Arabs & Arabian Records Aggregator. Chronicler. Milestones of the 25 Countries of the Arabic Speaking World (official / co-official). AGCC. MENA. Global. Ist's to Top 10's. Records. Read & Enjoy./ www.arabianrecords.org
Ashwag Mukhtar is working as a visiting researcher at the National Cancer Research Centre thanks to the Ellas Investigan programme organised by Fundación Mujeres por África
“It will be the most important experience of my life, I am now part of CNIO,” says Sudanese scientist Ashwag Mukhtar, assistant professor with the Department of Histopathology and Cytology at the University of Alneelain (Khartoum), referring to her time at the National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), where she has been a visiting researcher linked to the Genetic and Molecular Epidemiology Group of this centre since last December.
Ashwag Mohammed Mukhtar is one of the African scientists selected by Fundación Mujeres por África to take part in its Ellas Investigan programme, which promotes stays in Spain for senior African women researchers from affiliated scientific institutes. The stays are for six months and allow these researchers to carry out, in collaboration with these institutes, projects previously selected by the programme’s Scientific Committee. In this case, funding was provided by Exolum.
The Sudanese scientist aims to compare bladder cancer in Spain and North African countries. She will compare and contrast the environmental factors causing this cancer and genetic diversities in order to provide important findings and data regarding this type of cancer and its treatments.
Holder of a PhD from the University of Alneelain, Ashwag Mohammed Mukhtar explains what her work will entail during her time in Spain: “On the one hand, I am conducting a meta-analysis, focusing on reanalysing the treatment of bladder cancer, genetic mutation, and mortality, and comparing it with data from the Spanish Bladder Cancer Foundation. On the other hand, I intend to determine the expression of certain genes that can predict the type of chemotherapy. We are doing this on Sudanese tissue samples and comparing our findings with Spanish tissue samples.”
As well as science, her other passions are music, meditation, and nature walks, as she explains in this video. In it, she gives recommendations about the Sudanese music she likes most, including the band AGD Aljalad.“Having the opportunity to work in another country is a very enriching experience, both professionally and personally,” says the scientist.
About Ellas Investigan
Ellas Investigan (Women Researching) is the most important programme promoted by Fundación Mujeres por África in the scientific field and has achieved spectacular growth. Since it was launched in 2014 with five associated research centres, it has grown to more than 20 affiliated centres and has launched seven editions.
The centres brought into this programme in the last edition are the Barcelona Institute of Material Science (ICMAB); IIS Biodonostia; and INCLIVA, Research Institute of the Clinical Hospital in Valencia. The company Abertis has also been brought on board as a sponsor, which will finance the chosen researcher’s stay at the National Biotechnology Centre on Biodiversity Issues. So far more than a hundred African women scientists have been involved in Ellas Investigan.
About CNIO
CNIO is a Spanish institution dedicated to the research, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer. CNIO has obtained accreditation as a Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence for the third time in a row. It is ranked seventh among the world’s best cancer research centres (according to the Scimago report; Nature Index) and has been named Europe’s leading cancer research centre.
More than 450 scientists work at CNIO to transfer their results quickly and efficiently to Spain’s National Health System and the pharmaceutical and biotechnology market. In recent years, the strand of research devoted to metastasis – responsible for 90% of cancer deaths worldwide – has been strengthened with the incorporation of several fully dedicated research groups. Interdisciplinarity has also been boosted by recruiting computer experts to gain a more in-depth view of the complexity of cancer and to propose new therapeutic hypotheses.
One of the goals at CNIO is to bring science closer to society through initiatives such as CNIO Arte , a project that brings together scientists and artists to create new works of art around scientific research, and CNIO Friends, a philanthropic platform through which any person, company or association can support cancer research carried out at the Centre, and through which a CNIO Friends International Contracts Programme has been launched to attract research talent.
source/content: cnio.es (headline edited)
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Ashwag Mukhtar. / Laura M. Lombardía. CNIO
Ashwag Mukhtar. Visiting researcher from Sudan. Women for Africa Foundation / source: youtube.com / canalcnio
Upon first glance at the works of Hashim Nasr, a Sudanese multidisciplinary artist and photographer now displaced in Alexandria, Egypt, one immediately notices several things; a personal act of deliberate introspection portrayed through his subjects, and an invitation to delve into your own contemplative analysis of said displayed works. Upon further examination, one may note that there is no face to be seen in any of Nasr’s portraits, with the subjects’ faces more often-than-not tactfully – and intentionally – covered with quite the jarring element, a triangular royal blue cone.
But why? While one may guess – and would indeed by partially correct in their guess – that by covering the subjects’ faces, Nasr is able to effectively convey a deeper meaning, one unclouded by superficial perceptions, the real answer is perhaps rooted in serendipity. Nasr’s signature approach to portraiture was not perhaps initially intentional, yet grew to become so. Nasr would begin asking family members to model for his shoots, and for the sake of their own comfort, he would offer them a blue cone to mask their features.
