UN Women Her Story

United Nations Women Edit-a-thon "Her Story" is a global project and Edit-a-Thon that will be held on 2016 International Youth Day (August 12th, 2016). This event is organized by Wikipedia community, supported by United Nations Women and joined by UN Secretary-General's Envoy on Youth. The main event will be held in UN Women Headquarter in New York City, and many local events, as well as virtual Edit-a-Thon, which aim to promote Wikipedia content on gender gap.

HerStory International Youth Day

Project Founders

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  • May Hachem (May Hachem93), WikiProject Women founder in MENA and Wikipedia Education Program leader in Egypt, Regional Project Coordinator of Her Story Campaign, with the UN Women Regional Office in Cairo and EmpowerWomen.org

Her Story campaign

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Knowledge is both a resource and an investment, and like all other forms of wealth, it is often deferentially distributed throughout a social system. In many areas, information simply does not exist, and where it does exist, it is often sexist. Gender knowledge gaps and biases reinforce the harmful stereotypes and practices, and often misrepresent women and girls, and undercut or undervalue their contributions locally and globally. It is 2016, and we cannot tolerate leaving women and girls behind anymore.

Why does closing the gender knowledge gap and Wikipedia matter?

With a better understanding of the way women and girls live their lives, and the specific inequalities and injustices that hold them back every day, communities can identify the challenges and fix them. Recognizing the contribution of women through history can defy the current stereotypes about women and provide positive models for girls and the world. Gathering and analyzing data makes the invisible women more visible.

Wikipedia editors have real implications on millions of users daily as it the sixth-most-visited website on the Internet and over 1,796,235 sites share links to Wikipedia pages. The emergence of interactive crowdsourced information may help in closing the knowledge gap as essential knowledge and information is now accessible to people of all socioeconomic backgrounds and in all corners of the globe. The current content on the Internet is created by everyday people, for everyday people. Closing the gender gap requires first closing the data gap as a foundational step.

HerStory Edit-a-Thon

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As Wikipedia compiles what represents close to the sum of all human knowledge, women should be recognized as part of that sum. Empower Women by UN Women, Wikimedia Foundation, the UN Secretary-General's Envoy on Youth, the UN Inter-agency Network on Youth Development's Working Group on Youth and Gender Equality, and a group of volunteer champions are working on enhancing and increasing the content on Wikipedia related to women and gender equality to raise awareness, close the gender knowledge gap, and start changing and editing the future. The initiative aligns with UN Women’s youth strategy that focuses on strengthening the leadership of young women in all spheres, economic empowerment and skills development of young women and promoting action on ending violence against young women and girls. It calls for investing in young women’s knowledge development and young women led knowledge creation.

If you believe in the notion of online collaboration for the greater good and gender equality and have been impacted by an inspiring woman in your lifetime, join our campaign and make them more visible to inspire millions. Help us celebrate HerStory edit-a-thons to close the gender knowledge gap on International Youth Day on 12 August. Our HerStory Group of Champions have already started to compile profiles of women who have made a difference in our history and this work will be highlighted on Wikipedia as well. Join HerStory edit-a-thons to contribute, promote, and celebrate women of the world. Make sure you going to be an agent of this herstorical change.

International Youth Day Event

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A series of HerStory edit-a-thons will be held on August 12th, which is International Youth Day in many cities around the globe and online. At the UN Headquarters in New York, the HerStory edit-a-thon will be convening 600 participants to edit and write for Wikipedia. The day-long event will include an opening, a Wikipedia 101 brief tutorial, a full day of writing and editing, featured speakers from our partners, breaks for coffee and networking, and a closing speech.

Edit-a-thons dedicated to this campaign have been organized all over the world to increase the coverage of women's topics on Wikipedia and to encourage more women to edit Wikipedia. These event are supported by Empower Women, the Secretary-General's Envoy on Youth, the UN Secretary-General's Envoy on Youth, the UN Inter-agency Network on Youth Development's Working Group on s Youth and Gender Equality, the Wikipedia volunteer community, and thousands of volunteers and initiatives from all over the world. Partner organizations and professional volunteers will provide resources, mentors, and technology to help guide newer editors through the process. The knowledge produced will be focusing on recognizing the contribution of female leaders and especially young women, produce articles about the concepts of gender equality and its champions, and offer a youth friendly content about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Reserve a spot and make a difference in NYC and globally.

Goals

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Overall Goals

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2016 - 2017 Goals

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  • enhance the presence of women and knowledge about them
  • emphasize the disappearance of women from society: “extinction of our species”
  • narrow the gender gap
  • equal and quality representation of women
  • enhance the quality of the already published knowledge about women

2018 Goals

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Main Goals

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  1. Increase the number of editors, both of female editors and of male editors writing about women
  2. Increase the number of articles, including writing new articles and editing existing articles
New Articles
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  1. Identify lacking areas through data
  2. Economic empowerment
  3. Focus on articles about women and about movements and topic pages
Edit Articles
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  1. Verifying sources and references
  2. Make pages gender-sensitive and less biased
  3. Fill in missing information

Methods to achieve the aims

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  1. Social media campaign (Here)
  2. How-to video tutorials/PDF instructions (English / Arab)
  3. Journalism coverage/Op-eds

Targeted invites

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  1. Artists
  2. Writers
  3. Women’s organizations
  4. NGOs
  5. Celebrities
  6. Academics
  7. Researchers
  8. Libraries

Social media

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Facebook

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Her Story - قصتها

Virtual Edit-a-Thon

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Alphabetical by country, Global events with event pages at top

Language Trainer/ Organiser Country or Region or Language Event page
(English)
Other languages
Wikiwomen, Women in Red (Rosiestep) Global Event page:
Celebrating the Wikipedia and United Nations Women Project
(English) /
(Hindi)
Wednesday Wisdom by Women (AVI Arogya) (AgriVaidic Integration) India Wednesday Wisdom by Women RisingIndia ThinkTank
(Marathi) /
(Hindi)
Abhishek Suryawanshi (AbhiSuryawanshi) India Volunteers
(Italian) WikiDonne (Camelia, Susanna, Antonietta) Italy Event page:
Un progetto Wikipedia e United Nations Women
(Spanish) Wikimujeres, Wikimedia Argentina, Wikimedia México (Raystorm) Spanish
Volunteers from Argentina, Mexico, Spain...
Event page:
Celebrando el proyecto Wikipedia y ONU Mujeres
(Arabic) May Hachem (May Hachem93) Algeria Volunteers
Event Page on Arabic Wikipedia
(Arabic) May Hachem (May Hachem93) Egypt WikiWomen Course students
(Arabic) May Hachem (May Hachem93) Iraq Volunteers
(Arabic) May Hachem (May Hachem93) Libya Volunteers
(Arabic) May Hachem (May Hachem93) Mauritania Volunteers
(Arabic) May Hachem (May Hachem93) Morocco Volunteers
(Arabic) May Hachem (May Hachem93) Palestine Volunteers
(Arabic) May Hachem (May Hachem93) Saudi Arabia Volunteers
(Arabic) (May Hachem93, Meriem Mach) Tunisia Volunteers
(Arabic) May Hachem (May Hachem93) Yemen Volunteers

Events

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Alphabetical by country, UN HQ at top

Language Contact Person Date Location Detail
(English) Rosie Stephenson-Goodknight
(Rosiestep)
Rosie Stephenson-Goodknight
Emad Karim @ UN Women
Friday
August 12, 2016
9:30 am to 5:00 pm
New York @ United Nations
United Nations Headquarters
Trusteeship Council Conference Room
46th Street & 1st Avenue
New York, 10017 USA
event page:
UN Women NYC
registration:
Eventbrite  
(Arabic)
(English)
May Hachem
(May Hachem93)
May Hachem
Friday
August 12, 2016
9:30 am to 5:00 pm
Egypt
THE GrEEK CAMPUS
Falaki Gate بوابة الفلكى:
28 Falaki Street, Bab El Louk, Cairo
رقم 28 شارع الفلكى، باب اللوق z-11513
Gallery Room, THE GrEEK CAMPUS
28 Falaki Street
Bab El Louk, Downtown, Cairo, Egypt
registration:
Eventbrite  
(Chinese) Friday
August 12, 2016
Macau SAR
Macau SAR, China

