Closing Dadaab
Following the devastating al-Shabaab attack on Garissa University on 2 April 2015, the Kenyan government announced the imminent closure of the Dadaab refugee camps and the repatriation of their 340,000 or more Somali residents. This is not the first time the government has threatened to close the camps, but outrage over increasing brutal al-Shabaab attacks […]
Extractives Development and Violence in Eastern Africa
It is boom time in eastern Africa. In 2016, its economies will be the continent’s fastest growing, as investors pour money into burgeoning oil, gas and minerals industries. In response, regional governments are planning massive networks of roads, rails and pipelines that will span East Africa, the Horn, the Great Lakes, and South Sudan. These […]
Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi on Culture, Ethnicity and Politics in Uganda
On Friday 18 September 2015, the Nairobi Forum hosted Ugandan writer Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, whose novel Kintu won the 2013 Kwani? Manuscript Prize. The novel follows the adventures of Kintu Kidda and generations of his heirs, telling the story of a family and a nation contending with the burdens of the colonial past while seeking […]
“There Is No Time Left”: Climate Change, Environmental Threats and Human Rights in Turkana County, Kenya
In Kenya’s Turkana county, home to 1.2 million people, increased temperatures and changing rainfall are threatening the grazing lands that are the foundation of the region’s pastoral lifestyle and livelihoods. At the same time, large scale development in Ethiopia’s lower Omo river valley is likely to reduce water flowing into Lake Turkana—the world’s largest desert […]
The Politics of Peace in the Ogaden
The armed conflict between the Ogaden National Liberation Front and the Ethiopian state is one of the longest running conflicts in the Horn of Africa. While multi-ethnic federalism, enshrined in Ethiopia’s 1995 Constitution, held the promise of improved relations between the people of the Somali Regional State of Ethiopia and the Ethiopian federal government, repeated […]
Building Evidence into Policy and Practice in Kenya
Considerable time and effort are expended on monitoring and evaluation and on studies to improve humanitarian response in the East African region, but little is known about how the resulting evidence is used and valued by different actors in the humanitarian system. In 2014, to shed light on this, DFID supported Development Initiatives to conduct […]
Peace and Security in North East Kenya
In 2015 the attack on Garissa University seemed to mark a new low for a region long beset by insecurity. As 2016 begins, there is hope that a new regional security approach, led by national officials with local roots, will help reduce violence in the region. Security in the North East is nonetheless a complicated […]
Managing development and security in north-eastern Kenya
Key points In north-eastern Kenya, MPs have taken a positive role in managing and resolving local conflicts. These conflicts have multiple causes, including a spill-over from other conflicts in Somalia and Ethiopia, competition over natural resources, and youth unemployment. Kenya’s military intervention in Somalia has led to an increase in insecurity in the north east. […]
Land governance and boundary disputes in South Sudan and northern Uganda
In September 2014, a conflict erupted between South Sudanese and Ugandans in the borderlands of Kajokeji County, South Sudan and Moyo District, Uganda. Several people were killed, many more injured and thousands displaced. On 16 June 2016, the authors launched the Rift Valley Institute publication, Dividing Communities in South Sudan and Northern Uganda, in a public […]
Boundary disputes and land governance in South Sudan and northern Uganda
In September 2014, a conflict erupted between South Sudanese and Ugandans in the borderlands of Kajokeji County, South Sudan and Moyo District, Uganda. Several people were killed, many more injured and thousands displaced. On 13 June 2016, the Rift Valley Forum launched the Rift Valley Institute publication, Dividing Communities in South Sudan and Northern Uganda, which […]