Literary Conversation with Ben Rawlence, Author – City of Thorns, Sept. 8 2016 @ Alliance Française

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‘City of Thorns’ by Ben Rawlence in a literary conversation with John Sibi-Okumu

Date: September 8, 2016
Venue: Alliance Française terrace
Time: 6.30 pm
Free Entry

About
On 6 May 2016 the Kenya Government announced that it will shut down the Dadaab Refugee Camp by November 2016 and subsequently disbanded the Department of Refugee Affairs (DRA), all in effort to forcefully return Somali refugees back to Somalia. The Kenyan authorities claim that Dadaab has lost its humanitarian character and that it is used as a training ground for terrorist.

Amnesty International and the Rift Valley Institute have invited the British writer and former researcher for Human Rights Watch in the Horn of Africa, Ben Rawlence (author of River Congo and City of Thorns), to participate in a discussion on the closure of the Daadab Camp.

On this occasion, the Kenyan writer, actor and journalist, John Sibi-Okumu, will host Ben Rawlence in a literary conversation on his book ‘City of Thorns’ which interweaves the stories of nine individuals to show what life is like in the world’s largest refugee camp and sketches the wider political forces that keep the refugees trapped there.

People wait for fishermen to arrive with the catch of the day at the Bosaso harbor in Puntland, Somalia (Adeso/Karel Prinsloo)

Rift Valley Forum: Plundered Sea – Illegal and Unregulated Fishing in Somalia, Jan. 20 2016 @ RVI Office – Seminar Room

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People wait for fishermen to arrive with the catch of the day at the Bosaso harbor in Puntland, Somalia (Adeso/Karel Prinsloo)
People wait for fishermen to arrive with the catch of the day at the Bosaso harbor in Puntland, Somalia (Adeso/Karel Prinsloo)
Plundered Sea: Illegal and unregulated fishing in Somalia

Date: Wednesday 20 January 2016
Venue: Rift Valley Institute Office, Seminar Room
Location: Laikipia Road, Kileleshwa
Time 2pm – 4pm
Entrance is by prior registration only. Register here

About
It is difficult to know how much Somalia loses to illegal fishing by foreign vessels, but estimates range from USD 100 million to over USD 450 million per annum. Illegal fishing costs Somalis jobs in fishing and post-harvest fish processing, and it costs the Somali state revenue that could be secured from landing fees, licenses, taxes and other fees paid by legal fishing companies. Unregulated illegal fishing also causes overfishing, harming the marine environment and destroying local fishing communities.

Join the Rift Valley Forum and Adeso for a panel discussion of the effects of illegal and unregulated fishing in Somalia and the ways in which they can be addressed. This meeting will launch Adeso’s report Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing in the Territorial Waters of Somalia. There will also be a screening of Adeso’s short film Illegal and Unregulated Fishing of the Coast of Somalia.

Moderator: Rashid Abdi, International Crisis Group

Panellists: Abdi Mohamed Dahir – Adeso, Kifle Hagos – The University of Rhode Island, Bashir M Hussein – Researcher, Pauline Gibourdel – Delegation of the European Union to Somalia

Nairobi Forum: Learning from the 2011 Famine in Somalia, Nov.13 2014 @ BIEA/IFRA

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Learning from the 2011 Famine in Somalia

Date: Thursday, 13 November 2014
Venue: BIEA Seminar Room
Location: Laikipia Road, Kileleshwa
Time: 6-8 pm

In 2011, people in Somalia suffered a catastrophic famine. Since 2012, a group from the Feinstein Center at Tufts University and the Rift Valley Institute has been conducting retrospective research on the famine in Somalia, and in the Horn of Africa region more broadly, with the aim of providing empirical evidence to help prevent or mitigate such crises in the future. The research has examined the causes of the famine, how different groups in Somalia experienced it, and international responses to the crisis.

A report examining the lessons arising from this international response to the famine in 2011 was published in August. It is available here.

In this public meeting, hosted by the RVI’s Nairobi Forum, Dan Maxwell and Nisar Majid will present the key research findings and discuss the policy implications.

Entrance is by prior registration only.
Register here.

Book Reading & Discussion: War Crimes in Somalia, Aug. 21 2014 @ Amnesty International Regional Office

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Date: Thursday August 21 2014
Venue: Amnesty International Regional Office
Location: Kanjata Road/Muthangari Drive off Waiyaki Way – Google Map
Time: 5:30pm
Entry: Prior online Registration – Register here.

