New Delhi: Indian Army officer Major Radhika Sen who served with the UN peacekeeping mission in Congo will be honoured with the prestigious 2023 Military Gender Advocate of the Year award. The UN’s award is a recognition of the officer’s outstanding work and support for women’s and girls’ rights during her peacekeeping assignment.
The award also gives her recognition for her efforts in line with the 2000 Security Council resolution aimed at protecting women and girls from conflict-related sexual violence. The ceremony will take place on International Day of UN Peacekeepers. Now let us know more about Major Radhika Sen.
Major Sen was born in Himachal Pradesh and initially pursued a career in Biotechnology Engineering. She was in the middle of her Master’s degree at IIT Bombay when she decided to join the Indian Army. In 2023, Major Sen was deployed to the Democratic Republic of the Congo as part of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission. Up to April 2024, she led an engagement platoon for the Indian Rapid Deployment Battalion.
Radhika Sen is the second Indian Peacekeeper to receive the Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award. Before Major Sen, Major Suman Gawani was recognised for her service with the UN Mission in South Sudan. She was honoured in 2019. Among the 6,063 Indian personnel deployed in UN peacekeeping operations, Major Sen served alongside 1,954 individuals within MONUSCO, of which 32 were women. Her work created safe spaces for women to unite and discuss issues.
Major Sen led peacekeeping efforts in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) with a focus on gender equality, according to the UN. She planned courses in English for children as well as health and career education for adults. To assist North Kivu areas threatened by war, Major Sen also built Community Alert Networks.
