The Rift Valley Institute and Juba in The Making will be hosting a discussion of the new film, And The Country Still Needs Us: A story of the chiefs of South Sudan. The conversation will focus on the making of the film and key issues that it raises around traditional justice and the absence of women’s voices in traditional authorities.

On 20 January, the Rift Valley Institute launched a new book by former US diplomat, Elizabeth Shackelford, The Dissent Channel: American Diplomacy in a Dishonest Age. The book documents Shackelford's experience in South Sudan in 2013–14 and exposes the costs of a longstanding trend of impunity for injustice, and the role of the international community in enabling it.

Hussein Abdel Bagi’s appointment as the third Vice-President of South Sudan is an important building block for the Transitional Government of National Unity (TGoNU), particularly its relations with Khartoum. Hussein’s long experience of Sudanese politics, and friendships with members of the Sudan Military Council, will likely be very useful to President Kiir.

Over the past five years of RVI's South Sudan Customary Authorities project, the Institute has built a strong level of trust with customary authorities across the country. Continued engagement with chiefs is essential, particularly in finding ways to support and present the views and interests of their communities at the national level, and to positively influence the political and social…

The research project seeks to understand how COVID-19 fits within local knowledge of disease and infection risks, and how communities are approaching COVID-19 alongside other endemic infectious illnesses.

Applications are invited from eligible candidates for a doctoral studentship on the history of constitution-making in Sudan since the 1950s. This is a Collaborative Doctoral Award, offered in partnership with the Research Analysts Department of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and the Rift Valley Institute.

In April 2020 many of RVI’s South Sudanese researchers decided to return to their hometowns to avoid what they believed would be a large outbreak in the country’s capital, Juba. Following discussions with friends and family, the researchers proposed that RVI work with them to conduct a programme of messaging and awareness-raising on COVID-19.

The study asks two core questions: First, how do residents in the borderlands of South Sudan seek survival, welfare and better lives in the economies and cross-border migrant pathways available to them? Second, how do young men and women navigate the risks of migrant and military work across South Sudan, Sudan and further afield?

To understand how grain is traded in South Sudan, and who by, Jovensia Uchalla examines the life stories of South Sudanese and foreign grain traders, transporters and millers in Juba. These stories talk of opportunities, shocks and changing tastes.

This briefing presents time-critical findings and suggestions for action. A full report will be published at the conclusion of the project that will present geographically specific evidence including detailed community methods of infectious disease management.