Census microdata (computerized individualized records from census questionnaires) constitute the most valuable statistical treasure of a nation. Nevertheless, some national statistical offices still do not archive these riches and even fewer make microdata available for research. This paper describes a joint census microdata preservation and dissemination project between the Central Bureau of Statistics of Sudan and the University of Minnesota Population Center IPUMS project. The IPUMS-Sudan project, part of a global initiative funded by the National Science Foundation (USA), has five goals. First we recover the microdata of the 1973 census with the assistance of a commercial data recovery firm. Second, we construct nationally representative, high precision, anonymized samples for the censuses of 1973, 1983 and 1993. Third, we integrate these samples into an international database (http://international.ipums.org), along with microdata for more than 30 other countries, including, among the Arab States, Egypt, Iraq, and Palestine. Fourth, we make extracts of samples available to approved researchers without charge. Fifth, we train official statisticians, academics, and policy researchers in the use of the database for comparative research over time and between nations. The IPUMS project is cited as a case study of “good practices” for managing access to census microdata by the UNECE Joint Committee on Microdata Access. Statistical agencies of the Arab States are cordially invited to consider participation in the IPUMS global initiative.