Zhanar Seyitakhmetqyzy Aitzhanova ( kk, Жанар Сейітахметқызы Айтжанова, ''Janar Seiıtahmetqyzy Aitjanova''; born 9 May 1965) is a Permanent Representative of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the

United Nations Office at Geneva The United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG, french: Office des Nations Unies à Genève) in Geneva, Switzerland, is one of the four major offices of the United Nations where numerous different UN agencies have a joint presence. The main UNOG ...

. She holds the rank of Envoy Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary 1st Class.

Early life and professional experience

She was born on 9 May 1965 on a '' sovkhoz'' in the South Kazakhstan Region of the Kazakh SSR. In 1982, at the age of 17, she enrolled in the

Kazakh State University Al-Farabi Kazakh National University ( kz, Әл-Фараби атындағы Қазақ ұлттық университеті, Äl-Farabi atyndağy Qazaq Ūlttyq Universitetı), also called KazGU or KazNU, is a university in Almaty, Kazakhstan. ...

, graduating in 1988 with a diploma in History and the English Language. In 1989, she began her post-graduate research program at Moscow State University. In the early 90s, she continued her studies at the

Charles University ) , image_name = Carolinum_Logo.svg , image_size = 200px , established = , type = Public, Ancient , budget = 8.9 billion CZK , rector = Milena Králíčková , faculty = 4,057 , administrative_staff = 4,026 , students = 51,438 , undergr ...

and the Central European University in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

. From 1996 to 1997, she worked in the Executive Program in Economics and Public Finance at the Joint

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Institute. She earned her master's degree in 2003 from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

Diplomatic and political career

From 1998 to 1999, he was the UNDP Assistant Resident Representative in

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

. In 2003, she became Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, and in 2005, she became Special Representative of Kazakhstan at the

World Trade Organization The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade. With effective cooperation in the United Nations System, governments use the organization to establish, revise, and e ...

Accession Negotiations. From 2010 to 2016, she was Minister of Economic Development and Trade as well as Minister of Economic Integration. From June 2016 to September 2019, she served as Ambassador to the Swiss Confederation. In May 2017, she picked up the role of Kazakh envoy to the Vatican and to the

Principality of Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: link=no, Fürstentum Liechtenstein), is a German-speaking microstate located in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland. Liechtenstein is a semi-constitutional monarch ...

concurrently. Since June 2016, she has been the Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

Personal life

She is married with two sons. Outside of Kazakh and Russian, she speaks

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and Czech.

Awards

* Order of Kurmet * Medal "For Valiant Labor". * Medal "For contribution to the creation of the Eurasian Economic Union" 1st Degree (May 13, 2015 by the Supreme Council of the Eurasian Economic Union)Текст решения
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aitzhanova, Zhanar 1965 births Living people Women government ministers of Kazakhstan Al-Farabi Kazakh National University alumni Harvard Kennedy School alumni