Major Radhika Sen’s service is true credit to United Nations as a whole: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres

United Nations, May 31

Major Radhika Sen of India is a true leader and role model and her service is a true credit to the United Nations as a whole, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said, as he conferred a prestigious award on the Indian woman peacekeeper.

Major Sen, who served with the United Nations Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), received the prestigious ‘2023 United Nations Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award’ from Guterres during a ceremony at the world body’s headquarters on Thursday on the occasion of the International Day of UN Peacekeepers.

“Major Sen is a true leader and role model. Her service is a true credit to the United Nations as a whole.  Please join me in congratulating Major Radhika Sen of India. I could not be prouder to confer her with the Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award,” Guterres said, as he presided over the Dag Hammarskjold medal and Military Gender Advocate of the Year ceremony.

Major Sen served in the East of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) from March 2023 to April 2024 as the Commander of MONUSCO’s Engagement Platoon for the Indian Rapid Deployment Battalion (INDRDB).

Guterres thanked Major Sen and all peacekeepers for their service, leadership and commitment to the Women, Peace and Security agenda. He noted that as commander of the Indian contingent’s engagement platoon, Major Sen led her unit on countless patrols.

“During these patrols, in an escalating conflict environment in North Kivu, her troops actively engaged with conflict-affected communities, including particularly women and girls,” he said, adding, “She earned their trust. Doing so with humility, compassion and dedication.”

The UN chief said Major Sen provided a safe and welcoming platform for women to share their ideas and concerns so that the Mission could better respond to their needs.

Born in Himachal Pradesh in 1993, Major Sen joined the Indian Army eight years ago. She graduated as a biotech engineer and was pursuing her Master’s degree from IIT Bombay when she decided to join the armed forces.

She was deployed to MONUSCO in March 2023 as the Engagement Platoon Commander with the Indian Rapid Deployment Battalion and completed her tenure in April 2024.