In the internet, the stories of African women leaders remain underrepresented. Despite the remarkable contributions women make across leadership, entrepreneurship, education, public service, technology, and the creative industries, many of their achievements are still missing from digital platforms. This gap in representation not only limits visibility but also affects how future generations access knowledge about women shaping Africa’s development.
To help address this challenge, a Wikipedia training workshop was organised in Antananarivo, Madagascar as part of the EditHer 2026 April Campaign led by Africa Wiki Women through its francophone community coordinator, Raveloaritiana Mamisoa.
About the EditHer 2026 Campaign
The April edition of EditHer 2026 focused on creating and improving content about African women leaders and workers while encouraging more participation from women editors across the continent.
The campaign objectives included:
- Creating Wikipedia articles about African women leaders and workers
- Improving and translating existing articles
- Creating and improving Wikidata items related to African women in leadership and work
- Guiding and supporting new editors in contributing to bridging gender-content gaps online
This initiative aimed to ensure that African women’s achievements are better represented and accessible through open digital knowledge platforms.
Workshop in the capital of Madagascar
The local workshop, led and organised by Raveloaritiana Mamisoa, took place on May 14 in Antananarivo and brought together 20 enthusiastic participants who shared one common mission: increasing the visibility of African women on Wikipedia while contributing in the Malagasy language.
The session was officially opened by Cactus0625, staff of the Wikimedia User Group Madagascar, who encouraged participants to view Wikimedia projects as important tools for preserving and sharing knowledge from Madagascar and across Africa. Bluerose25 facilitated the Wikidata training, introducing participants to the importance of structured open data and how Wikidata supports knowledge accessibility across Wikimedia platforms. Mammysou17 led the Wikipedia editing sessions, guiding participants through article creation, translation, referencing, and improving content in the Malagasy language.
Among the participants, there were:
- 13 new editors
- 7 experienced editors from Wikimedia Madagascar
The experienced editors played an important mentoring role throughout the workshop by assisting participants directly, answering questions, and helping accelerate the learning process for beginners. This collaborative atmosphere created a welcoming and interactive learning environment.
Achievements of the Workshop
One of the achievements of the workshop was that every participant successfully created or improved at least two Wikipedia articles in Malagasy. A list of articles was created to help participants choose which articles to create or improve, as well as to add items or statements on Wikidata. They are also motivated and willing to continue contributing. The contest edit-a-thon, organized as part of this workshop, will run until May 29.
This represented an important contribution toward:
- Expanding Malagasy-language content online
- Documenting the achievements of African women
- Encouraging local participation in open knowledge projects
Through this workshop, participants were encouraged not only to document African women’s achievements but also to contribute in Malagasy. This demonstrated that our language belongs in global knowledge spaces and that local communities can actively shape digital history in their own voice.
One important lesson from organising this event is that visibility does not happen automatically. If we want women’s leadership and history to be recognised online, we must intentionally create spaces where women can write, document, and preserve these stories themselves.
Organising this local EditHer 2026 event also showed that digital knowledge activism can intersect with gender advocacy, language preservation, and community empowerment. The journey does not end with one workshop. It is part of a broader movement to ensure that African women’s contributions are documented, accessible, and visible for future generations.
Can you help us translate this article?
In order for this article to reach as many people as possible we would like your help. Can you translate this article to get the message out?
Start translation