Sharon Bhagwan-Rolls

Fiji

Fiji, a small pacific island with a population of less than one million, made headlines in May 2000 when Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry and his cabinet were taken hostage in a violent coup. As secretary of the Women, Peace, and Security Coordinating Committee and the National Council of Women of Fiji, Sharon Bhagwan-Rolls strengthens women’s participation in decision-making structures that have too long excluded them. To end the cycle of coups that has plagued Fiji and move ahead successfully with reconciliation, the inclusion of the nation’s women in peace-building efforts is critical. Following the political crises of 2000, Ms. Bhagwan-Rolls and others founded fem’LINKpacific, a women’s media NGO established to increase the visibility of gender issues and women’s stories within the context of the crisis and through community media initiatives. The group’s areas of focus include promoting the role of women in domestic and international security and fostering a community-based understanding of human rights, good governance, and democracy. Ms. Bhagwan-Rolls was the Youth and Media representative on Fiji’s delegation to the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women. During the 2000 coup, she was the founding coordinating secretary of the Women’s Action for Democracy and Peace (WAD’aP), a coalition of women’s groups. She was appointed by the UN Division for the Advancement of Women to the experts meeting on “Women and the Media” in November 2002.

Ms. Bhagwan-Rolls’ peace-building activities include:

• documenting the role of women in peace and security initiatives in a number of community videos, including “Balancing the Scales” (which won the Fiji Human Rights Commission Television Award), “Mothers in Dialogue,” and coverage of the 2000 Women’s Peace Vigil;
• producing radio and video programs through fem’LINKpacific’s community media initiatives, portraying the role of Fijian women in conflict resolution and promoting reconciliation by increasing awareness of social, political, and economic issues;
• developing and strengthening partnerships with other grassroots women’s and peace organizations and documenting their work;
• coordinating the National Council of Women’s daily Blue Ribbon Peace Vigil in a cathedral for the more than two months coup leaders held hostages in 2000, and conveying the message of the vigil to the media;
• developing and producing the women’s community media magazine fem’TALK 1325, named for the UN Security Council Resolution 1325, which calls for the full inclusion of women throughout formal and informal peace processes;
• planning fem’LINKpacific’s documentation of and participation in current and future women’s peace initiatives; and
• presenting at conferences and symposia on the role of women and the media in peace and security, including the 2001 and 2003 United Nations Development Fund for Women-Pacific regional peace and security meetings.

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