Little did Nasr know that the blue cone would transcend its initial purpose, becoming a symbol that compels viewers to look beyond the surface, mirroring his own childhood desire to be understood in a way that transcends mere visibility – to be deeply seen, even when unseen.
Born in 1990 in Khartoum, Sudan, Nasr’s journey is as multifaceted as his art. Trained initially as a dentist, he balanced the rigorous demands of his profession with an insatiable drive to explore his creative instincts. Nasr’s early forays into the art world were deeply rooted in his connection to his homeland. “I started taking pictures of what I held dearest – my family and the city I call home, Khartoum. My love for photography comes from my love for Khartoum,” he shares. This intrinsic link to his roots has been a cornerstone of his work ever since.
Nasr’s photographs present a world that seems suspended in time between dreams and reality, inviting the viewer to pause and reflect. “These photos are not just pixels; they are my catharsis. The only form I have,” Nasr asserts. In each image, there is a quiet dialogue between the seen and the unseen, the conscious and the subconscious.
In Khartoum, he had the freedom to explore vast, open spaces, and the liberty to use diverse and often unconventional settings for his shoots. However, since his move to Egypt, and more specifically to Alexandria, the dynamics of his work have shifted. Nasr, alongside his family, came to Alexandria in March 2023 on a three week-long vacation, one that turned out to be an unexpected exile as the war in Sudan had intensified, and Nasr could not return home.
Since his displacement to Alexandria, Hashim Nasr has faced significant constraints that have impacted his creative process. “You wake up one day and you realize your country is at war. It changes everything,” Nasr reflects. The once vibrant streets and open spaces of his hometown, which served as the canvas for his explorations, have been replaced by the marginally restrictive environment of Alexandria. “Reality has never sunk in. There are days I’d wake up and find myself back in Khartoum, only to realize I am not.” This dislocation has not only been a physical one but also a profound emotional and artistic shift.
In Alexandria, Nasr has encountered a city that, while rich in history and culture, imposes tighter limitations on his artistic freedom, whether deliberately or not. “It is not easy to walk around the streets of Alexandria with my camera and take photos. I felt trapped. What was my catharsis was now no longer attainable, not in the way that I had accustomed myself to.” Despite the city’s picturesque spirit, Nasr has only managed to conduct two outdoor shoots since his arrival, finding the public spaces less accessible and open to his creative expressions. “The fishermen just kept asking me, ‘what the hell are you doing?’ and I had to make up some story about a university project. I’m 34.”
Faced with these challenges, Nasr has turned inward, creating art within the confines of his own private spaces. “I began making art in my room, playing with light and shadow. It’s my safe haven; no one can tell me ‘you can’t shoot here’.” In the intimacy of his room, he manipulates light and shadow to craft evocative scenes using his own hands, resonating with the themes of solitude and introspection that permeate his work. This transition to working indoors has become a new frontier for Nasr, a place where he can still explore his artistic vision without external interference.
However, this adaptation has not been without its struggles. “All these dreams I had slowly started transforming into realities were now once more fading away. It’s been difficult, and it’s not as easy as it was back in Khartoum.” The limitations in Alexandria have challenged Nasr to rethink his approach and find new ways to express his creativity, even as he navigates the emotional and practical difficulties of his displacement. Through this process, he continues to explore the depths of his inner world, finding solace and expression in the play of light and shadow within his own sanctuary.
While his earlier works were deeply personal, exploring themes of loneliness and masculinity, his recent creations have been profoundly influenced by his experiences of exile. Now, his art navigates the painful realities of displacement and the concept of home, both physically and mentally. The recurring motifs of the blue cone and other geometric shapes have evolved to symbolize not just personal introspection but also the broader and more poignant themes of exile and identity.
In Alexandria, Nasr finds himself in a state of limbo. “For me now, Alexandria has become a second home, my family is here. It’s unimaginable to leave them behind. Yet I want to explore, I want to grow, I want to seek opportunities abroad to expand on my artistic abilities, but I cannot leave them behind.” This duality reflects the complex reality of exile – a simultaneous pull towards new horizons and an unbreakable bond with the past. His longing for exploration and artistic growth is tempered by the deep-rooted ties to his family and the shared experience of displacement.
“The idea of having a new home, it’s not something easy to adapt to. There’s something missing. It is a feeling so intense and unescapable,” Nasr confides. This poignant sentiment echoes throughout his work, as he navigates the emotional landscape of exile. The sense of something irrevocably lost, yet clashing the necessity of building a new life, is a recurring undercurrent in his photography. His images encapsulate the struggle to find a sense of belonging in an unfamiliar place while holding onto the memories and identity tied to a homeland left behind. “Such is the reality of exile,” he adds.
Through his lens, Nasr offers a profound exploration of what it means to be caught between worlds, crafting a narrative that is both deeply personal and universally resonant.
