Sarah Cleto Hassan Rial (born 10 November 1967) is a

South Sudan South Sudan (), officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the north by Sudan; on the east by Ethiopia; on the south by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Kenya; and on the ...

ese politician and human rights activist who was the governor of

Western Bahr el Ghazal Western Bahr el Ghazal is a state in South Sudan. It has an area of and as of 2020 has estimated 600,000 in population. It is part of the Bahr el Ghazal region. Its capital is Wau. The state shared international borders with Sudan to the north ...

from 2020 until 2024. She was the only woman among the eight governors appointed by President

Salva Kiir Salva Kiir Mayardit (born 13 September 1951), commonly known as Salva Kiir, is a South Sudanese politician who is the President of South Sudan since its independence on 9 July 2011. Prior to independence, he was the President of the Government ...

on June 30, 2020. In November 2024, she was replaced as governor by president Kiir, who made her a member of the Council of States. She was succeeded as governor by Emmanuel Okello.

Early life and education

Hassan was born on 10 November 1967 in the village of Abu Shaka,

Bahr el Ghazal Bahr el-Ghazal (, also transliterated ''Bahr al-Ghazal'', ''Baḥr al-Ghazāl'', ''Bahr el-Gazel'', or versions of these without the hyphen) may refer to two distinct places, both named after ephemeral or dry rivers. Chad * Bahr el-Ghazal (wadi in ...

. She hails from the Golo people of

. She attended the College of Social and Economic Studies, at the

University of Juba The University of Juba () is an English-language public university located in Juba, South Sudan. It was founded in 1975 by the former Vice president of and President of Southern Sudan, Abel Alier Kwai. The university was temporarily relocated t ...

, previously in Khartoum Sudan and graduated with a B.S. in Statistics and Demography, in 1991 and an M.A. in Political Science/Professional Development from

The American University in Cairo The American University in Cairo (AUC; ) is a private research university in New Cairo, Egypt. The university offers American-style learning programs at undergraduate, graduate, and professional levels, along with a continuing education program. ...

in 1996. She obtained a M.A. in the Program for Women in Politics and Public Policy, at the

University of Massachusetts Boston The University of Massachusetts Boston (stylized as UMass Boston) is a Public university, public US-based research university. It is the only public research university in Boston and the third-largest campus in the five-campus University of Ma ...

in 2006 and a graduate with Certificate of Peace and Conflict Resolution from the Rotary Peace Centre,

Chulalongkorn University Chulalongkorn University (CU; ; , ) is a public university, public Autonomous university, autonomous research university in Bangkok, Thailand. The university was originally founded during King Chulalongkorn's reign as a school for training ro ...

, Bangkok, Thailand in 2014.

Personal life

Hassan has three sons.

References

1967 births Living people People from Western Bahr el Ghazal South Sudanese politicians University of Juba alumni

Sarah Cleto Hassan Sarah Cleto Hassan Rial (born 10 November 1967) is a South Sudanese politician and human rights activist who was the governor of Western Bahr el Ghazal from 2020 until 2024. She was the only woman among the eight governors appointed by President ...

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