(English) Kirthi Jayakumar Friday
August 12, 2016
2:00 pm to 5:00 pm
Chennai, India
The Red Elephant Foundation
That Madras Place
34/29, Kasturibai Nagar 2nd Main Road
Chennai, India 600020
registration:
Eventbrite  
Facebook  
(English) Chetna Sabharwal Friday
August 12, 2016
11:00 am to 2:00 pm
Delhi, India
Sayfty
Ahlcon International School
Mayur Vihar Phase 1
Delhi 110091 India
registration:
Eventbrite  
(English) Sammy Sahni Friday
August 12, 2016
10:00 am to 12:00 pm
Hyderabad, India
Sayfty
6-3-249/3a, Saaz Apartments, 2nd floor
Road No.1, Banjara Hills
Hyderabad - 500034, India
registration:
Eventbrite  
(English) Friday,
August 12, 2016
Manila
Manila, Philippines
(Spanish) Nelly Andrade Friday
August 12, 2016
3:00 pm to 7:30 pm
México City, México
HomeWork Coworking Space
Plaza de la República #9
Piso 1 Col. Tabacalera Del. Cuahutémoc
C.P. 06030 Ciudad de México
registration:
Eventbrite  
Facebook  
(Spanish) Mónica Lerith Meléndez
Nelly Andrade
Friday
August 12, 2016
11:00 am to 3:00 pm
Monterrey, México
Tecnológico de Monterrey
Campus Monterrey
Eugenio Garza Sada 2501
64849 Monterrey, México
registration:
Eventbrite  
Facebook  
(Korean) E. A. Gu
(Motoko C. K.)
Saturday
Date TBD
Seoul
Seoul, South Korea
event page:
위키백과:UN 여성 기구 허스토리 에디터톤
(Arabic)
(English)
Daria Solovieva @ Ella Thursday
August 18, 2016
6:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Tell Her Story with Ella
In5 Innovation Centre
Boutique Villa #7
Dubai Knowledge Village
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
registration:
Facebook  
(English) Billy Hill @ ONE Friday
August 12, 2016
12:00 pm to 2:00 pm
London, United Kingdom
ONE
4189 Shaftsbury Avenue
London, England
registration:
Eventbrite  
(Arabic)
(English)
May Hachem
(May Hachem93)
May Hachem
Saturday
December 10, 2016
9:30 am to 4:00 pm
Egypt
Al Ahram Publishing House HQ,Cairo, Egypt
(Arabic)
(English)
May Hachem
(May Hachem93)
May Hachem
Wednesday
March 8, 2017
9:30 am to 4:00 pm
Egypt
Online Editathon,Cairo, Egypt
(Arabic)
(English)
May Hachem
(May Hachem93)
May Hachem
Friday
December 1, 2017
10:00 am to 5:00 pm
Egypt
UN Women Regional Office for Arab States
Villa 37, Street No. 85, Sarayat El Maadi, Cairo, Egypt
registration:
Facebook  
(Arabic)
(English)
May Hachem
(May Hachem93)
May Hachem
Saturday
December 23, 2017
9:30 am to 5:00 pm
Egypt
THE GrEEK CAMPUS
Falaki Gate بوابة الفلكى:
28 Falaki Street, Bab El Louk, Cairo
رقم 28 شارع الفلكى، باب اللوق z-11513
The Library Hall, THE GrEEK CAMPUS
28 Falaki Street
Bab El Louk, Downtown, Cairo, Egypt
registration:
Facebook  

Train the Trainers events

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  • 22 July 2016: 1st Training, Cairo
  • 29 July 2016: 2nd Training, Cairo
  • 30 July 2016: 3rd Training, Cairo
  • 10 August 2016: UN Women - Train the Trainers, New York. 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm
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