Born in Saudi Arabia and the daughter of a Sudanese father and Egyptian mother, Marwa Zein is a woman that truly embodies multiple identities, and for many it is this that perhaps shines through the most in her work. Even when it comes to her roles, that diversity and multiplicity are frontline and center. An award-winning director, scriptwriter, film producer, women’s rights activist, and founder of ORE Production, a Khartoum-based film production company, Zein is inspiring in every way.
Before setting off on a journey to become a filmmaker, Zein enrolled in Cairo University as a chemical engineering student to please her parents. While studying, she worked and saved up to have the means to leave her degree behind three years later, instead study cinema at the Academy of Arts in Cairo, Egypt in 2005. In 2009, she graduated with honors and moved to Germany to continue her film studies. Her graduation project, “A game,” was an official selection of more dozens of international festivals across the globe and was translated into five languages.
From her inspiring start into the world of film and her academic achievements, Zein moved on to bigger goals, nabbing awards for her short film “One Week, Two Days,” which premiered at the 2016 Dubai International Film Festival. In 2019, she was selected as one of the seven young filmmakers from across to attend the Cannes Film Festival 2019 by the International Emerging Film Talent Association (IEFTA).
Perhaps her most renowned recent work is “Khartoum Offside,” which was awarded Best Documentary for 2019 at the 15th Africa Movie Academy Awards AMAA 2019. The documentary tells the story of women footballers whose dream it is to play for Sudan at a Women’s World Cup hosted by their home country, revealing the challenging social, economic, and political situations they face and inspiring audiences with their tale.
Speaking to Women and Hollywood in 2019, Zein had some inspiring words of advice for other female filmmakers, saying, “There’s no competition. Everyone is unique, and we can’t tell the same story even we have the same idea. You are special, different, and inspiring, and you lead the way for the people coming after you.”
“Take care of your mental, physical, and financial situations. It’s a very challenging and demanding business, so don’t lose your soul in the process. Stay true to who you are, and you will reach the horizon,” she continued.
A group of academics have spent close to a decade scanning historic documents and images and making them available online.
Sudanese academic Badreldin Elhag Musa followed the news with alarm when Al Qaeda-affiliated fighters set fire to two libraries containing historic documents in the Malian city of Timbuktu in 2013.
While local residents managed to smuggle many manuscripts to safety in advance, a Unesco team later found that some 4,200 of the documents stored in the libraries were either destroyed or stolen – about a tenth of its archives .
At the time, Elhag Musa already had concerns about the preservation of rare documents in his country. The events in Timbuktu accelerated the sense of urgency for the scholar, a member of the Sudanese Association for Archiving Knowledge (Saak).
The tragic episode served as a warning that highlighted the plight of cultural heritage artefacts in areas of actual or potential conflict – just like Sudan.
Elhag Musa set a plan in motion, connecting with King’s College London Professor Marilyn Deegan, who has over 20 years of experience in digital humanities. His goal: to find ways to safeguard as much of Sudan’s cultural heritage as possible.
A decade later, the result is Sudan Memory, a project that seeks to preserve and promote valuable cultural materials about Sudan through digitisation. The online platform aims to ensure current and future generations can benefit from the country’s rich heritage.
In total, more than 200 people and over 40 institutions have been involved in the project, which offers 60,000 digitised documents.
The results are invaluable: The materials range from manuscripts, photographs, books and films, covering a myriad of topics, as well as jewellery, traditional dresses, and artefacts from different regions spanning around 6,000 years of history.
“We never expected such success when we started,” Elhag Musa told Middle East Eye.
His colleague Deegan notes, “We’ve digitised… well over 100.000 images,” adding, “We thought we would be able to do millions…but I think we did do a lot.”
Sourcing collections
One of the reasons that prompted Elhag Musa and his colleague at Saak to protect Sudan’s cultural heritage with such urgency was that many of the country’s richest archives, particularly private collections, are in danger.
The reasons are manifold, ranging from extreme weather and lack of appropriate storage to neglect and conflict.
Many valuable collections, whether public or private, are also locked away and not easily accessible to the public.
Yet at the same time, many of Sudan’s archives and collections were in good enough condition to undertake a project like Sudan Memory, as Deegan saw for herself on her first visit to Khartoum, Omdurman and Atbara in May 2013.
“Archives in Sudan are not (like) the British Library, but they are not too bad,” she said.
Although its origins go back a decade, the Sudan Memory team was only able to start digitising documents in 2018, some time after securing funds.
At first, the focus was on large institutions; one of the entities that contributed the most was the National Records Office (NRO), which serves as Sudan’s national archives.
The NRO holds more than 30 million documents, some dating as far back as 1504 CE, and they are currently classified into around 300 collections.
Today, some of these materials can be found in the Sudan Memory archive, including early issues of The Sudan Times newspaper, as well as old magazines, rare books and precious photographs.
Another major collection included in the Sudan Memory project was provided by Al Rashid Studio, the largest private photo studio in the country.
