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Dominique Ouattara | |
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| First Lady of Ivory Coast | |
| Assumed role 4 December 2010 | |
| President | Alassane Ouattara |
| Preceded by | Simone Gbagbo |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Dominique Claudine Nouvian 16 December 1953 Constantine,French Algeria |
| Spouses | Jean Folloroux (m. 1975;died 1984)Alassane Ouattara (m. 1991) |
| Children | 2 |
Dominique Claudine Nouvian Ouattara (born 16 December 1953) is the current First Lady of Ivory Coast, married to President Alassane Ouattara. [1]
Dominique Claudine Nouvian was born on 16 December 1953 [2] in Constantine, Algeria. [3] She is a Catholic of Jewish descent from her mother's side. [4] [5] She is a French national. [6] She received a high school diploma from Strasbourg Academy in 1973 and graduated from the University of Paris X in 1975 with a degree in languages and a minor in economics. [3] In 1987, she obtained a diploma in property management from the La Fédération Nationale de l'Immobilier (FNAIM) in Paris, before receiving training as a real estate expert in 1989. [7]
Ouattara is a businesswoman, specializing in real estate. From 1979, she was CEO of AICI International Group. In 1993, she established a real estate management company, Malesherbes Gestion. [3] [8] In 1996, Ouattara was appointed CEO of French hair care chain EJD Inc., [3] a company that manages the Jacques Dessange Institute in Washington, D.C. In 1998, she acquired the Jacques Dessange franchises in the United States and then became CEO of French Beauty Services which manages the U.S. franchise's brand. [9]
Following her husband's election as President of Ivory Coast, and in accordance with campaign pledges he had made, Ouattara ceased her activities as a business leader and resigned from all her professional duties. She sold the US Dessange franchises to Dessange Paris Group to focus on her role as First Lady of Côte d'Ivoire and to her foundation, Children of Africa. [3] [8]
In 1980, Ouattara conducted humanitarian missions in Côte d'Ivoire and in 1998 she established the Children Of Africa Foundation. The Foundations' goal is the welfare of children on the African continent. Princess Ira von Fürstenberg is patron of the foundation, which is active in 11 countries across Africa, including Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon, Madagascar, Central Africa and Burkina Faso. [10] The Foundation focuses especially on four sectors, namely health, education, social issues and providing subsidized facilities.
One of the Foundation's biggest projects was the construction of the Mother and Child hospital in Bingerville, 10 kilometres east of Abidjan. Built on a 4.9-hectare (12-acre) plot, the hospital has a capacity of 130 beds and is meant help to improve access to healthcare for women, and reduce maternal and child mortality. [11] Construction began in 2013 and was completed in 2018. [12] [13]
On June 7, 2018, Dominique Ouattara inaugurated the Soubré shelter for children in distress. [14] It is part of a project of the Foundation to open three shelters in strategic areas of the Ivory Coast (Soubré, Bouaké and Ferkéssédougo), in order to assist children engaged into trafficking and exploitation before reintegration into their families. [15]
In November 2011, Ouattara was appointed head of the National Oversight Committee of Actions Against Child Trafficking, Exploitation and Labor. [3] The committee’s role is to monitor and evaluate government policies to eliminate child labor. The committee's activities have led to the adoption of two National Action Plans (2012-2014 and 2015-2017) to reduce the worst forms of child labor in the country. [16] The third plan is effective from 2017 to 2019. [17] In July 2012, the US State Department released its 2012 report on trafficking in persons. The report reclassified Ivory Coast as among its tier 2 countries, which corresponds to countries that
do not fully comply with the minimum standards of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Prevention Act (TVPA), but that are making significant efforts to eliminate child labor. [18]
In her capacity as Chair of the CNS, Outtara organized a conference of the First Ladies of West Africa and the Sahel region on the committee's themes. [19]
In 2012, Outtara established the Ivorian Fund for Women (FAFCI) to finance women-led micro-projects. [20] [21] The fund aims to facilitate women's financial empowerment, encourage entrepreneurship and address unemployment. As of April 2019, 200,000 women have received help from the fund, which currently has a capital of 12 billion FCFA. [20] [22] Outtara was awarded the "U.S.-Africa Business Center Outstanding Leaders' Award" from the American Chamber of Commerce in March 2016 for the help provided. [23]
On 18 December 2014, Dominique Ouattara was appointed Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS Special Ambassador for the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and the promotion of pediatric treatment. [24]
Dominique Ouattara is a member of the Organization of African First Ladies against HIV/AIDS (OAFLA) and attended various meetings, including the 7th African Conference on Sexual Health and Rights in Accra, Ghana in February 2016. [25] She is also a member of the African Synergy Association.
