Somalis have lived in Kenya for generations, in many cases long before the founding of the country. Despite their long residency, they are often perceived to be an alien presence in the country and a threat to security, especially following tragic events by al-Shabaab in Kenya.

More than one million people arrived in Europe via the Mediterranean in 2015. In Somaliland and Puntland, accounts of young people embarking on the hazardous journey via Ethiopia, Sudan and Libya, are widespread. In current parlance, these young people are said to be ‘going on tahriib’. Unlike previous migrations, tahriib is unique in that it is largely a youth phenomenon. The young who make…

On 13 February 2018, the Rift Valley Forum will host a panel to discuss the findings of a research project by International Alert and Kounkuey Design Initiative on the impacts of the slum-upgrading projects on addressing risks and building resilience in Kibera. The research, which is based on extensive focus group discussions and key informant interviews, analyses the different risks related…

In Kenya, 80 per cent of the unemployed are believed to be below the age of 35. The rate of unemployment in Mombasa, Kenya’s second largest city and home to the region’s largest port, is estimated to be 44 per cent. The Kuza project’s definition of unemployment includes those earning less than KES 10,000 (USD 100) per month. This raises concerns of how the Kenyan coast will be able to harness…

For more than a year now, two decades of relative social and political order in Ethiopia has been disrupted by unprecedented protest and unrest. Long-standing grievances erupted in November 2015, only six months after the ruling Ethiopia Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) won a total electoral victory earlier in May the same year. The two largest of Ethiopia’s internal ethno-…

Kenya, along with the rest of the world, has struggled to craft a response to tackling violent extremism, especially since militarist groups have been quick to adjust their recruitment methods to adapt to such responses. Widespread narratives seem to suggest that violent extremism has international origins and is inherently a non- Kenyan problem. Yet one of al-Shabaab’s leaders is from Kenya,…

On 22 April 2016, the Rift Valley Forum hosted the launch of Saferworld’s report, Forging Jubaland, Community Perspectives on Federalism, Governance and Reconciliation. The creation of Jubaland state in 2013 and the controversial appointment of Sheikh Ahmed Mohamed Islam (‘Madobe’) as President of its interim administration, supported by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD),…

In early 2011, the scale of famine affecting the Horn of Africa was only just beginning to receive international attention, despite early warnings in the previous year. It was not until July that famine was formally declared. The famine killed 250,000 people in southern Somalia alone, and displaced and destroyed the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of others. Many sought refuge in Kenya,…

In April 2015, protests erupted in Burundi when President Pierre Nkurunziza’s sought a third term in office. Protestors claimed this was contrary to the country’s constitution, but the constitutional court sided with Nkurunziza. After an attempted coup in May 2015, the government started arresting those it thought responsible. The political conflict that followed has spiralled into a…

The Rift Valley Institute’s study on the impact of war on Somali men looks into a previously under-researched set of questions: What are the enduring effects of more than two decades of war and violent conflict on Somali men and male youth, and what are the consequences of this for peace, stability and Somali society in general? The project’s inception phase charted what it means to be male in…