From Balance Sheets to the UN Budget: A Central Asian Path Into International Public Administration

The Moynihan Institute’s Central Asia and the Caucasus Initiative welcomes Nurgul Iminova, finance and budget officer at the United Nations Division of Administration.

Drawing on her journey from Kyrgyzstan to United Nations Headquarters in New York, Nurgul Iminova explores how a career in audit, corporate finance, risk management and budgeting became a pathway into international public administration. Reflecting on the lessons of institutional change and economic transition in Central Asia, she discusses how finance, governance, accountability and coordination underpin the work of international organizations.

The talk challenges conventional assumptions about careers in international affairs, highlighting how technical expertise and diverse backgrounds can become valuable assets in global public service, and offers insights for students seeking to contribute to international development.

This talk is co-sponsored by the Political Science Department, the Practice of Global Politics Series, the Economics Department, and the Program for the Advancement of Research on Conflict and Collaboration (PARCC).

Nurgul Iminova, FCCA, MBA, is a finance and budget officer at the United Nations Division of Administration in New York. Born and raised in Kyrgyzstan, she has built a career in finance, audit and risk across the private sector and the UN system. She began in audit at KPMG Central Asia, then held roles in accounting and internal controls at Centerra Gold and VEON Group. She later joined the UN, working with the Joint Staff Pension Fund, the UN Secretariat, UN Women, and now DOS, where she supports the financial management of the UN development system.