It is the first time that the UN Military Gender Defender Prize has been awarded to an Indian peacekeeper
The United Nations:
An Indian army officer and a female peacekeeper, who served with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), and a female Brazilian commander have been selected for the prestigious United Nations Military Award for promotion of the year (2019), with UN chief Antonio Guterres describing them as “powerful role models”.
Major Suman Gawani and the commander of the Brazilian naval officer Carla Monteiro de Castro Araujo will receive the award during an online ceremony chaired by United Nations Secretary General António Guterres on May 29, International Day of Peacekeepers.
The military observer, Ms. Gawani, recently completed a mission to South Sudan outside of her time with UNMISS.
Araujo works at the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA).
Guterres congratulated Ms. Gawani and Ms. Araujo. “These peacekeepers are powerful role models. Through their work, they have brought new perspectives and helped build trust between the communities we serve,” he said.
“Through their commitment and innovative approaches, they adopt a standard of excellence that inspires all peacekeepers around the world. As we face today’s challenges, their work has never been more important or relevant. “
It is the first time that the United Nations Lawyer Gender Military Prize has been awarded to a peacekeeper. This is the second year in a row that a Brazilian peacekeeper has received this honor.
Created in 2016, the award recognizes the dedication and efforts of a military peacekeeper in promoting the principles of UN resolution 1325 on women’s security, peace and security in a peace operation, as appointed by the heads and commanders of peace operations.
For the first time, two peacekeepers will receive the award jointly.
Ms. Gawani expressed gratitude for the recognition of her work. “Whatever our function, position or rank, it is our duty as peacekeepers to integrate a gender perspective into our daily work and to appropriate it in our interactions with our colleagues as well only with communities, “she said in a statement released here.
Ms. Gawani joined the Indian Army in 2011 where she graduated from the Officer Training Academy, then joined the Army Signal Corps.
She holds a BA in Telecommunications Engineering and a BA in Education from the Military College of Telecommunications and the Government Post Graduate College of Dehradun respectively.
Since her deployment at UNMISS in December 2018, Ms. Gawani has supervised more than 230 United Nations military observers (UNMO) on conflict-related sexual violence and has ensured the presence of female military observers at each of the team’s sites. the mission.
“By providing support, mentorship, advice and leadership, she helped create an enabling environment for peacekeepers,” the statement said, adding that Gawani also trained and helped the South Sudanese government forces launch their action plan on conflict-related sexual violence.
The Military Defender of the Year for Gender Equality award is supported by the principles set out in United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 and the follow-up resolutions on women, peace and security.
The resolutions call on actors to integrate a gender perspective into all aspects of peacekeeping and peacebuilding and to ensure the participation of women in peace and in political processes.
They also call for the protection and prevention of conflict-related sexual violence and the widening of the role and contribution of women in United Nations operations, including women in peacekeeping uniforms.
The statement said that approximately 6.4% of the 85,000 uniformed peacekeepers currently stationed at UN missions are women.
The UN is working with member states to increase the number and percentage of women in the military, the police, the judiciary and prison.
He added that in this context, promoting the participation of women, both in peacekeeping and in the societies in which we work, is central to the efforts of the United Nations.
(With the exception of the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
