Sugandha and Django

Sugandha has a background in medical laboratory research. While at Fiji National University before her Masters, she conducted research into how bioactive components of papaya leaf juice could assist in treating dengue fever. She also examined the quality of rainwater in Suva District school tanks and presented her findings at several symposiums. This work was also acknowledged by Fiji's Ministry of Education, Heritage and Arts.

Sugandha would like to establish a gender-based violence safe haven for women and children in Fiji. She would also like to raise men's awareness around gender-based violence, and promote that not only is domestic violence illegal in Fiji but is detrimental to the health and livelihoods of families.

Sugandha now lectures at Fiji National University, in the Department of Pathology and Health Sciences at the College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences. 

Django has worked on evidence-based gender programming for over a decade in Australian and international contexts, with at least five years focused on programs that respond to and seek to address violence against women. She has experience in high-level negotiations and strategic partnerships with government departments and community organisations in the Pacific, where she was able to successfully endorse gender-based violence prevention tools in Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and PNG.

Her commitment to affect violence against women has led her through a range of development roles, including at CARE International, Marie Stopes International, Our Watch Australia, and the Nossal Institute of Global Health. She now manages gender-based violence programs in the Pacific for IWDA.