International, national and local political discourses often portray the Murle community as principal aggressors and the source of much of the instability affecting former Jonglei State in South Sudan. Although such negative stereotypes are partially driven by actual events,…
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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The Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS) signed on 12 September 2018, not only allows for a new government and security arrangements, it also provides for two new commissions to decide the number of…
For over two decades Ethiopia’s political federation has been organized around the principle of ‘democratic centralism’. This philosophy also lies at the heart of the ruling Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) coalition, and its centralized decision-making culture. Until…
In May 2001, Somaliland’s citizens went to the polls to approve an interim constitution in a public referendum coordinated by the Government of Somaliland. The constitution called for multi-party politics and democratic elections. Since then, Somaliland has held a…
This Q&A is an explainer on the rapid political changes that have taken place in Sudan over the last month. All 4 contributors are close collaborators with the Rift Valley Institute. Questions were posed by Magnus Taylor, RVI’s Senior…
Prophets—those recognised as having been ‘seized’ by a divinity—have played an important role in the history of South Sudan, particularly that of the Nuer people. They were seen as being powerful political actors and, alongside chiefs, important intermediaries for…
South Sudan’s violent conflicts continue to plague its people. An estimated four million South Sudanese have been forcibly displaced since December 2013, and more than a million have sought refuge in Uganda where communities have largely reassembled without their…
The legacy of Somali piracy, the threat of terrorists transiting between Yemen and Somalia, and the deepening conflict in Yemen, mean international actors tend to view the Gulf of Aden through a security lens. This report outlines the local…
Key points In numerous cities in the eastern Congo, youth groups are involved in urban policing, operating in the space between state and non-state actors and formal and informal governance. While some youth policing groups are responsible for improvements…
Following the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) and the subsequent independence of South Sudan in 2011, many agro-pastoralist and pastoralist areas of the country have experienced an upsurge of livestock raiding, counter raiding and cycles of revenge killing. Eastern…
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