Maryam Nawaz Sharif included in World's top most influential daughters list
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Maryam Nawaz Sharif and Ivanka Trump were included in the annual 100 Women: Presidential Daughters Around The World article, published by a leading British news organisation. Here’s what it stated:-
Maryam Nawaz Sharif, 43, is the daughter of Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Originally involved in the family’s charity organisations, Ms Nawaz played a prominent role in managing her father’s successful re-election campaign in 2013.
She now works for Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz).
“She is always the focus of attention,” says BBC Urdu’s Asif Farooqi, who has met her several times. “She has clearly emerged as someone powerful, if not a designated political heir to her father.”
Last year her name appeared in the so-called Panama Papers, suggesting she and two of her brothers had links to undeclared offshore companies and accounts being used to acquire luxury properties in London.
Her father dismissed the accusations calling the leaks the work of people “targeting me and my family for their political aims”.
The allegations are being examined by Pakistan’s Supreme Court and the verdict is expected within weeks.
With an office of her own in the White House, Ivanka Trump has cemented her status as one of the most powerful women in the Donald Trump administration.
The successful businesswoman, who will not have an official title or salary, is the latest addition to a growing list of high-profile daughters of heads of state around the world.
Sumeyye Erdogan, 31, is the youngest daughter of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and widely seen as his favourite.
“Her father refers to her as ‘my gazelle,'” says Irem Koker, of BBC Turkish. “In Turkey that’s a word used to refer to people who are beautiful and precious.”
A US and British-educated political scientist, she served as advisor to her father when he led the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and has accompanied him on numerous diplomatic trips.
In 2015 there was speculation that Sumeyye might run for a seat in parliament, but in the event she did not.
Isabel dos Santos, 43, is the eldest daughter of veteran Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who has ruled the country since 1979.
She heads the state-owned oil company Sonangol and in 2013, Forbes magazine calculated she was Africa’s richest woman and first female billionaire, with an estimated net worth of over $3.2bn.
British-educated Ms Dos Santos also has large stakes in finance, telecommunication and the diamond industry, making her one of Angola’s most influential business people.
She has further investments in the electricity, oil and gas sectors in Portugal, Angola’s former colonial ruler.
As daughter of the Cuban President Raul Castro, Mariela Castro is the niece of the late revolutionary leader Fidel.
“Her mother, Vilma Espin, was seen as a champion for women’s rights,” says BBC Mundo’s Liliet Heredero. “And now the daughter has somehow followed in her footsteps.”
Born in 1962, the outspoken Ms Castro is a member of parliament and also a well-known campaigner for the rights of sexual minorities.
She heads the National Centre for Sex Education (Cenesex), a government-funded body in Havana which has played a key role in shaping policy on a range of issues from HIV/AIDs prevention to gay rights.
She was instrumental in lobbying for new legislation passed in 2008 to make gender reassignment surgery available free of charge in Cuba.
Other women are also featured in the list by the BBC.
