INTRODUCTION Situated in north-eastern Ethiopia, bordering the Tigray, Amhara, Oromia and Somali regions, Afar occupies a strategically important geographical position, which has become more apparent in recent years. This is increasingly counteracting its relatively small population size (around 2…
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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The Fano insurgency, emerging in Ethiopia’s Amhara region in August 2023, has added another layer of conflict to a country already was rocked by the Tigray war (2020-22), and suffering from ongoing strife in the Oromia region. As well…
In August 2022, a group of South Sudanese academics, early-career researchers, independent research consultants, research assistants and professors gathered at the Rift Valley Institute in Juba to discuss ethical principles and practices for an equal, vibrant research community in…
Soo koobid Find the English version of this briefing here….
Summary Find the Somali version of this briefing here. …
This Conflict Trends Report presents a comprehensive analysis of conflict patterns in the Amhara Region in the period April 2022 to September 2023. While focusing on conflicts in northern Amhara, it also provides an overview of other conflicts in…
በኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ ያሉ ሴቶች የተለያዩ የፖለቲካ፣ የጸጥታ፣ የኢኮኖሚ እና የማኅበራዊ ተግዳሮቶች ያጋጥሟቸዋል። በሌሎች አገሮች እንደሚታየው ሁሉ፣ በኢትዮጵያ የሚከሰቱ ግጭቶች ሴቶችን ተመጣጣኝ ላልሆኑ ስቃዮች፥ ጥቃቶችና እና የሰብአዊ መብት ጥሰቶች ያጋልጧቸዋል። ይህም የሰላምን አስፈላጊነት የሚያጎላ ሲሆን፣ የሴቶችን እና የልጃገረዶችን ደኅንነት ከማረጋገጥ…
Women in Ethiopia face a variety of political, security, economic and socio-cultural barriers. As is the case elsewhere, in Ethiopia violent conflict tends to result in women suffering disproportionate victimization and human rights violations. This underlines the importance of…
Introduction One of the most significant recent developments in the prolonged struggle against al-Shabaab in Somalia has been the success of military operations led by the Somali National Armed Forces and allied self-defence militias known as Ma’awisley. Ma’awisley—named after the…
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Ethiopia’s transition under Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is the latest attempt to build a stable political settlement – an agreement over how power will be distributed and wielded – between key actors. In its efforts to do this, Abiy’s…
Recent Publications
State Capture in Africa: How elite networks undermine democracy, development and security
June 24, 2026
Key points State capture has been increasingly recognized as a major governance challenge due to the way it helps to drive many of the most pressing problems facing contemporary states, including democratic erosion, corruption, economic exclusion, insecurity and declining trust
The New Geopolitics of Eastern Africa
June 17, 2026
On 20 May, the British Institute of Eastern Africa (BIEA), Chatham House, and the Rift Valley Institute (RVI) convened a group of experts to discuss the ‘The New Geopolitics of Eastern Africa’. The closed-door roundtable considered the ongoing transformation of
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