The Swedish Embassy has held a one-day training for Nigerian women to improve the representation of women on Wikipedia.
The event, which was organised in collaboration with Wikimedia, was in connection with the International Women’s Day. It took place at the Embassy of Sweden in Abuja on Monday.
The International Women Day is held every March 8 to advance the cause of women all over the world. The theme of this year’s IWD is “Think Equal, Build Smart, and Innovate for Change.”
Wikipedia, which is one of the world’s largest online and user-generated encyclopedia, has 90 per cent of the content created by men.
In a press release, the Ambassador of Sweden in Nigeria, Staffan Tillander, said the Swedish Government has a feminist policy which emanated from a moral conviction based on justice and human rights.
“Gender equality contributes to peace, security and sustainable development,” he said.
“We want to create more gender equal internet and in the long run, a more gender equal world” Mr Tillander said.
Also speaking,the curator Wikimedia Hub Abuja, Runcie Chidebe, said there is a clear gender inequality in the internet.
“A lot of women have made immense contribution in their fields. However, we don’t see them on Wikipedia,” he said.
“Through WikiGap , we are engaging young Nigerian women to improve Wikipedia articles on women in Nigeria,” he said.
A participant at the training, Jemilat Abdulaziz, said she learnt how to create and edit articles on Wikipedia.
“I believe the gap will be bridged before two years,” she said.