Visible Wiki Women 2025 – Wikidata Contest (Botswana Edition)
Hosted by
[edit]Project Lead: Shoodho (Candy Khohliwe) from Wikimedia Community Usergroup Botswana
Campaign Duration: May – 7th July 2025
Focus: Increasing the visibility of African women on Wikimedia projects through Wikidata
Partnership with WhoseKnowledge , Visible WikiWomen Campaign
Candy Khohliwe, DRIF 2025
[edit]
As featured in the Diff blog, Candy Khohliwe represented Wikimedia Botswana at the Digital Rights and Inclusion Forum (DRIF 2025). In her session titled "Empowering Women and Communities through Digital Rights and Wikimedia’s Role in Africa’s Future," Candy:
- Highlighted the gender gap in digital knowledge
- Advocated for feminist and African-centered participation on Wikipedia and Wikidata
- Shared lessons from Botswana's Visible Wiki Women campaign
- Called for broader regional experience in open knowledge and safe digital spaces for women
Her contribution amplified how Wikimedia projects are more than tools they’re platforms for social justice, community-led change, and digital inclusion. One of her quote:
“We are not just editing pages we are editing power. When we make African women visible, we challenge the structures that have long erased them from history and digital memory.” — Candy Khohliwe, DRIF 2025
Project Overview
[edit]The Visible Wiki Women 2025 campaign in Botswana aimed to make African women more visible online by improving and creating Wikidata entries about notable women in our local context and across the continent. This effort aligned with the global #VisibleWikiWomen campaign and contributed to decolonizing digital knowledge spaces.
This local implementation was supported by:
- A series of online training workshops
- One-on-one training sessions
- Guided editing tasks for both new and returning volunteers
- Wikidata Outreach Dashboard
Goals
[edit]- Increase the representation of African women on Wikidata
- Build the capacity of local editors to contribute meaningfully to Wikimedia projects
- Encourage sustainable, community-driven content creation in Botswana
Activities & Trainings
[edit]Online Training Series between (May - June 2025)
[edit]We hosted three online workshops to support participants with:
- Introduction to Wikidata
- How to edit and create items about women
- Using reliable sources and adding structured data
Each session included live demonstrations, Q&A, and editing time with experienced Wikimedians.
One-on-One Editing Support
[edit]Participants could book one-on-one training sessions with new volunteers and team members throughout the contest. These sessions helped with:
- Account setup and navigation
- Personalized feedback on editing
- Help with references and notability
Impact Highlights (as of July 2025)
[edit]| Metric | Result |
|---|---|
| Articles Created | 2.27K |
| Articles Edited | 2.66K |
| References Added | 14K |
| Editors Engaged | 16 |
| Article Views | 13.7K |
| Commons Uploads | 81 |
Visible WikiWomen Wikidata Contest Winners
[edit]- Chandapiwa Malema
- MmaBaggio
- Blackgirlmighty
What We Learned
[edit]- One-on-one mentorship increases confidence among first-time editors.
- Community members are deeply interested in editing content about women from Botswana and Africa.
- Online tools like Wikidata are powerful entry points for digital participation and feminist knowledge work.
Related Resources
[edit]- Visible Wiki Women Global Campaign
- Diff Post: Reflections from DRIF 2025
- Candy's Slides at DRIF 2025
- Wikidata Outreach Dashboard
Contact
[edit]Facebook: Wikimedia Community User Group Botswana