Indian peacekeeper serving with the United Nations (UN) mission in Lebanon, Major Abhilasha Barak, has been named the recipient of a prestigious military gender advocate award by the World body.

Ms. Barak has been honoured with the ‘2025 United Nations Military Gender Advocate of the Year’ award for her outreach efforts with women and girls during her deployment in the West Asian nation. “Proud to announce that Major Abhilasha Barak has been awarded the 2025 UN Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award. She is being recognised for her outreach and community engagement activities for women and adolescent girls and gender sensitisation training for peacekeepers,” the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations said in a post on X Friday (May 22, 2026).

Ms. Barak is serving with the Indian Battalion as the Commander of the Female Engagement Team (FET) in UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). She is also the first woman combat helicopter pilot of the Indian Army. She will be honoured at the UN headquarters when the world body commemorates the International Day of UN Peacekeepers that is marked annually on May 29. In a moment of pride for India, Ms. Barak is the third recipient of the award from the country, following Major Suman Gawani and Major Radhika Sen, who were honoured for their commendable work while serving in UN Peacekeeping missions.

Ms. Gawani had served with the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and received the 2019 United Nations Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award. She was a co-recipient of the 2019 recognition along with Commander Carla Monteiro de Castro Araujo, a Brazilian Naval officer working in the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA).

Major Radhika Sen, who served with the United Nations Organization Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), received the prestigious 2023 United Nations Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award.

Created in 2016 by the Office of Military Affairs within the Department for Peace Operations (DPO), the award recognises the dedication and efforts of an individual military peacekeeper in promoting the principles of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security. It underlines the contribution of the military peacekeeper who has best integrated a gender perspective into peacekeeping activities.

Each year, the awardee is selected from among candidates nominated by Force Commanders and Heads of Mission from all peace operations, according to UN Peacekeeping.

India is among the largest troop and police contributing countries to UN peacekeeping missions. As of February 2026, UNIFIL's force consists of 7,538 peacekeepers from 48 troop-contributing countries, including 642 personnel from India, the fourth highest after Italy (784), Indonesia (756) and Spain (660).

In March, India had condemned attacks on UN peacekeepers deployed in Lebanon, urging all parties to ensure safety and security of the Blue Helmets. India had joined nearly 30 troop-contributing countries to the UN peacekeeping Force in Lebanon to express deep alarm at the escalation of hostilities in the West Asian country and strongly condemn Hezbollah's “reckless decision” to join the Iranian attacks against Israel.