Indian peacekeeper wins UN gender advocate award

An Indian peacekeeper who served in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been named the United Nations Military Gender Advocate of the Year for her work empowering local communities to speak out about their humanitarian and security concerns.

Major Radhika Sen, who served with the MONUSCO peacekeeping force in the eastern DRC from March 2023 to April this year, was Commander of the Engagement Platoon for the Indian Rapid Deployment Battalion.

In that role Major Sen led mixed-gender patrols and activities in the volatile North Kivu province, where many civilians, including women and children, have been fleeing conflict. 

Major Sen received the gender advocate award from UN Secretary-General António Guterres last week during a ceremony at UN Headquarters in New York to celebrate International Day of UN Peacekeepers. He described her service as “a true credit to the United Nations as a whole.” 

While receiving the award, Major Sen – who graduated as a biotech engineer and was pursuing her master’s from IIT Bombay when she decided to join India’s armed forces – said “gender-sensitive peacekeeping is everybody’s business, not just us women.”

The peacekeeper was involved or led numerous initiatives while serving in the DRC. She facilitated English classes for children and vocational training for displaced adults, and she empowered women in one village to come together as a group to advocate for their rights and raise their security and humanitarian concerns in local peace discussions. 

While in New York, Major Sen spoke to UN News, noting the need for the UN to have more women blue helmets.

On returning to India this week, Major Sen visited UN House in New Delhi where she met the UN Resident Coordinator Shombi Sharp and spoke to a gathering of UN staff. 

Major Sen is the second Indian peacekeeper to receive the UN Military Gender Advocate of the Year award, following Major Suman Gawani, who was a co-recipient in 2019. 

India has a long history of supporting female peacekeeping and was the first country to send an all-female contingent to a UN force, in Liberia in 2007.

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