SARA AL-HASSAN

Sara was born and raised in Sudan where she gained her degree in Architecture at the University of Khartoum. After graduation, Sara was eager to work in the development of the Urban Planning education in Sudan, working as a teaching professor at the University. At the same time, she joined Studio Urban, managing database systems of urban information and cities. Moreover, she was part of multiple research projects on the commodification of land and its conflict and urban informality. Hence, her vision truly goes beyond the creation of physical buildings.

“I Try to Uncover Different Patterns of Inequalities Rooted in the Country”

Q: Tell us a few things about your country, and also your life's story!

Sudan is a country that reflects greatly on diversity. In my opinion, one very important note about Sudan is the current civilian organizations, locally, where youth are rewriting history and working tirelessly to achieve freedom, justice, and peace for all. The series of events happening are costing much of the youth of the country, and as well as creating people with an enormous awareness and resistance to any sort of dictatorship, ignorance, and militarization.

I like to present myself as an urbanist, interested in urban research, development, and policy. Although I am an urbanist, I work for different types of spaces and territories. With a background in architecture, where I learned to value the living space and built environment as a fundamental factor affecting every human life, as well as its effect on social and economic situations. Throughout the years, I have been developing my values to work toward and devote my career to uncovering different patterns of inequalities rooted in the country and working towards them.

Q: How did you experience the global pandemic crisis, did it change your life or/and your views about the world? How?

The unfortunate events during and following COVID-19 have been rather dramatic and catastrophic ones. It taught me the importance of people even in the very high availability of technology. I, as well, come to understand the importance of long-term and sustainable solutions rather than the inefficiency and short-term benefits, especially for poorer communities, for instance, the provision of humanitarian aid, rather than proper policy reform to better the accessibility to stable jobs, education and ensure inclusive growth.

Personally, the pandemic has allowed me to uncover many negative acts done by us in our daily activities like normal and many challenges that we are ignoring as well. Through the pandemic, I have developed many skills to become more independent, to co-work with others remotely, and to learn and unlearn as well.

Q: What are some of the key challenges in your society currently? 

Conflicts, migration, economic shocks, and climate change are affecting the general state of the whole country, but from a social research point, they are having a tremendous effect on people’s lives. Resulting in flooding, massive waves of displacement and homelessness, and a higher rate of poverty in urban and rural areas. With the series of military coups, the development state in Sudan is highly doubted. It is important to note that the military state not only adds to the ongoing shocks and challenges in the country, but it is also enforcing them.

Q: Share with us some of the hurdles that you had to overcome in your life so far? How did you handle them?

As an architect with an interest beyond the physical building, I had to seek training myself to become who I am today. Networking, creating a space for talks and discussions, and seeking advice from different people proved to help me a lot in achieving this.

Q: If you were to ask one thing from our current leaders, what would it be?

I would ask about how they ensure when addressing poverty and inclusivity and growth, that their decisions are in favor of their citizens, and what is the approach.

Q: Why is the role of a mentor important for you?

The mentor is the companion that shares with the mentee their experiences that both failed and succeeded and discusses life matters both personal and professional. The mentor’s role is important because it allows the mentee to understand the whole picture of life in the eyes of the mentor rather than looking one small step ahead, this is by providing guidance, support, as well as motivation.

Q: Name a project, a foundation or a person in your country that you think is doing great work in helping improve other people's lives!

Sadagaat. Sadagaat is a non-governmental organization working in developing volunteering work in Sudan. Sadagaat’s work includes, but is not limited to, developing health, WASH, and as well providing innovatively humanitarian aid for those in need. Sadagaat’s work is fundamental because it is changing the course of work of volunteering work in Sudan because it is built and provides a huge consideration to the actual reality in the spaces they work on. This is done through massive on-the-ground research, community-based research, and by involving communities in different processes during planning and implementation.

Q: What are some of the challenges that women in your country face and what efforts are made towards gender equality?

Sudan is a huge country. Women are experiencing different types of challenges in most parts of it. And archiving and documenting the living experiences of women in Sudan requires a huge effort. To provide multiple examples, women in Sudan are very minimally represented in politics or parliament and some job markets. Moreover, women in different societies are still tied to the social and cultural segregated rules and norms, and we can talk more about abuse, domestic violence, and public harassment.

Nonetheless, women are strongly organizing together calling for equality collectively, many unions have been established in the past decade to stand against segregation, abuse, and different forms of violence in the face of the state and the patriarchy.

Q: Share with us a phrase, a poem or a story that means something to you.

The personal is the political. And it is a slogan that was used by feminist activists back in the 1960s. By saying the personal is political, feminist activists sought to highlight that every aspect of their lives, where massive segregation and abuse based on gender, is actually a political situation. For many reasons, it is either caused by a policy or a political act, or it is a negligence of a policy or political action. And I consider this important in every aspect of life and every professional field, in particular for anyone interested in reducing and ending inequalities. In order to understand that what people face every day should be addressed politically, this is an approach to include communities in the process of research, policymaking and implementation.

Q: Share with us a project that you would like to make happen for your country or a cause that you are passionate about.

Urban Inequality Research and Policy Platform.

I am hopeful that by acquiring the needed experience, knowledge, and skills that I am currently both building and seeking to build, I will be able to establish a platform for urban development through research and policies, focusing specifically on vulnerable areas in Sudan and working in developing bottom-up research and policymaking. My plan is to work collectively and closely with different stakeholders on knowledge production that seeks to better the situation of deprived neighborhoods and better the policies for achieving inclusive growth. I aspire and plan as well to create an equal community with opportunities for learning and practices provided for every gender.