Sharon Bhagwan Rolls

​Sharon Bhagwan-Rolls [she/her/hers] is a second-generation Fiji Island feminist working on the intersection of gender, media, communications and peace by supporting the development and production of appropriate and accessible media.

She is the Chairperson and Gender Liaison of the Board of Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC), the Technical Adviser of the Pacific Island based Shifting the Power Coalition and a Co-Chair of Global Fund for Women Board of Directors. She is also a member of the World Pulse Global Council and National Vice President of the YWCA of Fiji.

Following a career in mainstream broadcasting, she co-founded FemLINKpacific in 2000. She subsequently dedicated 18 years to the organisation leading the development of a feminist media network which included the Pacific’s first women-led community radio network and  the innovative Women’s Weather Watch inter-operable information-communication system.

Between 2010 –2012 she coordinated civil society input into the development of the Pacific Regional Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security (2012-2015).

She successfully lobbied to support GPPAC Pacific to get two significant words - “climate change” - into the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2242 (2015).

In 2020 she coordinated input in the UN Peacebuilding Architecture Review and remains actively engaged in driving a localised and inclusive peace-development-humanitarian nexus approach in inter-governmental processes.

Sharon is a member of the Generation Equality Forum Civil Society Advisory Group and a taskforce member of the WPS-Humanitarian Action Compact building on her contribution to the UN Women-convened Civil Society Advisory Group (CSAG) on UNSCR1325+10 (2009-2010), the first UN Women Global Civil Society Advisory Group (2012-2014), the High Level Advisory Group for the Global Study on UNSCR1325+15 (2014-2015) & UN Expert Group on Women and the Media (2004).

She was included in the 1000Peacewomen for the Nobel Peace Prize (2005) and received the 2014 NGO CSW Forum Woman of Distinction award in recognition of her dedication to enable and empower community media production in print, digital story-telling, online/social media, and television to increase visibility of women and young women’s viewpoints and realities.