UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres will present the UN Military Gender Advocate of the Year award to Indian Army officer Major Radhika Sen on May 30. Major Radhika Sen has been praised by the head of the UN as a genuine leader and role model. Major Sen was an Indian woman peacekeeper assigned to the UN mission in the Congo. The troops, led by her, addressed areas affected by conflict, with a focus on women and girls. The women and girls affected by the violence were able to trust the peacekeeping team because of Major Sens humility, compassion, and determination.UN headquarters praises on platoon workAt an event held on May 30 at the UN headquarters in honor of the International Day of UN Peacekeepers, Guterres is set to present Major Sen, who served with the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), with the 2023 United Nations Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award. According to a UN press release, Major Sen served as the Commander of MONUSCOs Engagement Platoon for the Indian Rapid Deployment Battalion (INDRDB) in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) from March 2023 to April 2024.Who is Sen Major Sen, who enlisted in the army in 2016, was born in the hilly region of Himanchal Pradesh in 1993. She completed her masters degree in biological engineering at IIT Bombay. She made the decision to enlist in the Army while attending IIT Bombay. She started working for MONUSCO in March 2023 and left in April 2024 after being assigned to the Indian Rapid Deployment Battalion as the Engagement Platoon Commander.UN and Indian linkThe second Indian peacekeeper to be awarded this esteemed UN accolade is Major Sen. ajor Suman Gawani, who had been employed by the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), was the inaugural recipient of the 2019 United Nations Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award. As he congratulated her on her honor, Guterres described her as a genuine leader and role model. Her work was a genuine asset to the UN organization as a whole.Guterres says In this statement, Guterres also discussed the escalating violence in the Congos North Kivu. Under Major Sen, the soldiers addressed communities affected by conflict, with a focus on women and girls. Because of her humility, compassion, and dedication, they could trust her. Major Sen conveyed her gratitude for the medal and the recognition of her work as soon as she learned that she was receiving it. Major Radhika Sen remarked, This award is meaningful to me because it recognizes the hard work put in by all the peacekeepers working in the difficult environment of the DRC and giving their best to bring about positive change in society.Military affairs The Department for Peace Operations (DPO) Office of Military Affairs is the creative force behind the award. It highlights how crucial it is for a military peacekeeper to enter the act of peacekeeping with a gender viewpoint that has been optimized. India has consistently provided the UN with a large number of troops and police.According to UN Peacekeeping, Force Commanders and Heads of Mission from all peacekeeping missions propose the candidates each year.India ranks eleventh among the nations that send female military peacekeepers to the UN. Currently, 124 female soldiers are participating in UN peacekeeping operations.
