This Usalama Project report sketches the historical background to the proliferation of armed groups that have emerged in the North Kivu province of the DRC over the past two decades. It serves primarily to demystify the numerous factions and…
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.
The RVI is a signatory of the Budapest Open Access Initiative (2001); all publications are free for download in PDF format under Creative Commons licences. The views expressed in books and reports published by the RVI are those of the authors, not the Institute.
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This report by Henning Tamm examines the precipitous decline in armed violence in Ituri, a district that manifests all of the Congo’s main challenges to stabilization. The report focuses on the Front des nationalistes intégrationnistes (FNI, Front of Integrationist Nationalists) and the Force…
This Usalama Project report describes the origins, rapid evolution, expansion and activities of this diverse force. The group began as a local response to rampant insecurity but profited from flaws in the various peace deals in the eastern DRC,…
This report by Henning Tamm examines the convergence of factors that helped create and then broke apart the Union des patriotes congolais (UPC, Union of Congolese Patriots), one of Ituri’s most powerful armed groups. Created in the context of Ugandan occupation,…
This Usalama report by Dan Fahey sets out the background to the years of conflict in Ituri district of the north-eastern DRC. The particularly vicious nature of war in Ituri––including large-scale massacres, widespread sexual violence, and the use of…
RVI Fellow Douglas Johnson discussed the implications of South Sudan’s independence for the new nation’s history, historiography, and sense of identity in his keynote lecture to the 9th International South Sudan and Sudan Studies Conference in Bonn in July…
About this publication This Usalama Project Briefing presents a profile of one of the M23’s most important commanders, General Bosco Ntaganda. Despite his indictment by the International Criminal Court on charges of recruiting child soldiers, murder, rape, and sexual…
The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) is in a period of transition. After a year of military successes it needs a new mandate to support the new Federal Government of Somalia, which has identified provision of security across…
This Usalama Project briefing presents a concise biography of the M23’s senior commander, Sultani Makenga, in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). It describes his rise through the ranks, his earlier membership of the Rassemblement congolais pour la…
This Usalama Project report explores the 2012-2013 M23 rebellion in the eastern DRC. It also discusses the implications of the rebellion for the DRC’s eastern neighbours, Rwanda and Uganda, who have been accused of aiding and abetting the M23. ‘Despite…
Recent Publications
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SEMINAR REPORT | RETHINKING ETHIOPIA: LEGACY OF THE ETHIOPIAN REVOLUTION
August 5, 2024
SUMMARY The Institute for Peace and Security Studies (IPSS) of Addis Ababa University and the Peace Research Facility (PRF) of the Rift Valley Institute (RVI) jointly organized a seminar on the theme ‘Rethinking Ethiopia: A Seminar on Youth Voices’, held
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THE TRIPLE BURDEN: WOMEN SELLING THEIR LABOUR IN SOUTH SUDAN
July 19, 2024
SUMMARY In rural South Sudan, markets for food, labour, and land are expanding, leading to increased workloads for women. Historically, rural women had two primary labour burdens: producing food for home consumption and providing essential life-giving labour such as child-rearing
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WOMEN IN AUTHORITY IN SOUTH SUDAN: CONNECTIONS, CHALLENGES, AND STRATEGIES FOR LEADERSHIP
July 18, 2024
SUMMARY • Across South Sudan, women of different socio-economic backgrounds and experiences are fighting to take up positions of authority at all levels. This process is uneven, non-linear, and socially complex.• The ways in which women are organizing for leadership