This synthesis paper is designed to inform future policy making and programming in relation to Ethiopian government and international support to refugees. Specifically, it aspires to enable the development of a common narrative among the key refugee stakeholders in Ethiopia about how best to support displacement and durable solutions processes in the country, informed by evidence drawn from…
The Greater Horn of Africa’s (GHoA) borders and borderlands are spaces of cooperation and linkage—marked by centuries of cross-border trade and extensive kinship and social ties—that defy political demarcation and control. Borders and borderlands share numerous security and development challenges, including conflict, crime, trafficking and political and economic contestations.
On Friday 28 February, the University of Nairobi launched a new collaborative research project, Diaspora Humanitarianism in Complex Crises (D-Hum). The project will explore how Somali diaspora groups mobilize, channel and deliver humanitarian assistance to Somalia through various humanitarian infrastructures that facilitates or constrains it.
On 25 February 2020, the Rift Valley Forum, in partnership with the Conflict Research Programme (CRP-Somalia), launched the new report, Food and Power in Somalia: Business as Usual? The panel discussed how the political economy of food has changed in the past 10–15 years along with shifts in governance and aid.
The Horn of Africa Course examines the Somali-speaking lands, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti and northern Kenya. It explores the historical and contemporary features that make the Horn one of the world’s most crisis-ridden regions. The 2022 Course will be directed by Michael Woldemariam and Peter Chonka.
Every year since 2008, the world had become less peaceful. In the Horn and Central Africa, conflict threatens and destroys the lives, homes and jobs of millions of women, men and children, trapping them in a vicious cycle of violence, poverty and inequality. Efforts to address and prevent conflicts and disasters face serious obstacles. In these countries, civil society space is shrinking as…
Conflicts produce large-scale humanitarian crises and are often characterized by high levels of instability and volatility. Nonetheless, humanitarian workers are expected to operate in these high-risk areas, where their security and performance are sometimes compromised. On 6 April 2017, the Rift Valley Forum launched the findings from the Secure Access in Volatile Environments (SAVE) study in…
On 7 November 2017, the Rift Valley Institute (RVI), Social Development Direct (SDD), Forcier Consulting, University College London (UCL) and Nagaad Network hosted a panel to discuss the challenges and opportunities for women’s political participation and leadership in Somaliland in collaboration with Presidential Election Observation Mission (EOM).
On 13 November 2017, Somalilanders will go to the polls in the third presidential election. Once again, international observers—coming from 25 countries—will participate in verifying the credibility and fairness of the electoral process. On 5 November 2017, the Rift Valley Forum and the Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Hargeysa hosted a panel of international and…
Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's first six months have dramatically changed Ethiopia’s political landscape. The Ethiopian government looks younger, more representative and radical than it has in a generation. Political red-lines have been crossed, and taboos addressed, including one of the most intractable and untouchable issues: the frozen relationship with Eritrea.
