By Gladys Fred Kole
South Sudan has sent Mr. Alier Deng Ruai Deng, as a new permanent representative to the United Nations.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ambassador Alier Deng Ruai Deng has presented his credentials to the Director General of the United Nations Office in Geneva.
An ambassador is a diplomatic official to a foreign country or government, or in this case, the United Nations, an international organization, to serve as the official representative of his or her own country.
Deng presented his credentials to the Director-General, Tatiana Valovaya, as the new permanent representative of South Sudan to the UN, replacing, Akuei Bona Malwal, who took the helm in July 2015.
“Accredited” means the qualification, achievements, personal eminence, or aspect of the individual’s background, normally when used to indicate that they are suitable for the role.
Mr.Deng, a career diplomat, has held various positions, including Director-General of Multilateral Relations and Undersecretary of the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs from May 2015 to May 2019.
He also served as an advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of South Sudan from September 2019 to February 2021.
Amb. Deng had also worked before the independence of South Sudan at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the then-Sudan from 1982 to 2011.
He was Sudan’s Ambassador to Italy from September 2008 to March 2011. Academically, Deng has a Bachelor of Law from the University of Khartoum (1981).
Mr. Deng is currently a PhD candidate at the Institute of Peace, Development, and Security Studies of the University of Juba, where he also obtained a master’s degree and a postgraduate diploma in peace and development.
Ambassadors at the United Nations can be responsible for pushing the sometimes-bloated organization to streamline its budgets, and they can successfully push for important Security Council resolutions.
They’re almost always the most visible person at the United Nations except for the secretary-generals, and they are nominated by the heads of state.
Ambassadors to the United Nations, or “permanent representatives,” as they are called, represent their country’s interests with prime duty, to keep the country informed of events at the United Nations.
The ambassador then makes recommendations to the State Department and the president as to what course of action the country should pursue.