Located in the city of Atbara, once the centre of Sudan’s railway industry and regarded as the cradle of its trade union and communist movements, the studio holds over four million negatives dating back to the 1940s.
Through these negatives, the Rashid family has captured the cosmopolitanism that once defined Atbara, as well as some of the changes Sudan has undergone in recent decades.
“What’s interesting about [it] is looking at the early images and seeing over time how things like fashion changed, and how that’s related to politics,” Deegan noted.
A turbulent process
Building the Sudan Memory archive was not an easy task, primarily as a result of political circumstances in the country.
Training could not start until scanners were imported into the country and these were not installed until July 2018, as the team had to navigate sanctions still in place at the time – a period when former president, Omar al-Bashir, was still in charge.
These restrictions also affected the purchase of other equipment and the transfer of funds to teams within Sudan.
Additionally, in the lead-up to the revolution in Sudan in late 2018 and the period until the formation of the now-ousted transitional government, there was little stability within the country’s institutions with many regularly closing, thereby disrupting the project.
And just as the situation began to settle down and work restarted, the Covid-19 pandemic hit in early 2020, once again putting a hold on scanning in local institutions.
Throughout this turbulent process the project stayed going thanks to the efforts of Katharina von Schroeder, Sudan Memory’s project manager in Khartoum.
“Just like many other projects, Covid times were difficult,” Elhag Musa said.
“But for us the passion was great, and as Marilyn continued to work on targeting international sources [of funding], we went on to focus on training talented team members on digitisation skills,” he added.
As if all this was not enough, the military coup of October 2021, which derailed the fragile transition in the country, further aggravated political instability in Sudan and delayed the project’s launch in Khartoum indefinitely.
“It has just been so turbulent over the last few years,” Katherine Ashley, another of Sudan Memory’s project managers, told MEE.
“But people, if anything, have become as or even more generous and excited to share their collections and do things about it,” she noted.
Private collections
About halfway through the project, the Sudan Memory team decided to expand beyond the country’s major institutions and dive into private collections as well.
And that’s when Ashley, who has extensive experience in the field, came in.
“The big collections are amazing, but the ones that people feel so passionate about are (ones) hidden away in people’s homes; private collections and stories,” she said.
“This is what (made me realise) how important it is to try and make some effort…on Sudan and record some of these oral histories and stories,” Ashley added.
One such preserved collection is that of Sadia el-Salahi , a Sudanese artist and designer born in 1941 in Omdurman and famous for her pioneering work on Sudanese folklore and traditional costumes.
In 1968, Salahi joined the Sudanese Ministry of Culture and became the first Sudanese national to hold the position of head costume designer, according to Sudan Memory.
“She sadly passed away…but we were lucky to record what was left of her collection and also do a video recording about her career and life story,” Ashley said of Salahi, who died in 2022.
Another jewel in the crown of the Sudan Memory project is an interactive 3D reconstruction of Suakin Island , on the west coast of the Red Sea, as it was in 1900.
The portal also features some important documentation about the history of the island, and links to digitised content about it.
To a great extent, the reconstruction of Suakin was possible thanks to Mohamed Nour, a local Sudanese citizen, and his family, who dedicated their life to building a museum of the island’s history through photographs, artefacts and other documents.
“It’s a lifelong work that they are continuing,” Ashley said.
Remembering Sudan’s Jewish community
A significant part of the archive created by Sudan Memory does not come from within the country but by a process they call digital repatriation: content about Sudan acquired from institutions and individuals abroad.
“We are bringing Sudanese materials back into the country,” Deegan noted, adding: “We are pushing Sudanese materials out to the world, but also bringing stuff back in.”
One example is the Tales of Jewish Sudan archive , a collection of stories, photos and recipes from Sudan’s Jewish community compiled by historian Daisy Abboudi, a descendant of the Sudanese-Jewish community born in the UK.
The history of Sudan’s Jews is difficult to trace, but Abboudi has documented that from the early 20th century onwards, Jews from all over the Middle East and North Africa began to arrive after the building of a rail connection to Cairo by the British army.
At its peak in 1950s, Sudan’s Jewish community numbered approximately 250 families, mainly concentrated in Khartoum, Omdurman and Wad Madani. And its members were predominantly merchants involved in the textiles, silks and Arabic gum trades.
“The community was very active, they had a club, a synagogue… It was an equipped, functioning community,” Abboudi told MEE.
“It was small, but I think that that made it even more vibrant and active,” she added.
However, from the mid-20th century onwards, and for reasons ranging from the establishment of the State of Israel to the rise in antisemitic incidents and rhetoric in Sudan, the Jewish community began to shrink amid successive waves of emigration.
According to Abboudi, by the end of 1973 following the Arab-Israeli war, the last remaining Jews left Sudan.
To prevent the memory of the once vibrant Jewish community in Sudan from fading, Abboudi started Tales of Jewish Sudan in 2015 with the aim of preserving its history and stories before it was too late – a goal now shared with Sudan Memory.
