SARRA HANNACHI
Responsible Tech & AI Advocate & Researcher in the Security SectorMozilla Fellow, @Mozilla Foundation
Recent Activity
This month I had the great honor to be placed in Washington DC, for a a prestigious professional exchange powered by the US department of state : PFP Fall 2025 to learn if and collaborate on key matters intersecting topics of technology, innovation & global security.
Recently Published
The 2025 issue of the International Journal of Human Rights, Peace and Politics ICHRPP, titled Cartographies of Conflict: Five Dimensions of Warfare and Beyond, included the paper by Sarra Hannachi "Information Warfare as a Driver of AI Bias in Military Decision Support Systems". It explores the invisible geographies of conflict and resistance that shape our world beyond the visible horizon of traditional warfare.
activity feed
US Department of State: Professional Fellows Program
September 2025
This month I had the great honor to be placed in Washington DC, a key hub for my work on Tech & Security, for a prestigious US-based professional exchange.The Professional Fellows Program 2025 (PFP Fall 2025) is run by Legacy International, a brilliant organization that believes in the people and not just the profiles, precisely ~50 professionals from the #MENA region.
During this 1-month exchange, I'm engaging with key actors, entities and in events relevant to the development and deployment of AI and emerging technologies in the tech/security sector intersection. More specifically, I'm conducting my exchange, networking and collaboration efforts particularly with the Atlantic Council, a renowned global think tank in the capital. I couldn't image a better and more vibrant learning environment than DC!
Key Informant Role to CITR's Report Launch
August 2025
Kudos to the Coalition for Independent Tech Research on the awaited report launch!
I especially enjoyed my conversation with Vineet John Samuel during the making."socio-political implications are very dynamic and unpredictable... it slowly becomes exhausting to keep up with policy changes and random decision making affecting digital safety across the world."
Podcast / Borderline-europe: Tech Borders & Migration
July 2025
Borderline-europe exposes the increasingly restrictive European migration policies and their brutal effects to a broad public. They aim for a active, political and critical awareness of the universality of Human Rights, which will counteract the racist structures and the deadly consequences of these walls-up politics.In one of their podcast episodes (from 10:35 - 18:25), I've had the honor to be part of a critical discussion about tech borders and the weaponization of AI and emerging Tech for border control. You can listen to my English intervention in this episode here from 10:35 to 18:25 while the rest of the episode is in German.
Speaker: Paradigm Initiative's #DRIF 2025 in Zambia
May 2025
Digital Rights & Inclusion Forum (DRIF25) is one of the most diverse and enriching digital rights community gatherings in Africa!Taking place between April 29th and May 1st in Lusaka, Zambia, I had the honor to join as a speaker at a lightning talk on "Emerging Risks of Autonomous Weapons Systems of Military Ops in Conflict", along with a panel discussion on "Right to seek asylum in the age of AI".It is organized and coordinated by Paradigm Initiative, an inspiring team of people fostering human rights in the digital space and promoting safe and responsible tech applications along with accessibility and inclusion to internet, digitalization and more. I've had the honor to be part of the PIN team throughout my DRILL fellowship in Fall 2024 "Digital Rights & Inclusion Learning Lab".
See details about my DRILL fellowship:
Speaker: Service Design Network's #NextGen Con
April 2025
The Service Design Network Young Talent Board (SDN YTB) vision is to create a vibrant, global community of service design students and young professionals that are connected, inspired, and empowered to shape the future of service design.
My talk "Ethical and Inclusive AI-driven Service Design for Humanitarian Action" explores how AI can enhance service design in humanitarian settings—while ensuring it remains inclusive, ethical, and context-appropriate.The NextGen 2025 conference brings together emerging and expert voices in service design to share bold ideas and challenge norms in designing sustainable, inclusive and impactful solutions. #Dare to Impact💡
Speaker: Migration Youth & Children Platform's Webinar
March 2025
Migration Youth and Children Platform (MYCP) vision is to create space for young people’s meaningful engagement in decision-making on migration policy and to empower them to participate effectively, thus building a more inclusive world for migrants.My session "The Implications of AI Technologies in Migration Border Security" will examine the ethical and safe deployment of AI in migration control across the SWANA region. It will explore how border agencies implement AI in their operations, the transparency measures needed, and civil society’s role in protecting migrant human & digital rights and in influencing policy.
RightsCon 2025 Participation in Taipei, Taiwan
February 2025
RightsCon 2025 is the world's leading summit on human rights in the digital age, by AccessNow. My participation was a first in-person and it was a fruitful learning experience as well as networking opportunity that made space for strong collaborations. In the closing ceremony, AccessNow announced the next edition will be in Africa!
ASC 2024 Panel on open-source AI & policy frameworks
December 2024
The African Startup Conference is an annual international multi-stakeholder conference that promotes innovation in the digital African ecosystem. My panel intervention during the ASC2024 was on open-source AI's potential and challenges in Africa and it summarizes the key policy frameworks that either don't exist or suffer from serious gaps and limitations.
The open-source AI panel was organized by GIZ Algeria that allowed me, with my expertise, to highlight the topic from ethics and policy dimensions with a diverse audience of African entrepreneurs, technologists, innovators and policy makers!Take a glimpse of my intervention by watching the short video below:
Digital Rights & Inclusion Learning Lab (DRILL)
November 2024
🎉 Paradigm Initiative (PIN) welcomes its virtual 4th Edition of the Digital Rights and Inclusion Learning Lab (DRILL) focused on the African continent and India. Drawn from a pool of talented innovators, researchers, policy experts, and entrepreneurs, the participants are currently undergoing an intensive 4-month program designed to foster innovative learning, advocacy, capacity-building, and networking in digital rights and inclusion.
