في الوطنية، أو لماذا أحس بأني أكثر وطنية منك يا فلان وفلانة؟ الصور تتحدث!

Quote: Can you imagine being prohibited… …to buy essential computer software ? …to inscribe to internationally renowned IT courses ? …to possess a machine faster than 100 MHz ? Dear Member of the General Assembly of IOI, With this flyer, I would like to bring to your attention the current situation in my home country Sudan. Since the Clinton era, Sudan has been suffering the severe consequences of US sanctions imposed on the IT sector. The sanctions prohibit all companies that are subject to the U.S. Export Administration Laws and Regulations from exporting software and hardware to Sudan. These restrictions apply to most of the major software and hardware producers such as Adobe, Apple, Corel, IBM, Intel, Macromedia, Microsoft, Oracle and SUN Microsystems. By these regulations, Sudanese citizens are barred from purchasing, downloading, and importing essential computer software in use in offices all around the world, such as all Microsoft office products (Word, Excel, Access, etc), Acrobat Reader, Photoshop, Freehand, Corel Draw, Oracle database software, and many many more. The sanctions extend to companies and learning centers offering IT courses and certificate programs. Learning centers such as New Horizons or Prometric are not allowed to include Sudanese citizens in any of their training programs, which include most of the familiar certificates like all the Microsoft certifications (MCP, MCSA, MCSE, MCSD, MCDBA, MOUS), Oracle Certified Professional (OCP) or Certified Lotus Professional (CLP). By these two types of restrictions, Sudanese citizens and with them the country of the Sudan as a whole are hindered from technological progress. Dear member of the GA. While I am writing this text, I am fully aware that neither you nor I have the means to directly change the current unfair situation. But both you and I do have the means to increase the awareness of more people about the situation, and by doing so, we might nevertheless bring about a change in the long run. If you have an interest to help us with our campaign, you can send an email to [email protected] and we will keep you informed on any news. You might also want to visit our homepage at www.sudadev.net, which will be set up in the very near future. This site will contain further details on the issue. Thank you very much for your support. Anour F. Dafa-Alla Invited Observer of IOI 2002 Sudan