided into the executive, legislative and judiciary…
Recent Publications
Commodification and Conflict in the Horn of Africa Borderlands
April 1, 2026
This report synthesizes findings from the Rift Valley Institute’s X-Border Local Research Network (2019–2025). In the surveyed studies, 25 leading local and international area specialists conducted extensive qualitative fieldwork across borderlands in South Sudan, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya and the Somali
Peace and Instability: Tigray since the Pretoria Agreement
March 26, 2026
CONFLICT TRENDS ANALYSIS / MARCH 2026 Summary THE ETHIOPIA PEACE RESEARCH FACILITY This conflict trends analysis was produced by the Ethiopia Peace Research Facility (PRF). The PRF is an independent facility combining timely analysis on peace and conflict from Ethiopian
Political Economy of Cash and Markets in Sudan
February 27, 2026
The research provides a snapshot of the war in Sudan in the period from February to April 2025. However, the war is dynamic, with political alliances and territorial control changing. The April 2023 conflict between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF)