Who Can Join: Open to new and experienced Wikimedians, students, researchers, and gender equality advocates worldwide
Running from August 25 to September 25, 2026, the annual Wiki OTO campaign returns to rally digital volunteers, researchers, and open-knowledge advocates around a shared mission: ensuring the achievements, stories, and leadership of African women are accurately represented across global platforms.
Rooted in the Yoruba language, “Àrà-Ọ̀tọ̀” translates to “unique”—a fitting title for an initiative dedicated to honoring extraordinary women whose contributions have long been underrepresented in free knowledge ecosystems. Spearheaded by Wiki Loves Women (a flagship initiative of Wiki in Africa) in partnership with Africa Wiki Women, the 2026 edition marks a new collaborative era in dismantling the online gender gap.
Elevating African Women in Politics Through Structured Open Data
For the 2026 campaign, Wiki OTO focuses specifically on Women in Politics. Across the continent, female parliamentarians, community leaders, diplomats, and grassroots activists continue to shape policy and drive systemic change, yet their digital footprints often remain incomplete or unverified.
Throughout the month-long drive, contributors will focus on Wikidata—the centralized, multilingual structured data repository that powers Wikimedia projects and search engines worldwide. Participants will create new data items, update existing records, add reliable citations, and map out connections between female political figures and their historic achievements.
Wiki Loves Women and Africa Wiki Women
Wiki OTO originated from the Wiki Loves Women Focus Group, established in 2021 to support female Wikimedians across Africa and the diaspora. As community needs evolved, the campaign expanded into a joint coalition combining the strategic reach of Wiki Loves Women with the grassroots energy of Africa Wiki Women.
By uniting these two networks, the 2026 campaign leverages localized expertise and shared technical resources to build sustainable capacity among African editors. This collaborative model ensures that storytellers from the continent remain the primary authors of their own history.
How to Participate
The campaign welcomes volunteers of all experience levels—from seasoned Wikidata editors to first-time contributors. Interested participants can register through the official Wiki OTO campaign dashboard to track their edits, access curated target lists, and monitor real-time project statistics.
To support new contributors, organizers are hosting a live online Wikidata training session on Monday, August 31, 2026, at 3:00 PM UTC. The interactive workshop will guide participants through the basics of item creation, sourcing standards, and specialized data modeling for political figures.
By taking part in Wiki OTO 2026, editors worldwide are helping build a more inclusive, accurate, and comprehensive repository of human knowledge that honors the legacy of African female leadership.
