Gulnora Karimova

Gulnara Islamovna Karimova "(Gulnara Islomovna Karimova, in Russian: Гульнара Исламовна Каримова)" (born July 8, 1972, Fergana) is an Uzbek businesswoman, designer, singer and diplomat. Helping her career is the fact that she is the eldest daughter of the President of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov. She is in charge of numerous public and charity organizations, research centers.

Education

Gulnora Karimova is a Doctor of Political Science. She graduated from Tashkent State University in 1994, majoring in Economics. She obtained her MA from Harvard University (US). She has also completed a course of jewelry design in New York Fashion Institute of Technology.

Career

In 2004 she established the Forum of Culture and Arts of Uzbekistan Foundation, recognised by UNESCO as its official partner and which has its Representative offices in Moscow (Russia), Beijing (China), Tokyo (Japan) and Paris (France).

In 1998 Karimova served at the Uzbekistan’s Mission to the United Nations and from 2003 - 2005 at the Uzbek Embassy in Moscow. In February 2008 she was appointed Deputy Foreign Minister for International Cooperation in Cultural and Humanitarian spheres. Since September 2008 Karimova is Permanent Representative of Uzbekistan to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations in Geneva.

Karimova patronizes other funds also created under her initiative: “Zhenskoe Sobranie” (“Women’s Assembly”), engaging with the charity work to support motherhood and childhood, and Fund “Mehr nury” (“Light of Mercy”), which mainly extend social assistance to the population in the remote regions, and provide grants and soft loans to farmers and businessmen from rural areas.

One of the latest initiatives that Gulnara put forward was to unite participants of “third sector” (public and private organizations) under a single Fund - [http://sisf.uz Social Initiatives Support Fund] . The fund unites more than 50 national and international organizations including PSI, UNAIDS, DVV International.

In business, Karimova founded the fashion design company “Guli”. In 2006 Karimova for the first time in Uzbekistan organized a Fashion Week attended by designers and celebrities from Russia, France, Japan, Germany and other countries.

Karimova has initiated projects to support handicraftsmen, including those from the remote areas of the country. She promoted the Festival of Traditional Culture “Asrlar Sadosi” (“Echo of centuries”). It was held for the first time in May 2008 in the form of outdoor fete near Shakhrisabz area, one of the Uzbekistan’s cultural centers, and gathered more than 30 thousand people, both participants and visitors.

Karimova also supervises the Center of Political Studies, a think-tank on internal and external policy of Uzbekistan, regional security, economy and international development. It has close partnership ties with a number of foreign research centers. Among initiatives of the Centre is the idea of formation of SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization) Energy Club, creating Central Asian Common Information Field. The Center has also put forward several new visions on transit and transport corridors of Eurasia.

Private life

Karimova married a US citizen of Uzbek origin, Mansur Maqsudi, in 1991. They have two children, a son Islam and a daughter Iman. However, after a bitter divorce in 2001, Karimova took the two children and fled the United States, where she remains wanted for refusing to accede to a court ruling awarding custody of the two children to Maqsudi. In the wake of the divorce, Maqsudi had his business assets in Uzbekistan stripped from him.

Interests

Gulnara Karimova’s major hobby is music and poetry. She writes poems and also is the author of several music clips and songs. However, publicly she never claimed to be a poet or a singer.

References

*Official site: [http://gulnara.fondforum.uz www.gulnara.fondforum.uz]
* [http://www.independent.co.uk/eceRedirect?articleId=84765&pubId=55 Dejevsky, Mary (2004-01-07). "She is the jet-setting daughter of Uzbekistan's notorious dictator, and married into one of the nation's wealthiest families...", The Independent. Retrieved on 2007-09-03.]
* [http://www.hellorussia.ru/articles/gulnara_karimova.html Hello! – Gulnara Karimova]
* [http://www.bazaar.ru/diary/facecontrol/323640/ Harper’s Bazaar – Gulnara Karimova]
* [http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20061106-014800-1748r Daughter may succeed Uzbek president - UPI.com]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4783849.stm BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Music move for Karimov's daughter]
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/aug/11/tomparfitt.mainsection 'Princess of Uzbeks' cavorts in a cartoon wonderland]