In Sudan, the revolutionary upsurge of 2018/2019 signalled the implosion of the country’s postcolonial political order. The political parties of old have seen their social bases wither away and their ideological hold over the Sudanese people corrode under the…
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.
SEARCH
PUBLICATION TYPE
LANGUAGE
REGION
COUNTRY
- By Diana Felix da Costa, John Boloch Kumen
- Download
This blog post discusses how the Murle social institution of age-sets (sometimes known as generations) has, in recent years, been fragmenting and is becoming increasingly militarized. Body scarification is a valuable lens through which to view these transformations, as…
This briefing considers the changing political situation in Sudan with a particular focus on the future of the Juba Peace Agreement ( JPA). It explores how the relationship between two key factions in the conflict has complicated the ongoing discussions…
This is the first paper in a series considering the future of Sudan’s Juba Peace Agreement (JPA) and peace-making after the fall of Omar al-Bashir in 2019. It was commissioned by the Rift Valley Institute for the UK government’s…
This briefing considers the changing political situation in Sudan with a particular focus on the future of the Juba Peace Agreement (JPA) and the evolving political and security dynamics in the east of the country. It considers the role…
War, Migration and Work examines the history of labour migration and labour relations in present day South Sudan’s Baher El-Ghazal borderlands with Darfur and Kordofan (regions of present day Sudan). Beginning in the nineteenth century, the report charts the evolution…
جاء تصميم العملية الانتقالية في السودان لتؤدي إلى – وتتقدم من خلال – انتخابات قومية تثبت نجاح ومصداقية الانتقال السياسي. لكن هذا الأمر ينطوي على مخاطر كبيرة. فقد تتعرض العملية الانتخابية، وخاصة نتائجها، للتشكيك والطعن من قبل أصحاب…
This briefing considers the changing political situation in Sudan with a particular focus on the future of the Juba Peace Agreement (JPA) and the evolving political and security dynamics in the Two Areas. It is the third in a…
Until the latter part of the twentieth century, South Sudanese boys and girls grew food on household farms for their families to eat. Under this system, children’s work and education were hard to distinguish. Today, however, many boys and…
Sudan’s political transition, which began following the ousting of Omar al-Bashir in 2019, is designed to lead up to—and be advanced by—national elections. Those polls will be crucial to the success and credibility of political transition, but they carry…
Recent Publications
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
Peace and Instability: Tigray since the Pretoria Agreement
March 26, 2026
CONFLICT TRENDS ANALYSIS / MARCH 2026 Summary THE ETHIOPIA PEACE RESEARCH FACILITY This conflict trends analysis was produced by the Ethiopia Peace Research Facility (PRF). The PRF is an independent facility combining timely analysis on peace and conflict from Ethiopian
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)