“Living in the more Ashkenazi-dominant British community, I felt that my history was neglected, ignored or somehow not present. And that’s why I started,” she said.
“But also for my generation and the generations to come, because I realised that as soon as those people are no longer here, that community will be forgotten,” she explained further.
Another curious example of repatriated Sudanese materials comes from Air Tickets History , a collection belonging to Greek collector, Gklavas Athanasios, that today holds over 4,500 airline tickets and boarding passes from more than 1,000 airlines spanning six continents.
The extensive collection includes several documents dated from 1960 to 1983 from Sudanese airlines, such as Sudan Airways, the national airline; also one of the first airlines in Africa, Mid Airlines, a charter airline established in Khartoum in 2002, and Marsland Aviation.
“I started collecting tickets when I was eight and had my first flight with Olympic Airways, from Athens to Samos Island,” Athanasios told MEE. “But about the Sudanese tickets I unfortunately don’t have much information, as I bought them on Ebay many years ago.”
All in all, the compilation of these documents gathered from major institutions and private collections both inside and outside Sudan helps to build up a complex picture of the memory of a nation.
“We were optimistic, but we didn’t expect at all that we would succeed in the organisation of such magnificent collaboration,” Elhag Musa said.
And the process that has been followed also serves to pave the way to go further.
“What we do have at least is a much broader understanding of what is there and what else could be done in the future,” Ashley said.
The Khartoum-based photographer’s work has become ‘a nostalgic collection’ of what his city looked like before the current outbreak of violence .
When the Khartoum-based Sudanese photographer Ala Kheir was approached to feature in “Reframing Neglect,” a group show in New York presenting works by African photographers, he had no idea that the exhibition would be staged as his country was plunged into another violent conflict.
Sudan has been in the throes of political turmoil since authoritarian leader Omar Al-Bashir was overthrown in 2019, but the explosion of violence on April 15 between Sudan’s two warring generals Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan of the Sudanese Armed Forces and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo’s Rapid Support Forces took the world by surprise, including Kheir.
“Reframing Neglect,” curated by contemporary artist and activist Aïda Muluneh, is focused not on warfare, but on the need to end what are termed “neglected tropical diseases,” which included leprosy, sleeping sickness and river blindness. It showcases works by Kheir and photographers from six other countries in Africa — Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, Sudan and Ethiopia.
Kheir’s works in the exhibition were shot in the Stables Industrial Area, a neighborhood on the outskirts of Khartoum where families fleeing unstable regions have made makeshift homes. It’s also where the majority of the people in Sudan living with NTDs reside. But now, with the violence that has transformed Khartoum into a constant battleground, even they have been forced to find refuge elsewhere.
Kheir’s work subtly addresses Khartoum’s complexity, as well as the socio-economic issues that shape it, or at least shaped it before the current violence.
“I work in a way that feels more like seeing,” Kheir explains from his home in Khartoum. “This city has been my playground for so long. Even though I am from Darfur, Khartoum is where most of my work is. Through my photography I try to document and engage with the city and understand it better.
“With my camera I’ve been to all parts of the city, all parts of the community,” he adds. “I’ve been photographing projects in the outskirts — in the poor, relatively new neighborhoods — and in the center of the city, where the action is.”
Through photography, Kheir strives to raise awareness of the community of artists whose lives are now at risk in Khartoum.
“I try to use photography with the aim of self-reflection, while also enjoying the process and the difficulty of making a simple photograph that delivers a message,” he says.
Kheir runs The Other Vision, a platform that focuses on photography education and training in Sudan, through which he assists young photographers and connects Sudanese artists to the rest of Africa, as well as engaging with the public to address social issues to bring about change in Sudan.
“When I look at my photography now and think about the war that is currently taking place in Khartoum, my work has become very important to me,” he tells Arab News. “I keep looking at the photographs I took of the city; they have become a nostalgic collection of what it used to look like.
“Since I cannot photograph the city now like I did before, I am reviewing the work I have done over the past 10 years and I want to publish a book with these images,” he continues. “Khartoum and Sudan will not be the same after this war.”
source/content: arabnews.com (headline edited)
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‘Home is Here,’ one of Sudanese photographer Ala Kheir’s images from the New York group exhibition ‘Reframing Neglected.’ (Supplied)
Achieving success is no easy feat especially if you are working from the ground up. With passion and skill, a lot of people achieve self-made success. Today we are celebrating one such individual, Sudanese-American physician Iman Abuzeid who is the co-founder and CEO of a digital nurse hiring platform. She just nabbed a spot on Forbes’ ninth annual list of America’s Richest Self-Made Women and for good reason, with an impressive net worth of 350 million US dollars.
