An Indian woman peacekeeper Major Radhika Sen has been nominated for the prestigious military gender advocate award from the United Nations. UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres has praised her as a “true leader and role model.”

Major Sen served with the United Nations Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) from March 2023 to April 2024.

She will be honoured with the ‘2023 United Nations Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award’ on May 30, on the International Day of UN Peacekeepers.

Major Sen expressed her gratitude after hearing about the award and said, “This award is special to me as it gives recognition to the hard work put in by all the peacekeepers working in the challenging environment of DRC and giving their best to bring a positive change in the society”.

Born in Himachal Pradesh in 1993, Major Sen joined the Indian Army eight years ago. Before her military career, she graduated as a biotech engineer and was studying for her Master’s degree at IIT Bombay.

In 2019, Major Suman Gawani was honoured for her service with the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). This made Major Sen the second Indian peacekeeper to receive the prestigious award.

The award was established by the Office of Military Affairs within the Department for Peace Operations (DPO) to honour military peacekeepers who best integrate a gender perspective into peacekeeping activities. Each year, the awardee is chosen from candidates nominated by Force Commanders and Heads of Mission from all peace operations, according to UN Peacekeeping.

India ranks as the 11th largest contributor of women military peacekeepers to the United Nations. Currently, 124 Indian women are deployed in various missions. India has traditionally been a significant contributor of both troops and police to UN peacekeeping missions.