On Friday, in a virtual ceremony, Indian Peacekeeper, Major Suman Gawani and Commander Carla Monteiro de Castro Araujo from Brazil were honored with the 2019 UN Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award by the UN Chief, Antonio Guterres.
Commemorating the International Day of Peacekeepers in a virtual ceremony, the UN Chief awarded Major Gawani and Commander Araujo. He also mentioned that the Major’s “inspiring work” promotes equality in the forces. He further added:
Inspiring work has made a remarkable difference in promoting gender equality and empowering local women and your own colleagues.
Major Suman Gawani might just have made history as this is reportedly, the first year that this prestigious honour was awarded to a peacekeeper from India Military Observer. Major Gawani has recently completed an assignment in South Sudan.
According to Mr. Guterres, during her deployment, Major Gawani managed to mentor more than 230 Military Observers on conflict-related sexual violence while ensuring the presence of women military observers in each of the mission’s team sites.
In fact, her efforts to train the South Sudanese government forces to help them launch an effective action plan on conflict-related sexual violence has really made an impact in trying to eradicate the gender gap.
Shattering the glass ceiling and working towards bridging the gender inequality gap in her field and a lot of countries, Major Gawani is giving little girls across the globe and women in combat some major inspiration.