Two women deployed with the United Nations Peacekeeping force – Major Suman Gawani of the Indian army and Commander Carla Monteiro de Castro Araujo of the Brazil navy – have been jointly awarded the United Nations Military Gender Advocate of the Year 2019 Award. This is for the first time two peacekeepers will be awarded jointly.
The award will be presented by UN Secretary-General António Guterres in an online ceremony marking the International Day of UN Peacekeepers on 29 May.
The United Nations “Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award” was launched in the year 2016 to recognize the dedication of individual military peacekeepers promoting the UN Security Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security in a peace operation context.
Major Suman Gawani was formerly deployed with the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). Since her deployment, she mentored over 230 UN Military Observers on conflict-related sexual violence and ensured the presence of women military observers in each of the Mission’s team sites.