Ouattara moved to the Ivory Coast in 1975 with her first husband, Jean Folloroux, who was a professor at Lycée Technique in Abidjan, and whom she had married in 1974. With him she has two children. Her husband died in 1984. [3] Their son, Loic Folloroux, was Director of the West African branch of the Armajaro Limited group, a company specializing in trading in cocoa and raw materials. [26] He acquired the group's French-speaking subsidiaries and then created his own company. Her daughter, Nathalie Folloroux, is program director at Canal + International. [27] [28]
She married Ouattara, then Deputy Governor of the BCEAO in Dakar, on August 24, 1991 in the Town Hall of the 16th arrondissement of Paris in the presence of family friends like Martin Bouygues and Jean-Christophe Mitterrand. [3] [29] [30] Outtara became President of Ivory Coast in 2010 and was re-elected in 2015. [31] [32]
Koudou Laurent Gbagbo is an Ivorian politician who was the president of Côte d'Ivoire from 2000 until his arrest in April 2011. A historian, Gbagbo was imprisoned in the early 1970s and again in the early 1990s, and he lived in exile in France during much of the 1980s as a result of his union activism. Gbagbo founded the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) in 1982 and ran unsuccessfully for president against Félix Houphouët-Boigny at the start of multi-party politics in 1990. He won a seat in the National Assembly of Côte d'Ivoire in 1990.
The Rally of the Republicans is a liberal party in Ivory Coast. The party is the country's governing party; the party's leader, Alassane Ouattara, is the current President of Ivory Coast.
Alassane Dramane Ouattara is an Ivorian politician and economist who has been President of Ivory Coast since 2010. An economist by profession, he worked for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Central Bank of West African States, and was the Prime Minister of Côte d'Ivoire from November 1990 to December 1993, appointed to that post by then-President Félix Houphouët-Boigny. Ouattara became the President of the Rally of the Republicans (RDR), an Ivorian political party, in 1999.
Simone Ehivet Gbagbo is an Ivorian politician. She is the President of the Parliamentary Group of the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) and is a Vice-President of the FPI. As the wife of Laurent Gbagbo, the President of Côte d'Ivoire from 2000 to 2011, she was also First Lady of Ivory Coast prior to their arrest by pro-Ouattara forces.
Abou Nidal de Genève is the stage name of Aboubakar Doumbia born on December 29, 1974, in Divo, Ivorian composer, performer and producer. His pseudonym is linked to the fact that he lived for many years in Geneva, Switzerland. His nickname is also Wara Boss in reference to the Wara Tour.
Patrick Jérôme Achi is an Ivorian politician who served as Prime Minister of Côte d'Ivoire from March 2021 to October 2023 in President Alassane Ouattara's government. He is a member of the Rally of the Republicans (RDR). He studied at Supélec and Stanford University and specialises in engineering and infrastructure. He has also worked as the government spokesman for President Alassane Ouattara.
