Press release

#WIKI4WOMEN: Gender equality in digital space

New Delhi, 3 March 2020 – In partnership with the Wikimedia Foundation, UNESCO New Delhi celebrated International Women's Day early by hosting today an edit-a-thon under the #WIKI4WOMEN initiative, which aims at bridging the gender gap of profiles on Wikipedia. 

The objective was to honour those women who have excelled in fields of education, science, culture, social and human sciences, or communication and information. 

Only 17% of all biographical profiles on Wikipedia are of women. By supporting the creation of these online profiles, UNESCO feels it can help give prominent women the digital existence they deserve
Eric Falt, UNESCO New Delhi Director.

The event saw the participation of over 45 contributors and translators, comprising of UNESCO staff, partners and representatives of civil society, students and the general public, among others. Ten enthusiastic contributors participated remotely to translate some of the profiles in Tamil. The collective effort produced over 150 profiles at the end of the edit-a-thon.

Although more than 25,000 Wikipedia profiles are created every day, only a small percentage of such biographies are about women. Their significant contributions to the society remains unknown and invisible. With a dedicated call of action and concerted effort towards reducing this digital gender divide, this trend can be reversed. Writing the stories of overlooked women is one such stepping stone, which also aims to encourage more such active engagements towards strengthening the achievement of SDG 5 (Gender Equality). 

Since 2018, #WIKI4WOMEN is an initiative led by UNESCO and the Wikimedia Foundation. UNESCO considers gender equality as a fundamental human right, a building block for social justice and an economic necessity. It is a critical factor for the achievement of all internationally agreed development goals, as well as a goal, in and of itself.

International Women’s Day - celebrated every year on 8 March - is an occasion to recognize the extraordinary acts of women and to advance gender equality around the world. Aligned with UN Women's new multigenerational campaign, Generation Equality- this year’s theme is - “I am Generation Equality: Realizing Women's Rights”.