Major Suman Gawani thanks nation after winning Military Gender Advocate award from UN

Major Suman Gawani received the UN award for anti-sexual violence campaign during an online ceremony organized at the UN Headquarters, New York on the occasion of International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers.

New Delhi: After winning the prestigious United Nations Military Gender Advocate of the Year award, Major Suman Gawani took to the internet to express thanks for the honour and love she received across the nation.

"I feel honoured and privileged that I have been given this opportunity and chosen for this prestigious award which comes with great responsibility towards the cause. I am thankful to my country for sending me to South Sudan for serving for such noble cause", said Major Suman Gawani, who received the UN award for anti-sexual violence campaign during an online ceremony organized at the UN Headquarters, New York on the occasion of International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers.

Major Suman who hails from Uttarakhand served as a Military observer in UNMISS from November 2018 to December 2019. While at the mission, she was the principal focal point of contact for gender issues for Military Observers in the mission.

"When I was in South Sudan serving as a military observer, I came across many women and children who were not aware of their rights. Moreover, there were a lot of atrocities related to conflict-related sexual violence. Our force especially wanted to launch an action plan on conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) and wanted the south Sudanese government to cooperate. I chose to train the South Sudanese government forces and in fact helped them launch their action plan on CRSV," Major Suman Gawani told ETV Bharat.

"I drew inspiration from my father who motivated me to join the Indian Army. Since childhood, I have seen him wearing a uniform with immense pride. Although my father is in the fire brigade department his perseverance encouraged me to join the Indian Army. My family has always been a strong pillar of support. They never stopped me from doing anything. I am the first one from my family to have joined the Indian army ", Major Suman added.

"We are gradually breaking the barriers and rising above the stereotyped judgements in society. Many women soldiers are being inducted in the Indian army who are presently getting trained as military police. For instance, there are a lot of women platoons in ITBP who are serving in the borders of China", she reiterated

Deployed as a military observer with the UN Mission in South Sudan, Gawani 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.

She underlined that people misunderstand 'gender' which doesn't imply only a female or a male but it defines the roles and responsibilities entrusted on a person as a whole. "During the mission, I encouraged joint military patrols to maintain gender balance, irrespective of the hardships under extreme field conditions. Both of them used to get equal responsibilities during the joint patrol. We made sure that two female military observers should be involved in each of the team sites", she told ETV Bharat.

Gawani said, "being a peacekeeper has been a wonderful experience and the UN has played a crucial role in this regard."

The officer was selected to attend specialized training on Conflict-Related Sexual Violence (CRSV) at Nairobi and participated in various UN forums to demonstrate how a gender perspective can help in protecting civilians, especially from conflict-related sexual violence. The officer also commanded the UN Peacekeepers Day Parade organised at UNMISS, where she commanded twelve contingents of UNPOL, Military and Civilians.

Article by Senior Reporter Chandrakala Choudhury