Being only one of two Arab women on the Forbes list, Abuzeid’s ranking is placing the Arab identity and voice at the forefront. Beyond that, the 38-year-old doctor is the only self-made millionaire on the list who earns money through the field of medicine on Forbes’ list of America’s Richest Self-Made Women. She achieved her impressive ranking almost a year after her nurse-hiring start-up called Incredible Health was able to raise 80 million US dollars and that helped hike her company’s valuation to 1.65 billion US dollars.
Along with Abuzeid, many other prominent self-made women made it to the Forbes list including TV creator Shonda Rhimes and Insitro founder and CEO Daphne Koller. Also for the sixth consecutive year, the top spot went to building supply distributor Diane Hendricks. With all that being said, knowing the incredible work each of these women achieved acts as a beacon of inspiration for younger girls to follow in their footsteps.
Moatasem Jibril, a young man from Sudan, is realising his dream of conducting technological experiments to manufacture robots by using recycled electronic waste.
Despite modest capabilities and living in a mud house in the city of Omdurman, west of the capital, Khartoum, Jibril did not give up on his dream of making a robot, even after having to quit university due to the deteriorating economic conditions of his family.
For about ten years, Jibril has been trying to create robots in a narrow space inside his family house, and he challenges poverty by working daily in the market to earn money to purchase the materials he needs for his project. He hopes that his dream will be funded by any businessman or institution.
Sudan is suffering from many crises, starting with a shortage of basic and imported commodities, as well as the depreciation of the local currency, in addition to the government’s measures to lift fuel subsidies at the request of the International Monetary Fund in 2021.
Childhood dream
Jibril’s dream of making robots arose from his childhood, inspired by cartoons.
“Making robots is a dream that has been in my mind since childhood, and I try hard to turn my dream into reality,” he said.
He started making robots nine years ago, after watching many movies that talk about inventors.
The young man mainly relies on the electronic waste that he obtains at a low price from local markets to build his robots, since the basic components exceed his financial ability.
He is searching continuously and painstakingly in electronic markets on the internet for any electronic parts offered for sale that are suitable for his industry, to buy them at reasonable prices.
Sudan is witnessing fluctuations in the abundance of foreign exchange, which raises the cost of imports and bears the final consumer the exchange rate differences, in addition to the rise in global prices, especially fuel and food.
Economic conditions
“In the initial stages, I moved more freely after studying and saving some money from my daily allowances,” Jibril said.
He was studying electronics engineering at the International University of Sudan. He often worked while studying, to save money to pay tuition fees and sit for exams. However, due to financial weakness of his parents, he missed many exams and eventually found himself dismissed from the University.
Jibril did not pay attention to the ridicule of his school and neighbourhood friends, and continued to implement his idea day and night.
“I still suffer from the mockery of colleagues and friends at the University when I begin to explain my project related to the manufacture of robots,” he said. “They consider it mere triviality, despite my continuous explanation of the idea of the project using engineering methods and three-dimensional designs.”
Jibril hopes that his economic conditions will improve, so he can return to the University to complete his academic studies in engineering and software fields.
He aspires to complete a project in building robots on a scientific basis and then start selling them.
As for his big dream, it is to go beyond the robotics industry and reach the stage of manufacturing micro-precision missiles and apply his motto that says: “Everything is possible with determination and persistence.”
He is looking forward to the future by completing his academic studies and hopes to find sponsorship from local or international institutions that will adopt his project to crown his success story and reach the world.
Sudanese Moatasem Jibril, who dropped out of his electronics engineering course for economic reasons, works on a robot in his house using waste products in Khartoum, Sudan on 2 March 2023 [Mahmoud Hjaj/ Anadolu Agency]
How do you use tech/data to tackle important issues? Tell us about your work.
Data, specifically qualitative research methods, is important to apply a systems lens of work as a means to connect the dots between the various solutions I’ve been mapping. Looking at a portfolio of solutions rather than stand-alone silver bullets creates evidence to better understand complex problems that are in nature wicked and interlinked. This method of starting with the solution and portfolio of solutions becomes a proxy indicator of a need and blind spot in a system or system of systems and/or a signal of change taking place.
I work with ordinary people who create extraordinary things to adapt to change quickly. My work is then to analyse that to share with the UNDP network and government counterparts for better decision making.
Solutions mapping is like pointillism. A series of dots may not make much sense but when it begins to connect and harmonise, you step back and see a picture. An example of that was during Covid-19 and how micro enterprises were forced to figure out ways to continue work under limitations of social and safe distancing. Observing a pattern of cashless solutions and connecting these with similar solutions both in Sudan, regionally and across the globe underlined the need but also an accelerated shift to a cashless economy as result of this new normal.
What was the most impactful project you worked on in the past year?
One of the ways to support a thriving local innovation ecosystem is one that facilitates this very ecosystem to see itself and its diverse and often unusual stakeholders.
If I were to liken the current ecosystem in Sudan, I would describe it as a map of islands with few bridges in between. When you start to ‘see’ solutions, as a mapper, you can see in all the ways they connect, align and interlink in this bigger and collective effort to create impact.
