Wikimedia Foundation Celebrates Efforts in Africa to Improve Gender Equity on Wikipedia

Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit behind Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects, has announced the launch of its “Wikipedia Needs More Women” campaign.

In a statement, it was noted that the campaign celebrates efforts around the world, including Africa, to improve gender equity on Wikimedia projects and invites others to get involved.

The statement also noted that as one of the world’s largest knowledge resources, with 62 million articles in over 300 languages and 15 billion views per month, Wikipedia plays a crucial role in shaping our understanding of the world.

The statement remarked that content on Wikipedia is written on notable subjects by over 265,000 volunteer contributors from around the world, adding that these volunteers adhere to Wikipedia’s editorial standards, ensuring all information is backed by reliable sources and presented from a neutral point of view.

The remarked that Wikipedia depends on the availability of existing published sources to verify the facts in its articles, stating that but in many places around the world, women have been left out of historical narratives and traditional sources of knowledge, “this gender gap is an all-pervasive issue across the internet. This means that many of these knowledge gaps are present on Wikipedia, and women remain significantly underrepresented.”

The Wikimedia Foundation’s Chief Communications Officer, Anusha Alikhan, said: “On International Women’s Day, the ‘Wikipedia Needs More Women’ campaign is a call to action for everyone to help close these knowledge gaps on Wikipedia. There are a number of ways that people can get involved to change the stats and make a difference, from editing a Wikipedia page to attending an online event.

“We are also calling on everyone — journalists, academics, thought leaders, and individuals and organizations across the information landscape — to increase their coverage of women. This will help build out the ecosystem of secondary literature that Wikipedia volunteers rely on to create and improve content about women.”

The statement further explained that for many years, the Wikimedia Foundation and volunteers on Wikimedia projects have been making global efforts to address these knowledge gaps and increase the equitable engagement and representation of all people and subjects on Wikipedia and beyond.

The statement espoused that this month, Wikimedia User Group Nigeria (Wikimedia Nigeria) — a nonprofit organization committed to promoting free access to knowledge through Wikimedia projects in Nigeria —is leading a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Nigerian women on Wikipedia.

The statement noted that in partnership with the Embassy of Sweden in Nigeria, and the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), Wikimedia Nigeria is organizing the WikiGap Nigeria Online Challenge.
The statement remarked that the challenge is open to the public to create new articles for notable women and improve existing articles about women on Wikipedia, with a focus on English, Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo, and Tyap Wikipedias.

Chairperson of Nigeria Association of Women Journalists, Dr Adeola Ekine, said the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ) is proud to join forces with Wikimedia Nigeria in their dedicated pursuit of gender equity.

Ekine revealed that by empowering women to contribute to and shape the content on Wikipedia, they are paving the way for a more inclusive and diverse platform for knowledge sharing.

The statement noted that the initiative kicked off on International Women’s Day, 8 March, with an in-person symposium featuring engaging panel discussions, adding that following this, on March, 12-13 a capacity-building workshop would take place, where the Wikimedia Nigeria team would guide NAWOJ members in utilizing and enhancing their understanding of Wikipedia.

The statement added that the campaign would conclude with the Online Challenge, running from March 14-31
Wikimedia Nigeria User Group President, Olushola Olaniyan, said: “We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to contribute to the sum of all human knowledge. The WikiGap Nigeria Online Challenge seeks to foster inclusivity, diversity, and gender representation on Wikipedia and the internet at large. Join us and play your part in ensuring that we begin to see more women in the world’s largest encyclopedia.”

Continuing, the statement added: “This month, the Wikimedia Foundation’s new Wikipedia Needs More Women campaign is celebrating ongoing efforts, such as the WikiGap Nigeria Online Challenge, to close gender knowledge gaps and the volunteers doing this work. The campaign also calls for a collaborative effort from everyone to increase gender diversity on Wikimedia projects.”