On the occasion of Wikidata’s 12th birthday, Africa Wiki Women, in collaboration with Wikimedia Deutschland, launched a special contest to help improve the representation of African women on Wikidata. This contest, known as the Africa Wiki Women-Wikidata Birthday Contest, aims to enrich the data about African women, focusing specifically on adding missing Occupation (P106) statements to Wikidata items.
Organizers Ruby D-Brown, Bukola James, Pellagia Njau are core organizers of the campaign.
The Lunch event which was hosted on Friday October 1, 2024 was well attended, with 35 participants from various African countries taking part in the training. We were honored to have our guest trainer, Rhoda James who guided participants through an introductory to Wikidata editing and guiding participants on adding occupation statements to Wikidata articles related to African women, and helping them record their contributions on the campaign table. Participants had the opportunity to ask questions, engage in meaningful discussion while networking with each other. Find recording of the launch event here.
Our second training was hosted by two of our Fellows at Africa Wiki Women; Khadijah Twahir and Blessing. The second training focused on handson editing of Wiki Data editing how to add occupation data on wikidata items about women and how to generate wikidata queries. Find full recording here.
Why This Contest Matters
The campaign focuses on enhancing the accuracy and completeness of Wikidata entries for African women, addressing critical gaps in their digital representation. By ensuring that key data points are correctly captured, the campaign makes sure these women’s achievements are visible and accurately documented.
Highlighted fields include:
- Occupation (P106): Capturing roles such as writer, painter, judge, politician, and scientist to reflect the diverse contributions of African women across various fields.
- Instance of (P31): Human (Q5)
- Sex or Gender (P21): Female (Q6581072)
- Date of Birth (P569)
- Place of Birth (P19)
Queries have revealed that many African women’s occupational statuses are either missing or incomplete across several Wikidata items. This includes entries for women from countries such as Nigeria, Ghana, Tanzania, Senegal, Uganda, Egypt, and Ethiopia. The gaps in their representation highlight the urgent need for updates to ensure their contributions are recognized.
By participating in this campaign, contributors play a key role in filling these gaps and ensuring that African women’s identities and accomplishments are properly reflected. This effort not only acknowledges their work but also promotes inclusive representation in the digital space, amplifying the visibility of women who have historically been overlooked.
Training and Participation
The training sessions have been structured to allow participants to gradually build their knowledge and contribute effectively. The training dates include:
- Friday October 1st: Introduction to Wikidata and adding Occupation statements (recording available)- 25 participants
- Friday October 11th: How to generate Wikidata queries and add Occupation statements- 26 participants
- Friday October 18th: How to identify duplicate wikidata items, merge, and how to add images and references to Wikidata- 27 participants.
Find all training recordings here.
Contest Timeline and Next Steps
- Start Date: October 1, 2024
- End Date: November 5, 2024
How to participate
Update 10 wikidata Items about women’s occupations from the wikidata quarries list on the meta page. Update your contribution on our Wikidata Birthday campaign meta page. As the contest progresses, participants are actively updating entries and adding missing data, contributing to a more complete and representative Wikidata for African women.
This initiative is not only a celebration of Wikidata’s birthday but also a significant step towards closing the data gap for African women, ensuring their visibility and recognition on a global platform.
Stay tuned for more updates about the outcome and winners of the contest as we continue to track the contributions of our amazing participants and celebrate the progress of the Africa Wiki Women-Wikidata Birthday Contest!
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NB: All images are under CC-BY-SA by Ruby D-Brown
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