North African Internet Governance Forum (NAIGF 2024)
October 2024
Honored to participate in the North African School of Internet Governance (NASIG 2024) by the North African Internet Governance Forum (NAIGF) in Nouakchott, Mauritania. This has been an invaluable opportunity to foster visionary partnerships and engage with a variety of experts and changemakers on essential topics from data protection and broadband access to AI ethics and cybersecurity!
📒 This year's content and sessions are all about fostering shared insights, supporting North Africa’s digital transformation, and driving a secure, inclusive digital innovation. I was especially inspired by the focus on multi-stakeholder engagement and the push for greater youth involvement in Internet governance and responsible AI applications in various fields, particularly justice, peace and global security.Take a look at the AI ethics simulation in the justice sector that I presented at the end of the North African School of Internet Governance (NASIG 2024):
Launching "AU-EU Youth Voices Lab" as Youth Advisory Board Member
September 2024
It was such an honor to contribute to the Kick-off ceremony in Addis Ababa and launch the AU-EU Youth Lab as a Youth Advisory Board member with AU-EU Youth Voices Lab - Power of the Collective, along with my fellow board members, Youth Action Lab and Youth Sounding Board!
🎯 The AU-EU Youth Lab is a an African Union & Council of the European Union co-created initiative that serves as a youth potential generator, whether via providing a platform and tailored guidance for youth voices advocating for crucial causes in the Africa and in Belgium, the EU hub or via providing community projects grants and implementation mentorship opportunities in these regions!
🌐 The Launch was also an opportunity to connect different representatives and networks from policy-makers, youth board members, EU youth delegates and key organizations in the AU-EU Youth Lab structure. The key consortium organizations consist of Restless Development, Youthmakers Hub, ComDev Africa, Search for Common Ground and Oxfam International while other organizations also took part of the launch process!
About
Sarra is a tech researcher with a strong passion for social impact and human rights advocacy. She specializes in evidence-based research and tech policy to address unethical applications particularly in border security, war and armed conflict contexts. Through research, conflict analysis and human-centric policy, she draws on extensive knowledge and experience, especially in the MENA region & Africa.
Sarra is a Mozilla Fellow who has collaborated with non-profit, non-governmental, and international organizations to advance human rights, peace and security with ethical use and policymaking of AI & emerging tech. This is through policy analysis and recommendations on responsible AI/tech use in security settings. Sarra is also a visiting professional fellow at The Atlantic Council and a member of the Coalition for Independent Technology Research (CITR). For youth representation and empowerment, Sarra is now a AU-EU Youth Lab Advisory Board Member with the AU-EU Youth Voices Lab initiative.
Published
Research Paper- coming soon...
December 2025
Personal Project- coming soon...
November 2025
Paper- coming soon...
October 2025
ICHRPP - Information Warfare as a Driver of AI Bias in Military Decision Support Systems
Journal: Cartographies of Conflict: Five Dimensions of Warfare and Beyond
October 2025
The 2025 issue of the International Journal of Human Rights, Peace and Politics (ICHRPP), titled Cartographies of Conflict: Five Dimensions of Warfare and Beyond, explores the invisible geographies of conflict and resistance that shape our world beyond the visible horizon of traditional warfare. The paper by Sarra Hannachi underscores the necessity to take all factors, direct or indirect, into consideration when taking certain actions or making military objectives by means of a tool that is susceptible to cyber-attacks, digital risks, and biased information.
Policy Brief - Sudan: Strengthening the resilience of psycho-social interventions for war-affected school-age children
Siyasat, March 2025
The policy brief examines different psycho-social impacts and educational implications of the Sudan war on school-age children who were affected since the conflict started in April 2023, especially in protracted conflict areas. The objective of the brief is to bring to light these findings and to provide relevant key recommendations for the humanitarian sector to support children’s education, protection and MHPSS response plans during and after the war.
Digital Policy Digest - Africa's human-centric position on AI, robotics and other emerging technologies in security
Paradigm Initiative, January 2025
A Digital Policy Digest untangling different dimensions of AI and tech applications in security settings in Africa, all while examining the ACHPR's role in understanding them, governing them and promoting responsible AI, AI ethics and emerging technology in applications varying from border control to military!
Colab
In 2025, I am launching and working on multiple projects simultaneously which all intersect in the Tech and Security nexus. Some of these initiatives and projects are part of my fellowship with the Mozilla Foundation, some are independent research, some are session proposals and some are contributions to other organizations' and think tanks' work.Check the list below and contact me if you'd like to collaborate with me on something in particular or propose a whole new idea (I'm all 👂🏼). Thanks for showing interest!
Research on the implications of AI-powered tech applications in border control and security in the Mediterranean (case study: Palermo, Italy), followed by policy-oriented recommendations targeting (1) decision makers and (2) civil society.
Workshop session proposal for the Bread&Net conference by SMEX (October 2025) regarding safety measures and guidelines for Military AI applications in MENA.
Content Creation about different AI safety concepts, applied in the Military Domain.
Follow me on LinkedIn & BlueSky to stay tuned with these activities' updates!
Contact
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