Major Abhilasha Barak Honored with Prestigious UN Military Gender Advocate Award

UNITED NATIONS — Major Abhilasha Barak, an Indian Army officer currently deployed with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), has been named the recipient of the prestigious “2025 United Nations Military Gender Advocate of the Year” award.

The global body selected Major Barak to recognize her outstanding community engagement and dedicated outreach initiatives tailored toward women and adolescent girls in the conflict-strained West Asian nation.

Driving Change on the Frontlines

Serving as the Commander of the Female Engagement Team (FET) within the Indian Battalion, Major Barak has been instrumental in bridging the gap between local populations and the peacekeeping mission. The Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations announced the honor, highlighting her dual impact on both the local community and the UN force itself.

Major Barak’s recognized contributions center on three primary areas:

• Grassroots Outreach: Leading targeted community engagement initiatives specifically designed to support and empower local women and adolescent girls.
• Institutional Training: Heading vital gender-sensitization programs for fellow peacekeepers to ensure a nuanced, empathetic approach to operations.
• Operational Leadership: Directing the FET’s integration into UNIFIL’s broader security framework, enhancing the mission’s overall efficacy.

“Recognised for her outreach and community engagement activities for women and adolescent girls and gender sensitisation training for peacekeepers,” stated the Permanent Mission of India to the UN in a commendation posted Friday.

India’s Legacy in UN Peacekeeping

Major Barak’s recognition underscores India’s long-standing tradition of deploying highly effective personnel to UN peace operations. India remains one of the largest cumulative troop contributors to the United Nations, and the strategic deployment of Female Engagement Teams has increasingly become a cornerstone of its peacekeeping strategy.

By successfully building trust in highly sensitive operational theaters like South Lebanon, Major Barak’s work reinforces a growing consensus within the UN: gender-inclusive peacekeeping forces are fundamentally more effective at de-escalating local tensions and securing sustainable peace.