United Nations, June 5 (IANS) India’s first woman combat helicopter pilot, Major Abhilasha Barak, received on Friday the UN 2005 Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award, recognising her efforts to promote the role and perspectives of women in peacekeeping.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who presented the award, said she was “a role model to those you serve, and those you serve with”.

“Dreams do not have a gender, and neither does leadership, courage, or the will to serve humanity,” said Barak, who is deployed in Lebanon, currently the most dangerous UN peacekeeping site.

She added that the award is a reminder that lasting peace can only be built when every voice is heard and every individual is empowered.

Guterres also presented the Dag Hammarskjold award for two Indian peacekeepers who died while serving the UN.

India’s Permanent Representative P. Harish received the awards for Lance Havildar Harbhajan Singh, who was a peacekeeper in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Naib Subedar Sujit Kumar Pradhan in South Sudan.

Assistant Secretary-General Lisa Buttenheim said Barak’s “leadership and innovation have advanced the women, peace, and security agenda across military operations”.

About Barak’s work, Guterres said that by building trust with local communities, she helped develop early-warning networks that strengthen the mission’s ability to protect civilians.

“As a frontline commander, she has engaged thousands of women and girls through vocational training and programmes for education and health,” he said, adding that she is transforming lives even under the most challenging circumstances.

Barak is the third woman officer from India to be awarded the Military Gender Advocate Award after Major Suman Gawani and Major Radhika Sen.

She is the Engagement Team Commander and Gender Focal Point in the Indian Battalion deployed with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

UNIFIL, which is deployed along the border between Israel and Lebanon, is now the riskiest peacekeeping operation as fighting rages between Israel and Hezbollah. On Wednesday night, a peacekeeper with the mission became the seventh to be killed since March.

Reflecting on her military career, Barak said, “Being the first woman combat helicopter pilot in the Indian Army, I experienced firsthand how opportunity enables women to break barriers and reach milestones.”

Barak is among the nearly 650 Indian peacekeepers serving with UNIFIL, 13 of whom are women, according to the UN. A total of 4,278 Indian peacekeepers are deployed in UN missions.

–IANS

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