Main Radhika Sen served in japanese DRC with the UN peacekeeping mission, MONUSCO, from March 2023 to April 2024 because the Commander of the Engagement Platoon for the Indian Speedy Deployment Battalion.
She’s going to obtain the award from UN Secretary-General António Guterres throughout a ceremony on Thursday.
A credit score to the UN
Mr. Guterres congratulated Main Sen for her service, describing her service as “a real credit score to the United Nations as a complete.”
“In an escalating battle setting in North Kivu, her troops actively engaged with conflict-affected communities, together with ladies and women,” he defined, noting that she earned their belief “with humility, compassion, and dedication.”
Supporting peace and variety
Upon receiving information of the Award, Main Sen expressed gratitude for being chosen and mirrored on her peacekeeping function.
“This award is particular to me because it offers a recognition to the onerous work put in by all of the peacekeepers working within the difficult setting of DRC,” she mentioned.
“Gender-sensitive peacekeeping is everyone’s enterprise – not simply us, ladies. Peace begins with all of us in our lovely variety!”
Creating neighborhood platforms
Main Sen led mixed-gender engagement patrols and actions in a risky setting, the place many individuals, together with ladies and kids, had been fleeing the battle.
The Group Alert Networks she helped create in North Kivu served as a platform for neighborhood leaders, younger folks and ladies to lift their safety and humanitarian considerations, which she would in flip assist tackle collectively together with her colleagues at MONUSCO.
Selling secure areas
As a Platoon Commander, she fostered a secure house for women and men to function collectively and rapidly turned a job mannequin for each ladies and men peacekeepers.
She additionally ensured that peacekeepers underneath her command engaged in a fashion delicate to gender and socio-cultural norms.
Main Sen facilitated English lessons for kids, and well being, gender and vocational coaching for displaced and marginalized adults. Her efforts straight impressed ladies’s solidarity, offering secure areas for open dialogue.
Amplifying womens’ voices
As a gender advocate, she inspired ladies within the village of Kashlira to handle points collectively, advocate for his or her rights and amplify their voices inside the neighborhood, particularly in native safety and peace discussions.
Main Sen is the second Indian peacekeeper to obtain the award, following Main Suman Gawani, a co-recipient for 2019. Different previous honourees had been from Brazil, Ghana, Kenya, Niger, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
India is presently the eleventh largest contributor of ladies army peacekeepers to the UN, with 124 now deployed.
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