Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday congratulated Major Abhilasha Barak on being awarded the UN Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award. He said the honour was a recognition of her outstanding service and India’s longstanding contribution to United Nations peacekeeping operations.
Major Barak, who is also the Indian Army’s first woman combat helicopter pilot, is serving with the UN mission in Lebanon at present. She received the award for her outreach efforts and community engagement activities for women and adolescent girls and gender sensitisation training for peacekeepers.
Major Barak trained at the Officers Training Academy, , and was commissioned in September 2018. She hails from an Army family.
“Congratulations to Major Abhilasha Barak on being conferred the UN Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award,” the Prime Minister said in a post on X, adding that Major Barak is serving as an Engagement Team Commander and Gender Focal Point within the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
“This honour is a recognition of her exemplary service and also of India’s longstanding contribution to United Nations peacekeeping efforts. Her achievement is also an inspiration to countless young Indians, especially our daughters, who aspire to serve the nation and humanity,” he said.
The announcement had come last month, when the Permanent Mission of India to the UN posted on X: “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.”
Congratulations to Major Abhilasha Barak on being conferred the UN Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award. Major Barak is serving as an Engagement Team Commander and Gender Focal Point within the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). This honour is a recognition…
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi)
The post mentioned that Major Barak is the third recipient of the award from India, following Major Suman Gawani and Major Radhika Sen, who were honoured for their work during their tenure in UN peacekeeping missions.
India is one of the largest contributors of troops and police personnel to UN peacekeeping missions worldwide. Until February 2026, UNIFIL comprised 7,538 peacekeepers from 48 countries, including 642 personnel from India, making it the fourth-largest contributor after Italy (784 personnel), Indonesia (756) and Spain (660).
According to an official UN statement, Major Barak has been serving with UNIFIL since June 2025 as Engagement Team Commander and Gender Focal Point with the Indian Battalion in Sector East, southern Lebanon.
The award was presented by UN Secretary-General António Guterres at the UN Headquarters in New York on June 5.
UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix said that Major Barak’s work demonstrates how advancing gender equality strengthens peacekeeping operations and supports more durable peace.
The statement noted that she has led extensive outreach efforts reaching more than 5,000 women and girls through education, healthcare and vocational training programmes aimed at supporting empowerment and post-conflict recovery. “Within six months, she conducted 539 gender-focused field activities, the highest number recorded within the mission, while also leading all-women patrols during periods of heightened tensions,” it said.
“Major Barak also introduced an artificial intelligence-driven platform known as the Lebanon Gender Initiative, designed to strengthen protection mechanisms for women and children. The platform enables confidential reporting of gender-based violence and provides access to helpline services, grievance tracking, self-defence resources and educational materials,” it said.
“Her efforts also helped 75 Lebanese women from communities across southern Lebanon secure fully funded scholarships under India’s Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme. The scholarships provide professional training in areas such as renewable energy, agri-entrepreneurship and finance,” it said.
