- Monday, February 24, 2025
The award is an acknowledgement of the Himachal-born officer’s efforts and advocacy for the rights of women and girls during her service as a peacekeeper in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIAN peacekeeper Major Radhika Sen, who served with the United Nations (UN) mission in Congo, is set to be honoured with the coveted 2023 UN Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award as an acknowledgement of her efforts and advocacy for the rights of women and girls during her service as a peacekeeper.
Sen, who UN secretary general Antonio Guterres called as a “true leader and role mode”, served with the UN Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO).
She will receive the award from Guterres at the world body’s headquarters in New York on Thursday (30), a day after the International Day of UN Peacekeepers which falls on May 29.
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She was in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo between March 2023 and April 2024 as the commander of MONUSCO’s engagement platoon for the Indian Rapid Deployment Battalion, a press release from the world body said.
The peacekeeper helped create the Community Alert Networks in North Kivu in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo during her service with MONUSCO as a platform that brought together community leaders, youth and women to “voice their security and humanitarian concerns”, UN said.
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Guterres said “with humility, compassion and dedication”, Sen won the trust of “conflict-affected communities, including women and girls” as her troops worked with them in an environment in North Kivu witnessing escalating conflict.
Sen, who said “gender-sensitive peacekeeping is everybody’s business – not just us, women”, called the award special since it recognised the hard work made by all peacekeepers working in a challenging environment in the African nation and trying their best to bring a positive social change, Indo-Asian News Service reported.
Born in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh in 1993, Sen joined the Indian Army eight years ago. She is a biotech engineer and was aiming for a Master’s degree from the prestigious IIT Bombay in India’s Mumbai when she decided to join the army.
Assigned to the MONUSCO last year, Sen was among 6,063 Indian personnel deployed in the UN’s peacekeeping operations and worked alongside 1,954 people with MONUSCO, 32 of whom were women.
While she ensured during her tenure in Democratic Republic of Congo that peacekeepers working under her command were sensitive towards gender and socio-cultural norms “to help build trust, as per the UN, she also launched various welfare activities, including teaching children English and providing health, gender and vocation training to adults.
Sen is the second Indian peacekeeper to receive the prestigious award. Before her, Major Suman Gawani, who had served with the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), was honoured with the 2019 UN Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award.
The award, created in 2016, recognises the efforts of an individual military peacekeeper in promoting the principles of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security.
(With agency inputs)
