Wikimedia Foundation, the non-profit organisation behind Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects,
has announced the launch of its “Wikipedia Needs More Women” campaign.
The Wikimedia Foundation’s Chief Communications Officer, Anusha Alikhan, disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday in Lagos.
According to him, the campaign is to celebrate efforts to improve gender equity on Wikimedia projects and invite others to get involved.
The officer stated that it is 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.
Alikhan added that the content of Wikipedia is on notable subjects and has been contributed by over 265,000 volunteer contributors from around the world.
He explained that the volunteers adhered to Wikipedia’s editorial standards while also ensuring all information was backed by reliable sources. presented from a neutral point of view.
He said, “Wikipedia depends on the availability of existing published sources to verify facts in its articles.
“Women have been left out of historical narratives and traditional sources of knowledge, a gender gap that is all-pervasive across the internet.
“This means that many of these knowledge gaps are present on Wikipedia, and women remain significantly underrepresented.
“On International Women’s Day, the ‘Wikipedia Needs More Women’ campaign is a call to action for everyone to help close the knowledge gaps on Wikipedia.”
He pointed out that there are ways people can get involved to change the state and make a difference, from editing a Wikipedia page to attending an online event.
He added that “we are also calling on everyone—journalists, academics, thought leaders, and individuals and organisations across the information landscape—to increase their coverage of women.
“This will help to build out the ecosystem of secondary literature that Wikipedia volunteers rely on to create and improve content about women.”
Alikhan announced that, in partnership with the Embassy of Sweden in Nigeria and the Nigerian Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), Wikimedia Nigeria would organise the WikiGap Nigeria Online Challenge.
He said the challenge is open to the public to create new articles for notable women and improve existing ones, with a focus on English, Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo, and Tyap Wikipedias.
He stated that “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 collaborative efforts from everyone to increase gender diversity on Wikimedia projects.”
In her remarks, the Chairperson of NAWOJ, Dr. Adeola Ekine, said the group is proud to join forces with Wikimedia Nigeria in its dedicated pursuit of gender equity.
Ekine said that by empowering women to contribute to and shape the content on Wikipedia, the foundation was paving the way for a more inclusive and diverse platform for knowledge sharing.
He noted that the initiative kicked off on International Women’s Day, celebrated on March 8, with an in-person symposium featuring engaging panel discussions.
The campaign would conclude with the Online Challenge, running from March 14 to March 31.
“Join us and play your part in ensuring that we begin to see more women in the world’s largest encyclopedia,” he said.(NAN)