The 2010–11 Ivorian crisis was a political crisis in Ivory Coast which began after Laurent Gbagbo, the President of Ivory Coast since 2000, was proclaimed the winner of the Ivorian election of 2010, the first election in the country in 10 years. The opposition candidate, Alassane Ouattara, and a number of countries, organisations and leaders worldwide claimed Ouattara had won the election. After months of attempted negotiation and sporadic violence, the crisis entered a decisive stage as Ouattara's forces began a military offensive in which they quickly gained control of most of the country and besieged key targets in Abidjan, the country's largest city. At the time, international organizations reported numerous human rights violations, and the UN undertook its own military action with the stated objective to protect itself and civilians.
The Second Ivorian Civil War broke out in March 2011 when the crisis in Ivory Coast escalated into full-scale military conflict between forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo, the President of Ivory Coast since 2000, and supporters of the internationally recognised president-elect Alassane Ouattara. After months of unsuccessful negotiations and sporadic violence between supporters of the two sides, the crisis entered a critical stage as Ouattara's forces seized control of most of the country with the help of the UN, with Gbagbo entrenched in Abidjan, the country's largest city. International organizations have reported numerous instances of human rights violations by both sides, in particular in the city of Duékoué where Ouattara's forces killed hundreds of people. Overall casualties of the war are estimated around 3000. The UN and French forces took military action, with the stated objective to protect their forces and civilians. France's forces arrested Gbagbo at his residence on 11 April 2011.
Aya Virginie Touré, born Aya Virginie Kouamé, is a peace activist and politician in Côte d'Ivoire. She became known for organizing women in nonviolent resistance against President Laurent Gbagbo who refused to step down since he lost the presidential election to Alassane Ouattara. Touré worked to mobilize women as the Deputy Director for Ouattara's 2010 Ivorian presidential election. In 2016, she was elected as a deputy in the 72nd circonscription which includes the cities of Guépahouo and Oumé. Since at least 2014, she has been the Executive Director of the Petroci Foundation, the caritative organization of the Ivorian oil and gas company.
The following lists events that happened during 2011 in Ivory Coast.
Alassane Ouattara Stadium, commonly known as the Olympic Stadium of Ebimpé and formerly as the National Stadium of the Ivory Coast, is a multi-purpose stadium in Ebimpé and Anyama, in northern Abidjan. It opened in 2020. The stadium hosts major football matches including home matches of the Ivory Coast national football team. Alassane Ouattara Stadium is owned by the Government of Ivory Coast. With 60,000 seats, it is the largest stadium in Ivory Coast and one of the most modern stadiums in Africa.
Canada–Ivory Coast relations are the diplomatic relations between Canada and Ivory Coast. Both nations are members of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie.
Euphrasie Kouassi Yao is an Ivorian politician, who is the current special advisor to president Alassane Ouattara in charge of gender. She has also served as the Minister for the Promotion of Women, Family and Child Protection, and as a UNESCO chair on their committee on Water, Women and Decision-making.
Events in the year 2020 in Ivory Coast.
Hamed Bakayoko was an Ivorian politician who served as Prime Minister of Côte d'Ivoire from 8 July 2020 until his death on 10 March 2021. He had previously served as the country's Minister of New Technologies, Information and Communication, Minister of the Interior and Minister of Defense.
This period in the history of Ivory Coast was affected by the end of the 33-year reign of Félix Houphouët-Boigny in 1993, as well as demographic change which had seen the Muslim population rise from 6% in 1922 to 38.6% in 1998, including a majority in the north of the country.
Kandia Camara is an Ivorian teacher and politician who is the President of the Senate of Ivory Coast since 12 October 2023. She is the former minister of foreign affairs in the government of President Alassane Ouattara.
Téné Birahima Ouattara is an Ivorian politician who is currently the Minister of Defense of Ivory Coast. He has previously served as the country's Minister of Presidential Affairs and head of the national intelligence department. He is the brother of Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara.
Events in the year 2022 in Ivory Coast.
Masséré Touré-Koné is an Ivorian politician who since 2006 has supported her uncle, Alassane Ouattara, who was elected president in 2010. Since then, she has held various government positions in communications and finance, culminating in her appointment as Deputy Secretary General of the Ivorian Presidency in January 2022.
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