Everywhere I go, I cannot stop emphasising the ripple effect of the Solutions Fair held in early 2020. Whereby for the first time, stakeholders from different groups spanning academia, private and public sectors where in the same giant hall as Giulio Quaggiotto, Head the UNDP Strategic Innovations Unit has coined, the development mutants. A social experiment of sorts, of what takes place when the traditional development actors meet the unusual and unexpected.
The organic connections, knowledge sharing and diffusion that begin to form from which a community of solution holders emerged. With the first Covid-19 case reported in March and subsequent lockdown, it was this very community network that I was able to tap into to understand how they were responding, pivoting with Covid-19. The socio-economic impact but also the incredible resilience to reconfigure and do things differently under this immense and limiting challenge. How this network was connecting, working and collaborating with other networks. From university labs shifting to production of hand-sanitizers for students to distribute for free in the urban centres, to a social enterprise supporting highly affected street tailors into an organised collective to mass produce re-usable masks. The power of connections and compound impact that bridge the usual with the unusual.
What are some innovations from the pandemic that have caught your eye?
Indigenous Sound Bites. This completely grassroot effort was carried out by Dr. Hiba Abdelrahim of Sudan Unity Networking who first noticed the glaring gap in inclusive Covid-19 communication available in local and indigenous languages. She started to reach out to a network of Sudanese polyglots on Facebook to record sound bites of Covid-19 WHO guidelines and safety precautions. Through networks and network of networks on social media from Telegram, Whatsapp, Youtube, a collective distribution approach was used to share and reshare these sound bites to ensure this reaches volunteers on the ground in rural and hard to reach areas to share this vital and critical health information.
What is one unexpected learning from 2020?
2020 was a year of personal growth and learning forced by being cut off from the usual pace and external stimuli of everyday life and way of work. Facing a collective and shared challenge caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the uncertainty of this new reality and what that means at a personal and professional level created a space to pause for much needed reflection on what really matters. Family and well-being, particularly mental well-being, and health have always been important. But what was unexpected was how much that really is a priority at the core of the choices I make and should and ought to be making.
In a way, the great re-set of this year was a wider ripple effect for social solidarity which emphasised the need for better support for care work and care economies. An integral support system that was consistently undervalued but came to the forefront with the pandemic in the welfare of, for and by communities.
What are your priorities for 2021?
Balance. Solutions mapping, and I am biased for obvious reasons, is an important protocol that introduces mixed research methods and approaches to development practice. The importance of constant and consistent engagement with the systems outside the work of UNDP, and connecting to those closest to the problem in the context of development challenges, allows solutions mappers to be a bridge to share, diffuse and shine light on context responsive knowledge with decision makers at UNDP and government counterparts that may influence programming, policy or inform better partnerships and possibly open unexpected pipelines in the market.
All the while, it is imperative to embed the practice and protocols of solutions mapping within UNDP thereby creating movements and networks of UNDP mappers in the country office to re-learn to see, observe and engage with ecosystems through this new lens. This is akin to having one foot out with one foot in, a balancing act to ensure that I am not leaning heavily on one foot at the expense of the other.
What tool or technique particularly interests you for 2021?
Ethnographic cartography (EC) is a method I am particularly keen to explore its possible applications in the context of Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) in Sudan. EC inspired by Everyday Geographies and Personal Geographies, is a multi-sensory approach combining two activities.
The first, MyWalks is an activity that is intended to reawaken the senses to look for the unexpected. A simple premise of walking through a familiar route, re-walked or a new route walked for the first time. The experience of the journey starting at A is more important by engaging the senses and observing rather than reaching the destination at B.
The second, MessyMaps is the technique to record this multi-sensory experience through images, sound and notes. The outcome of this supports better understanding and engagement of the ecosystem in which I am mapping solutions and how these solutions exist, interlink and engage with the environment it operates out of and with.
I first came across an application of this method through the amazing work “Other Maps” undertaken by a fellow Solution Mapper, Paulina Jimenez at UNDP Ecuador. In academia, this emerging method was used to produce qualitative GIS representations of resilience. In this use case, Dr Faith Evans incorporated emotion, social connections and experience to present an experimental map visualisation of informal settlements in Kenya.
Which other countries inspire you and why?
India. As I onboarded to the Accelerator Lab, the cohort of AccLab mappers had the unique opportunity to get first-hand knowledge and support from the Accelerator Lab Network knowledge partner, the Honey Bee Network and GIAN. Virtual classes led by Prof Anil Gupta and Dr Animika Dey on mapping inclusive grassroots innovation was an eye opener to the work led by India over the last two decades to recognise, incorporate and support grassroots innovations in the National Innovation Policy. As one publication describes it, propositioning grassroots innovations in the S&T policies of India created a space for “the innovation agenda [to] shift from presenting grassroots innovation as a divider of the national innovation wealth to a provider of it”. (1)
The kind of effort India has spearheaded is one I would hope can be galvanised for Sudan to learn from and emulate.
