It's a proud moment for India, as Major Radhika Sen, will be honoured with the prestigious military gender advocate award by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on May 30.
The United Nations Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award acknowledges the effort and dedication of a peacekeeper to promote “the principles within the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325.” It was started in 2016 by the Office of Military Affairs within the Department for Peace Operations (DPO). Every year, the awardee is “selected among candidates nominated by Force Commanders and Heads of Mission from all peace operations,” according to the official UN website.
In this article, we will discuss about this year's winner Major Radhika Sen and her achievements.
Originally from Himachal Pradesh, Ms Radhika Sen hails from biotech engineering stream. During her master's degree at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-Bombay), she decided to join Indian Army.
Ms Sen was assigned to Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) in March 2023. She finished her tenure in April 2024.
According to UN website: “she helped create the Community Alert Networks in North Kivu as a platform that brought in community leaders, young people, and women to voice their security and humanitarian concerns.”
Meanwhile, 6,063 Indian personnel have been deployed in UN peacekeeping operations, among them 1,954 serve with MONUSCO. Out of them, only 32 women are involved in the same.
Among various activities, Major Sen started English language classes for women, children, along with and health, gender, and vocational trainings for all adults.
“Her efforts directly inspired women's solidarity, providing safe spaces for meetings and open dialogue,” the UN said.
Congratulating her, Guterres called her “a true leader and role model. Her service was a true credit to the United Nations as a whole.”
Guterres said that “with humility, compassion and dedication”, she earned the trust of “conflict-affected communities, including women and girls” as her troops engaged with them “in an escalating conflict environment in North Kivu.”
The awardee is selected from candidates nominated by force commanders and heads of mission from all peace operations across the globe. Currently, India is ranked as the 11th largest contributor of women military peacekeepers to the UN.
Major Radhika Sen said, “Gender-sensitive peacekeeping is everybody's business - not just us, women. Peace begins with all of us in our beautiful diversity.”
“This award is special to me as it gives a recognition to the hard work put in by all the peacekeepers working in the challenging environment of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and giving their best to bring a positive change in the society,” she added.
Major Sen is the second Indian peacekeeper to get this award. Previously, Major Suman Gawani, who served with the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) received the United Nations military gender advocate award in 2019.
Stephane Dujarric, the Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, announced: “Guterres will present Radhika Sen with the 2023 Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award on Thursday, which is observed as the International Day of UN Peacekeepers.”
