This report assesses obstacles and risks to the implementation of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement and outlines steps to be taken to avoid a return to conflict. The product of a seminar held by the Horn of Africa Group,…
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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A guide to Sudan’s electoral system – one of the most complex in the world – and its effects on the distribution of power. The report analyses government documents to reveal errors and ambiguities in the demarcation of electoral…
A policy paper on Sudan’s political future analysing the critical events facing the country in the run up to the April 2010 elections and the 2011 referendum on self-determination for Southern Sudan. Copublished by RVI with Chatham House (the Royal Institute…
This briefing paper, submitted to the UK Associate Parliamentary Group on Sudan, discusses some of the challenges facing the international community in the lead-up to the April 2010 elections in Sudan. The paper follows up issues raised by an…
Abyei has proved to be the hardest part of Sudan’s Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) to implement, harder, even, than the determination of the rest of the North-South boundary, or the division of oil revenues. In this personal commentary Douglas…
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…
The war in South Kordofan, Sudan, that began in May 2011 followed a disputed election for the governorship of the state, an election endorsed by international and national election observers. This study argues that that there were significant deficiencies…
This report examines Sudan’s history of elections, and asks why they have failed to produce the kind of stable yet dynamic government in Sudan that the secret ballot is intended to encourage. Elections in Sudan analyses the varied forms of malpractice…
Published on the eve of voter registration for the referendum in South Sudan, Race Against Time analyses the unresolved procedural problems, technical difficulties, and disputes threatening the self-determination process. The report includes timelines, a guide to electoral bodies, comparisons…
- By Aly Verjee
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إن تقرير سباق مع الزمن الذي ينشر أثناء فترة تسجيل الناخبين لإستفتاء جنوب السودان يحلّل المشاكل الاجرائيّة المستعصية والصعوبات الفنيّة والنزاعات التي تهدد عمليّة تقرير المصير في جنوب السودان وابيي. ويوفر التقرير خطوطاً زمنيّة وموجّهات لبهيئات الانتخابية ومقارنات مع…
Recent Publications

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)

Rethinking Ethiopia II: Youth and politics
February 26, 2026
Seminar report Rethinking Ethiopia, a collaborative essay competition initiative between Addis Ababa University’s Institute for Peace and Security Studies (IPSS) and the Rift Valley Institute’s (RVI) Peace Research Facility (PRF), offers a platform for Ethiopian youth to express their ideas

2025 Year in Review
February 16, 2026
The 2025 Year in Review provides an overview of the Rift Valley Institute’s work over the past year across eastern and central Africa. The report highlights RVI’s research and publication outputs, education and training activities, and public forums and convenings,