Bol Gai Deng
South Sudan Government in Exile Representative
REPORT OF
The Parliamentary Intelligence-Security Forum Conference
December 6 – 7, 2022
I was very blessed to have been invited to this special gathering of world leaders and United States officials, and representatives of both The House and Senate. The meeting included Ambassadors from many nations including the Americas, the European Union, Asia and Africa, more than 300 in attendance, including the Prime Minister of Jamaica.
I was the only attendee from East Africa (Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda and Kenya).
The conference addressed a variety of issues impacting world peace: wars among Nation States and within Nation States, illicit finances, cyber security, global supply chains, energy security, human trafficking, money laundering, cryptocurrency, stable currencies, adversarial foreign investments, space forces, rare earth minerals and 5G, artificial intelligence and quantum computing. The conference had many very knowledgeable speakers on the various topics. The issues impacting both the short-term and long-term lives of billions of people around the world are immense, especially for struggling nations like my own, South Sudan.
I was able to meet and speak with many of the attendees including the Chairman of The Parliamentary Intelligence-Security Forum, U.S. Congressman Robert Pittenger. I also had a nice conversation with The Most Honorable Andrew M. Holmes, Prime Minister of Jamaica, and Stephen Boyd of U.S. Senator James Langford’s staff, and other speakers and leaders. I also had a fruitful conversation with Congressman Christopher Smith, who has a keen interest in South Sudan.
The whole conference was an eye-opening experience for all of those attending. I am sure that my appreciation for the United States hosting and arranging this conference is shared by every attendee. I was truly blessed to be a part of it.
I would like to share a quote from the presentation of Stephen Boyd of Senator Langford’s office. Mr. Boyd quoted directly from the Christian Bible and said something like this to political leaders: “God ordained you to be in your current position and you are not here in your position to be wearing fancy suits and “being somebody”. You are here for your Nation – your people – and your work here and your return home is not for your personal benefit but for the benefit of your Nation and your people and ultimately, for World peace and Freedom. It is your moral responsibility to serve humanity and the World at large.”
I believe Mr. Boyd’s message was well-received. It certainly was well-received by me. I have spent more than a decade working to bring Peace, Freedom and Liberty to my homeland, South Sudan. I have visited the United Nations, spoken before Congress and directly to individual Congressmen and the U.S. State Department on many occasions. I’ve traveled, in the last few years, to East Africa on several extended trips to meet with leaders in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Uganda. I had to flee from an assassination attempt in Uganda several years ago. My wife lost her life at the hands of government leaders in South Sudan while I was in the United States, leaving me with two children to raise with the help of relatives. I have sacrificed for years, with the help of many, to bring attention to the plight of my countrymen. My sole mission is to bring reform to my homeland, South Sudan.
This conference allowed me to connect with many like-minded leaders in many nations. I feel more embolden now to pursue my mission to bring back to their homes, the several million South Sudanese refugees living in camps both within Sudan and in neighboring countries and to help establish a “real” country with a constitution – a true justice system ensuring life, liberty, freedom and justice for every individual in my home country of Sudan.
I truly was blessed to have been invited to participate in this conference.
Respectfully,
Bol Gai Deng, President
South Sudan
Government in Exile