About
Amnesty International, in partnership with the Rift Valley Institute’s Nairobi Forum, invite you to a book reading and discussion panel on Rasna Warah’s new book War Crimes: How warlords, politicians, foreign governments and aid agencies conspired to create a failed state in Somalia.

In War Crimes, Kenyan journalist Rasna Warah writes about the many war crimes that have taken place in Somalia in the name of peace, development, religion and reconciliation. It is an examination of the destruction of Somalia looking at the involvement of the state and the international community.

Rasna Warah will be joined on the panel by acclaimed Somali novelist Nuruddin Farah, winner of the Neustadt International Prize for literature and the Lettre Ulysses Award, and Ali Hersi, Regional Director of the Society for International Development. This discussion, an inaugural event of the Amnesty International Regional Hub Speaker Series, will be moderated by L. Muthoni Wanyeki, Regional Director of Amnesty International.

Moderator: L. Muthoni Wanyeki – Regional Director Amnesty International

Panellists: Rasna Warah – Kenyan writer and photojournalist, Nuruddin Farah – Writer, Ali Hersi – Regional Director Society for International Development

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2nd Nairobi Cultural Festival: Different Colours One People – Visit Emb. Of Mexico Stand, May 10 2014 @ National Museum

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This will be the Second Nairobi Cultural Festival in which the following countries alongside Mexico will showcase their cultural expressions and sell typical food and drinks: Switzerland, Germany, Finland, Mexico, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Japan, Botswana, Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya.

There will also be a Children’s Corner, where for a small fee kids can have tattoos and face painting done, do their own paintings and play under supervision.

Date: Saturday May 10, 2014
Venue: National Museum Grounds
The event starts at 10 am and goes up to 5 pm.
Entrance is free.

Day of Cultural Expression is organised by the Research Institute of Swahili Studies of Eastern Africa (RISSEA) that is part of the National Museums of Kenya.

Nairobi Forum: Somalia CEWERU Conflict Assessment, Nov. 7 2013 @ BIEA Seminar Room

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Somalia CEWERU Conflict Assessment

Date: Thursday 7 November 2013
Venue: BIEA Seminar Room, Kileleshwa
Time: 10am – 12pm
Entrance is by prior registration only. Register here.

Panellists: Osman Moallim – Somalia CEWERU Country Coordinator, Ali Ahmed – Consultant, Paul Simkin – Conflict Dynamics International

The Somalia Conflict Early Response Unit is pleased to announce the launch of their conflict assessment of Gedo, Middle Juba, Lower Juba, and Lower Shabelle: From the Bottom up: Southern Regions – Perspectives through conflict analysis and key political actor’s mapping of Gedo, Middle Juba, Lower Juba, and Lower Shabelle.
The purpose of this conflict assessment was to improve understanding of the conflicts in southern Somalia, and to contribute to stabilization and better reconstruction, local governance and development assistance. The report identifies key conflict hot spots and issues and the views of key political actors. As regions in southern Somalia emerge from al Shabaab control old grievances and tensions may re-emerge. The report examines historical, current and potential future conflict. The report therefore provides vital information for any person or institution wishing to promote peace in these regions.

The meeting will also hear a short presentation on options for political accommodation within Somalia presented by Conflict Dynamics international.

RVI Nairobi Forum: IGAD and Somalia, Oct. 25 2013 @ KICC

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Date: Friday 25 October 2013
Venue: The Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC), Safari Lounge – Ground Floor
Time: 9:30 am – 12pm
Entrance is by prior registration only. Register here

Chair: Jan-Petter Holtendahl, Royal Norwegian Embassy, Nairobi
Panellists: Ambassador Mahboub Maalim – Executive Secretary, IGAD, Ambassador Mohamed Ali – Somalia’s Ambassador to Kenya

The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) aims to promote peace, security, prosperity and economic integration in Eastern Africa. Since 2004, it has been active in supporting the re-establishment of a sovereign government in Somalia.

On 25 October 2013, the RVI Nairobi Forum is convening a distinguished panel of speakers to reflect on IGAD’s past and future role in Somalia. Ambassador Mahboub Maalim, the Executive Secretary of IGAD, will be the keynote speaker. He will be joined on the panel by Ambassador Mohamed Ali, Somalia’s Ambassador to Kenya. The meeting will be chaired by Jan-Petter Holtendahl, Counsellor for Somali Affairs for the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Nairobi.