Who do you admire? Who is your hero?
My grandfather. A food scientist, teacher, researcher, former FAO and fierce advocate for R&D turned entrepreneur and thought leader in the F&B industry of Sudan.
I remember once asking him why he did not invest in better advertising for his products or fancier packaging. His response was that his responsibility and priority is to ensure accessibility for the everyday Sudanese informed by the forefront of sustainable food production research. In which the everyday consumer not only benefits from the product itself but is able to re-use and repurpose the packaging for domestic needs.
The value system he has abided by until his retirement almost a decade ago is one I admire and have grown to appreciate even more as a development practitioner. The principles he went by still ring true and relevant in industrial innovation and sustainable consumption and production today.
(1) Jain, A., & Verloop, J. (2012). Repositioning grassroots innovation in India’s S&T policy: From divider to provider. Current Science, 103(3), 282-285. Retrieved March 16, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/24085031
Sharjah International Book Fair is honouring the leading academic for his distinguished works in research and documentation.
The Sharjah Book Authority (SBA) has announced Sudanese historian Yusuf Fadl Hasan as ‘Cultural Personality of the Year’ for its upcoming 41st annual edition of the Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF 2022) in recognition of his invaluable contributions to the field of history and documentation of the nation’s developmental journey in political, cultural and scientific fields, in addition to his substantial efforts in promoting the research and documentation movement in Africa and Asia, and published more than 30 books.
The SIBF ‘Cultural Personality of the Year’ initiative stems from SBA’s vision to honour distinguished figures who have contributed richly to various fields and serve as inspiration and model to younger generations.
Commenting on the selection of the Sudanese historian for its 2022 edition, which runs under the theme ‘Spread the Word’ from November 2 – 13 in Expo Centre Sharjah, HE Ahmed bin Rakkad Al Ameri, Chairman of SBA, said: “Our efforts echo the vision of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, of celebrating distinguished intellectual and creative personalities as pillars of sustainable cultural development. The Arab cultural world needs the invaluable work of distinguished figures like Prof. Yusuf Fadl Hasan to advance our realities and build our future.”
He added: “Sudan has constantly enriched Arab culture through leading contributions by prominent individuals in various fields. Naming Prof. Yusuf the Cultural Personality of the Year is a tribute to more than 60 years of vital work in research, documentation and studies of the African and Asian continents.”
Born in Al Mahmiyya, Sudan, in 1932, he received Bachelor degree in General Arts from Khartoum University in 1956, and Bachelor degree with honours in History from London University in 1959, and PhD in History from the University of London in 1964. He served as a lecturer at the History department at the University of Khartoum.
He served as the director of the Sudan Research Unit (which became the African and Asian Studies Institute) between (1972-1983), entrusted with chronicling the Sudanese heritage and spearheading a team of researchers. Prof. Yusuf served as the president of Khartoum University between 1985 – 1991, and was the editor of Sudan note and record magazine that has more than 20 editions. He also launched Sudanese studies magazine.
He has published more than 30 books, including The Arabs and Sudan: from the seventh to the early sixteenth century (1966), Introduction to the history of Islamic States in Eastern Sudan, Studies in Sudanese History, and co-edited Tabaqat wad Dayf Allah.
Google search engine features late Sudanese musician Asma Hamza celebrating anniversary of her winning the Laylat AlQadr AlKubra music competition in Sudan.
According to Google’s description on 17 July, “On this day in 1997, Asma was among the winners of the Laylat AlQadr AlKubra music competition in Sudan. This win was a turning point in her career and helped her gain recognition in a male-dominated field.”
Considered the first female composer in Sudan, Hamza was born in 1932 and loved music while growing up, dreaming of becoming a singer. However, her vocal cords were not equipped to handle singing safely, so she switched to whistling the tunes instead. When her father heard her whistle in harmony, he borrowed an oud (similar to a lute but with a thinner neck and no frets) so Asma could practice.
Despite the fact that it was not socially acceptable for women to practice music in Sudan during her time, her father encouraged her interest in music. In fact, the whole family enjoyed singing and was fond of music.
Hamza did not like her own voice and directed her interests towards playing the oud, which her father purchased for her. Surrounded by musicians who often visited her family home, including Ahmed Mustafa, Osman Hussein, Hassan Attia, and Abdel Aziz Mohamed Daoud, Hamza started by playing the oud while listening to other performers and copying their strokes by ear. As she began mastering the instrument, she soon became the very first Sudanese woman with formal training on the oud, which she received in response to her perseverance.
As she started carving her own place in Sudan’s music scene, she performed in small gatherings, followed by bigger stages. She often used lyrics by renowned poets, leading to compositions that were then performed by renowned singers. Her melodies resonate with many people in Sudan and across the Arab world.
On 17 July 1997, Hamza was announced as one of the winners of the Laylat AlQadr AlKubra song competition held in Sudan, standing among many male musicians. This win is considered an important turning point in her career.
