Indian Army Officer Named UN Military Gender Advocate of the Year

Major Abhilasha Barak of India has been named the 2025 Military Gender Advocate of the Year in recognition of her outstanding leadership in promoting gender-responsive peacekeeping and advancing the Women, Peace and Security agenda during her deployment with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) since June 2025.

The award will be presented by UN Secretary-General António Guterres at United Nations Headquarters in New York on 5 June, during a ceremony marking the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers.

Major Barak has been serving with UNIFIL since June 2025 as Engagement Team Commander and Gender Focal Point with the Indian Battalion in Sector East, southern Lebanon.

In that role, she has worked to integrate gender perspectives into military operations, patrols and civil-military activities, helping ensure that the needs and concerns of women and vulnerable groups are reflected in operational planning and community engagement.

She has led extensive outreach efforts reaching more than 5,000 women and girls through education, healthcare and vocational training programmes aimed at supporting empowerment and post-conflict recovery. Within six months, she conducted 539 gender-focused field activities, the highest number recorded within the mission, while also leading all-women patrols during periods of heightened tensions.

Major Barak also introduced an artificial intelligence-driven platform known as the Lebanon Gender Initiative, designed to strengthen protection mechanisms for women and children. The platform enables confidential reporting of gender-based violence and provides access to helpline services, grievance tracking, self-defence resources and educational materials.

Her efforts also helped 75 Lebanese women from communities across southern Lebanon secure fully funded scholarships under India's Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme. The scholarships provide professional training in areas such as renewable energy, agri-entrepreneurship and finance.

The United Nations said her sustained engagement with local communities has helped build trust, create safe spaces for dialogue and strengthen early warning networks, contributing to both civilian protection and mission effectiveness.

Announcing the award, UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix said that Major Barak's work demonstrates how advancing gender equality strengthens peacekeeping operations and supports more durable peace.

About the Award

The UN Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award is presented annually since 2016 to a military peacekeeper - male or female - who has shown outstanding commitment and leadership in promoting the principles of UN Security Council Resolution Resolution 1325. The resolution calls on actors to mainstream a gender perspective in all aspects of peacekeeping and peacebuilding and to ensure women’s participation in peace and political processes. The Resolution also calls for the protection from, and prevention of, conflict-related sexual violence and for an expansion of the role and contribution of women in UN operations, including of uniformed women peacekeepers. 

Read the UN News Hindi feature here.

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