Continuing the Mission to Bridge Gender Gaps
When it comes to bridging gender gaps and spotlighting African women, the Africa Wiki Women community continues to lead efforts to create new content and improve existing content on Wikipedia and its sister projects.
In 2025, Africa Wiki Women launched the EditHer Africa Contest, a project with the sole aim of bridging the observed content gaps about African women across various Wikimedia projects through monthly editathons.In this new year, 2026, the relentless journey of bridging these gaps continues with the launch of EditHer Africa Contest 2026. The January edition kicked off with a focus on African women climate activists and their contributions to climate action, recognising their work across different countries.
Kicking Off the 2026 Edition
The virtual launch was held on Zoom on January 26, 2026. The event featured a review of the impact of the 2025 edition, while also highlighting planned activities for 2026, including upcoming in-person EditHer editions across selected African countries. The launch recorded the participation of more than 45 volunteers who joined from various parts of Africa.
Following the introduction session, a Wikipedia training commenced wherein separate English and French rooms were created, allowing participants to join based on their preferred language, a step aimed at fostering inclusiveness.
The English-speaking community members had King ChristLike as their trainer, while in the French room, Konan N’Da N’Dri (Dadrik), guided participants through Wikipedia fundamentals and the article creation process.
The objectives of the launch were to:
- Present the project theme and community expectations
- Train volunteers, as proper training encourages effective participation
- Provide hands-on experience with editing tools and address participants’ questions
The training helped participants understand Wikipedia’s founding principles, while demystifying techniques and best practices for writing quality articles. This effort contributes to reducing the content gap about women in the encyclopedia.
Join us to change the narrative
The EditHer Africa Contest 2026 launch marks another important step in the journey toward closing the gender content gap on Wikimedia platforms.
Are you passionate about climate action, gender equity, or open knowledge?
You can be part of this movement.
Click on the link to register and join the EditHer Africa Contest, January edition.
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