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…
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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- 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…
- By Justin Willis
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يتقصى هذا التقرير التاريخ غير القصير للانتخابات في السودان ويتساءل لماذا لم تستطيع انتخابات التعددية الحزبية، رغم نجاحها الواضح عام 1953، ان تجلب ذلك النوع من الحكومة المستقرة والديناميكية التي يتوقع من الاقتراع السري ان يشجع على قيامها. ويتطلع…
ركز النقاش الدائر حول السودَانيْن، الشمالي والجنوبي، على مسالة أين يمر خط الحدود بينهما. ويفحص التقرير الاول في سلسلة الحدود المتنازع عليها، حينما تصير الحدود الاداريّة حدوداً دوليّة، موضوعاً آخر لكنه يتميّز بنفس القدر من الأهميّة هو: الأثر المحتمل…
Introduction On 10 January 2014, three weeks after the South Sudan crisis began—as peace talks stalled in Addis Ababa and the death toll continued to grow—representatives of South Sudanese civil society met in Nairobi to discuss the crisis, its…
Discussion of the border between Sudan and South Sudan has focused on the question of where the boundary line is to be drawn. When Boundaries Become Borders examines a different, but equally important issue: the potential impact of the…
This report analyses the workings of the justice system in Southern Sudan, focusing on the real-world relationship between local chiefs’ courts and government courts and the ways that litigants navigate between them. Based on extensive interviews with litigants, chiefs,…
Reviews Very useful… highly recommended. AFRICAN AFFAIRS Readable, thought-provoking and intelligent essays that provide a thorough introduction to Sudan and South Sudan SUDAN STUDIES Essential. Original and informative. Belongs in all African studies libraries. CHOICE Succinct and comprehensive AUSTRALASIAN REVIEW OF…
When South Sudan became a separate state in 2011, its northern boundary with the Republic of Sudan became an international border, the longest and most contentious in the region. At the westernmost extremity of Sudan, Kafia Kingi is a…
‘In South Sudan there is no system of governance so popular—yet so little understood—as the federal system. Historically the demand for federation with North Sudan was seen as the way to keep Sudan united, and the absence of such…
Recent Publications

SHECONF 2026: International Conference on Social Sciences and Humanities
July 9, 2026
Event report On 26 March 2026, researchers, practitioners and academics gathered in Addis Ababa for SHECONF 2026, an International Conference on Social Sciences and Humanities in Ethiopia, the first of its kind convened by the Ethiopian Women Researchers Network (EWNET).

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