Major Abhilasha Barak becomes first Indian to win UN Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award
Major Abhilasha Barak of the Indian Army was named the 2025 United Nations Military Gender Advocate of the Year, becoming the first Indian woman peacekeeper to receive the honour. Major Barak, who is also India's first woman combat helicopter pilot, has been serving as an Engagement Team Commander and Gender Focal Point with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) since June 2025. The award recognises her outstanding leadership in promoting gender-responsive peacekeeping and advancing the Women, Peace and Security agenda, including outreach with women and girls during her deployment in the conflict-affected region. Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated her, calling the recognition a tribute to her exemplary service and to India's longstanding contribution to UN peacekeeping. The award was announced around World Environment Day, with Indian leaders publicly lauding her achievement.
Key Facts & Details
8 points- 1Major Abhilasha Barak was named the 2025 UN Military Gender Advocate of the Year.
- 2She is the first Indian woman peacekeeper to receive the award.
- 3Major Barak is also India's first woman combat helicopter pilot.
- 4She serves as an Engagement Team Commander and Gender Focal Point with UNIFIL in Lebanon since June 2025.
- 5PM Modi congratulated her, linking the honour to India's UN peacekeeping contribution.
Deep Dive
- +The award recognises promotion of the Women, Peace and Security agenda in peacekeeping.
- +Major Barak's outreach with women and girls in Lebanon was specifically cited by the UN.
- +India is among the largest contributors of troops to UN peacekeeping missions.
Exam Focus
Major Abhilasha Barak, the 2025 UN Military Gender Advocate of the Year, serves with which UN mission?
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Exam Relevance & Angle
Awards to Indians, especially in the defence and peacekeeping domain, are high-frequency exam items, and the combination of 'first Indian woman' to win this UN award plus her status as India's first woman combat helicopter pilot makes it doubly likely to appear in question papers.
Target Exams
Background & Context
The United Nations Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award was instituted by the UN to recognise individual military peacekeepers who promote the principles of the Women, Peace and Security agenda, set out in UN Security Council Resolution 1325 of 2000, which emphasises women's participation in peace processes and protection in conflict zones. The award is presented annually to a peacekeeper serving in a UN mission who has made an outstanding contribution to gender-responsive operations. The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) is a peacekeeping mission established in 1978 to monitor the cessation of hostilities in southern Lebanon. India is one of the largest contributors of personnel to UN peacekeeping and has steadily increased the deployment of women peacekeepers. Major Abhilasha Barak, commissioned into the Army Air Corps, made history earlier as the first woman to qualify as a combat aviator (helicopter pilot) in the Indian Army.
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Must KnowTest Yourself
1 / 2Major Abhilasha Barak, winner of the 2025 UN Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award, is also known as:
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