Sara Alpysqyzy Nazarbayeva (born 9 January, 1941, in Kzyl-Zhar, Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...

) is the First Lady

First Lady

First Lady or First Gentlemanis the unofficial title used in some countries for the spouse of an elected head of state.It is not normally used to refer to the spouse or partner of a prime minister; the husband or wife of the British Prime Minister is usually informally referred to as prime...

 of Kazakhstan and wife of President Nursultan Nazarbayev

Nursultan Nazarbayev

Nursultan Abishuly Nazarbayev has served as the President of Kazakhstan since the nation received its independence in 1991, after the fall of the Soviet Union...

. She married Nursultan in 1962 after her graduation. They now have three daughters; Dariga

Dariga Nazarbayeva

Dariga Nursultanqyzy Nazarbayeva is a Kazakh lawmaker and daughter of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev....

, Dinara and Aliya and three grandchildren. A trained economics engineer, Sara Nazarbayeva is the Founder and Chair of Bobek an International Children's Charity Fund. For her work with children she is a winner of the Ihsan Dogramaci Family Health Foundation Prize from the World Health Organizationhttp://www.who.int/governance/awards/dogramaci/dogramaci_winners/en/index.html and The International Unity Prize.

Work with children

Mrs. Nazarbayeva is the President of Bobek, an International Children's Foundation, which she founded in 1992 soon after the country became independent. She created Bobek to help mother and child care, provide supervision of foundling homes and orphanages, provide equipment and supplies to schools, aid gifted children from low-income families, and to assist the child health care system.

In 1997 she launched the first National Children's Rehabilitation Center and the "S.O.S. Children's Villages of Kazakhstan" which are family villages for orphans. These consist of several houses build together in a group where many children live in one house with several caretakers. Mrs. Nazarbaeva's plans for the children's villages enable the orphaned children to grow up in a family atmosphere.http://www.worldpartnersadoption.org/babyhouses.html

See also

• Nursultan Nazarbayev
  Nursultan Nazarbayev
  Nursultan Abishuly Nazarbayev has served as the President of Kazakhstan since the nation received its independence in 1991, after the fall of the Soviet Union...