The South Sudan We Want
As the South Sudan conflict enters its fourth year, prospects for peace and stability have not improved. The humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate with famine declared in parts of the country. Fighting continues in many areas, despite the government's recent agreement for a unilateral ceasefire and the long-standing August 2015 peace agreement. In December 2016, […]
Stabilization in Eastern and Central Africa
‘The conference has put into perspective what stabilization means in South Sudan as opposed to what it means in Somalia and in the DRC. And putting my own insights on stabilization alongside those of the speakers here has given me a different lens through which to understand and evaluate events in Somalia.’ SAGAL SHEIKH ALI, […]
RVI Juba Lectures 2017
The Rift Valley Institute is pleased to announce the sixth Juba Lecture Series under the theme of ‘Cultures of Dialogue: Local and national experiences in South Sudan’. The lectures will take place on 22, 23 and 24 November 2017, in partnership with the Institute for Justice and Peace Studies (IJPS) at the Catholic University of […]
Sudan and South Sudan Course 2017
To make sense of current dynamics, this year’s Sudan and South Sudan Course, held from 4 to 9 June in Uganda, examines key themes of society, economy and politics in both countries at present as well as in their near and distant past. The 2017 RVI field course on Sudan and South Sudan will survey […]
Local justice in Southern Sudan
Based on extensive interviews with litigants, chiefs, and court officials, the project report Local Justice in Southern Sudan by Cherry Leonardi, Leben Moro, Martina Santschi and Deborah Isser (2010) argues that the role of the chiefs’ courts has evolved to the point where the line separating them from government courts is blurred. The final report […]
Local peace processes in Sudan
Aims of the Project This project aimed to provide a baseline record and preliminary contextual analysis of “people-to-people” peace processes in Sudan. and contribute to a growing body of literature on indigenous approaches to peacemaking in Africa. Background In the lead-up to the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement—and in response to the earlier signing of the Machakos […]
The Sudan abduction and slavery project
Summary The RVI Sudan Abductee Database is the outcome of an eighteen-month field investigation into abduction during the civil war in South Sudan. The research was designed to create a useable record of persons missing, abducted, enslaved and/or killed in Northern Bahr-el-Ghazal during raids on Dinka, Luo and Fertit communities by Murahaliin tribal militias […]
Instruments in Both Peace and War
With the formation of a Transitional Government of National Unity (TGoNU) and the subsequent outbreak of violence in Juba in July 2016, the role of civil society in South Sudan is more vital than ever. Can a civil society, confident and well resourced, contribute to the political discourse, engage in nation building, hold public institutions […]
Now We Are Zero
In April 2016, seventeen chiefs from different parts of South Sudan gathered in Kuron Holy Trinity Peace Village, in Eastern Equatoria, to discuss the role of customary authority in governance—past and present—and their own contribution to peacemaking and a future political transition. The Chiefs’ meeting at Kuron was the first time that traditional leaders from […]
Contested Borderlands
Aims of the Project The Contested Borderlands reports are authoritative studies of borders and border communities in Eastern and Central Africa, informed by historical archive work and anthropological field research. The series brings local knowledge and academic rigour to urgent questions of the present, with practical recommendations for those working in the region at policy […]