Sharon Bhagwan-Rolls is a

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

an political activist of

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...

descent known for

political activism Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

within the intersections of

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

, media,

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

and peace. She is the Technical Adviser of Shifting the Power Coalition, a humanitarian organization headed by Pacific women. She is also the former coordinator of the FemLINKPACIFIC, a women's media organization based in the capital of

Suva Suva (, ) is the Capital city, capital and the most populous city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rew ...

, which she founded in September 2000 in response to the

2000 Fijian coup d'état The 2000 Fijian coup d'état was a civilian coup d'état by an armed group of indigenous Fijian nationalists supported by the Counter Revolutionary Warfare Unit, against the elected government of Indo-Fijian Prime Minister Mahendra Chau ...

. In addition to her numerous other functions, Rolls has served as the Media Focal Point for the Pacific Region of the

Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict The Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC) is a member-led network of civil society organisations (CSOs) active in the field of conflict prevention and peacebuilding across the world. The network is organised around 15 re ...

was appointed the Gender Liaison of the International Steering Group of GPPAC in October 2009. Since November 2000, femLINKPACIFIC and Bhagwan Rolls have been campaigning for the implementation and integration of

UN Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...

resolution 1325, titled Women, Peace and Security, in order to ensure women's full participation in the peace and security sector toward ensuring sustainable peace and democracy in Fiji. In March 2010, she was appointed by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

to the Civil Society Advisory Group on UNSCR1325/Women, Peace and Security. She presented a Pacific perspective to High level Commitment to Action on SCR 1325 event at the UN on September 25, 2010. Bhagwan Rolls and femLINKPACIFIC have also introduced a mobile women's community radio station (femTALK 89.2fm) in Fiji in 2004, as way to take radio to women in local communities, providing a relevant information and communication platform to increase women's visibility and issues in decision making forums. Earlier, together with co-founder, Peter Sipeli, Bhagwan-Rolls produced a number of community videos. The video "Balancing the Scale" won the Fiji Human Rights Commission television award. She continues to serve as the Producer/Director of FemLINKPACIFIC's Community video productions including The Thirteen 25 Diary: Her'stories (2010) which was launched in New York (October 2010) in conjunction with the Australia and Papua New Guinea missions to the United Nations, as part of the 10th anniversary of UNSCR1325 Rolls was known as a strong critic of the

military coup A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

which deposed the Qarase government on 5 December 2006, and of human rights violations allegedly committed by soldiers since then. She also called on her fellow

Indo-Fijians Indo-Fijians () are Fijians of South Asian descent whose ancestors were Girmitiyas, indentured labourers. Indo-Fijians trace their ancestry to various regions of the Indian subcontinent. Although Indo-Fijians constituted a majority of Fiji's ...

to "follow the footsteps of

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

" and oppose the coup, saying that Gandhi preached friendship, forgiveness, love, tolerance, and non-violence. ''“Nothing has been achieved through violence and weapons and I believe that we just lose lives of our loved ones under gun point,”'' she told the ''

Fiji Sun ''Fiji Sun'' is a daily newspaper published in Fiji since September 1999 and owned by Sun News Limited. ''Fiji Sun'' was founded by and is part of CJ Patel Group. The Fiji Sun has its main newsroom in Suva, Fiji. Its print center remains in subu ...

'' on 10 December 2006. Rolls was the principal organizer of the "Blue Ribbon" campaign to restore democracy following

, in May 2000. Later, she opposed the

Reconciliation, Tolerance, and Unity Bill The Reconciliation and Unity Commission was a proposed government body to be set up if the Reconciliation, Tolerance, and Unity Bill, which was introduced into the Fijian Parliament on 4 May 2005 was passed. The legislation proposed to empower t ...

introduced by the Qarase government in 2005 to provide for amnesty for persons convicted of coup-related offences. Rolls resigned as director of FemLINKpacific in December 2018.

Publications

She has been featured on many articles that related to women's rights, environmental and overall peace activism mainly focusing on the Pacific Island region. * Bhagwan-Rolls, Sharon (2006). "Women as Mediators in Pacific Conflict Zones." Exploration of women's engagement in the pacific Islands peace building movement. * Bhagwan-Rolls, Sharon (2007). "Women’s media: Challenging the status quo." Exploration in mainstream media's opinion of women in pacific society * Bhagwan-Rolls, Sharon (2011). "Pacific regional perspectives on women and the media: Making the connection with UN security council resolution 1325 (women, peace and security) and section J if the Beijing platform for action." Discusses the challenges and implication of empowering women in rural pacific Island communities, focusing on addressing social norms, power dynamics, access to basic necessities and information, and coordinating efforts within a diverse media landscape to advantage gender equality and women's rights. * Bhagwan-Rolls, Sharon (2014). "Thinking globally and acting locally: linking women, peace and security in the Pacific." Highlights the marginalization of women in formal decision-making structures in the Pacific Island region due to patriarchal governance, while also emphasizing their pivotal role in peace building efforts. * Bhagwan-Rolls, Sharon, and Sian Rolls (2019) "WPS and the Pacific Islands forum." 402-412. * Bhagwan-Rolls, Sharon (2020) "Feminist Peace and Security in the Pacific Islands." With Alisia Evens, they use a feminist analysis of Pacific regional Women, Peace and Security (WPS) mechanisms to highlight Pacific feminist peace builders’ efforts to localize regional peace and security policies through gender-transformative peace building practices.

References

External links

Femlink website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhagwan-Rolls, Sharon Fijian people of Indian descent Living people Year of birth missing (living people)