Abyei referendum: A threat to peace?
Since becoming Africa's newest country in 2011, South Sudan continues to remain locked in a land dispute with Sudan over the Abyei region which covers 10,000 square kilometres of farmland, desert and oil fields. People in the contested border region have voted in an unofficial referendum to decide which country they want to belong to […]
Civil society, landownership, homicide and the rule of law in South Sudan
The South Sudan Law Society's publication, In Brief, covers critical issues in legal and constitutional development in South Sudan. An article in the inaugural issue by Victor Lowilla explains how criminal defendants are often treated as guilty until proven innocent, against basic legal principles. Victor Bol’s piece on civil society’s efforts to have their interests reflected in a new […]
Sudan nomads warn of wars leaders fail to end Abyei fight
A nomadic group in the disputed border region of Abyei threatened war if it’s excluded from a referendum over the area’s status, after the presidents of Sudan and South Sudan failed to end an impasse over the issue. Abyei is contested by the Ngok Dinka, who are settled in the area and consider themselves southerners, […]
The Darfur conflict’s deadly gold rush
With its scrubland, unpaved roads and mud brick huts, the Jebel Amer area in Darfur, western Sudan, can look like a poor and desolate place. Under the ground, though, lies something sought by people everywhere: gold. In the past year or so the precious metal has begun to alter the nature of the decade-old conflict […]
Stalled Delivery of Funds Jeopardizes Sudan Referendum Prep
A particularly apt description of the funding dilemma can be found in the latest Rift Valley Institute report, which quotes a commentator as saying: The donors, either they are stupid or they are totally naive. The government [i.e. GoNU] didn’t put money for the election, in which they had an interest. So are they going to put […]
Letter from Isoke No 9: Death and tractors
Liz Hodgkin, RVI Fellow and former Amnesty International Sudan researcher, is teaching at St Augustine’s School in Isoke village, Eastern Equatoria, South Sudan. This is her ninth letter from Isoke. Other letters: No 1 July 2012, No 2 October 2012, No 3 November 2012, No 4 December 2012, No 5 March 2013, No 6 April […]
Letter from Isoke No 6: A teacher crisis
Liz Hodgkin, RVI Fellow and former Amnesty International Sudan researcher, teaches at St Augustine’s School in the village of Isoke, in Eastern Equatoria, South Sudan. This is her sixth letter from Isoke. Other letters: No 1 July 2012, No 2 October 2012, No 3 November 2012, No 4 December 2012, No 5 March 2013, No […]
Challenges for national dialogue in Sudan
In National Dialogue in Sudan, a paper for the Sudan Democracy First Group, RVI Fellow Atta el-Battahani examines the successes and failures of national dialogue in Sudan and South Sudan, from 1956 to 2012. He identifies a series of recurrent obstacles: the bad faith of the protagonists, the limited scope and inadequate implementation of political agreements, their lack […]
John Ryle discusses Tayeb Salih on Sudan National Television
John Ryle, Director of the Rift Valley Institute, discusses Tayeb Salih on Sudan National Television, 2010.
The fate of Ngungdeng’s dang
Introduction Prophecy among the Nuer of South Sudan is a living tradition. In recent conflicts prophets have played a part both in mobilization for war and in making peace. Historically, the most celebrated of the Nuer prophets was Ngundeng Bong, whose pronouncements—preserved in songs widely known in South Sudan—are thought by many to have foretold […]