This text, part of the #ODDStories series, tells a story of Open Data Day‘s grassroots impact directly from the community’s voices.
On 7th March 2025, I organized and celebrated a community Open Data Day 2025 in Eastern Province, Southeast of Kigali, through a project entitled WIKI-SHE EVENT RWANDA under the theme “Promoting gender equity and increasing the representation of women through creation and improvement articles related to the women in Rwanda’’.
The event commenced with an opening address delivering a presentation to participants, thanking them for their commitment to drive a change towards an inclusive open data for all. I first expounded on the core principles of open data and its potential as a potent tool in contribution to free Knowledge, but focusing on a more inclusive and representative knowledge base.
I reminded the participants that, based on Rwanda’s History, 1 million Tutsi were killed in the genocide in 1994, and also reflected on the existing challenges influenced by various factors such as education, technological access, and cultural norms. Rwandan women continue to face challenges in creating free knowledge online, which is why such discussions and efforts from volunteers and well-wishers are needed to improve the level of women’s access to and participation in creating free knowledge online. The participants agreed that it is of their free will and commitment will lead to change Rwanda’s narrative.
The discussions aimed at putting together several approaches that could bridge the gaps between gender equity and increasing the representation of women through creation and improvement articles related to the women in Rwanda and be implemented as follows:
- Awareness and Outreach Campaigns: Raise awareness about the gender gap in Wikimedia projects through social media, workshops, and community events by highlighting the contributions of women in history and contemporary fields to inspire participation.
- Educational Workshops and wiki clubs, especially in schools: Organize training sessions specifically targeting women and girls. These workshops will aim at teaching them how to edit Wikipedia and contribute to other Wikimedia projects,
- Mentorship Programs: Establish mentorship programs where experienced contributors will mentor new female editors. This one-on-one guidance can help newcomers feel more supported and less intimidated by the editing process.
- Addressing the issue of community bias: Raise awareness about biases in content creation and representation on Wikimedia platforms. Encourage contributors to write about women’s achievements, history, and perspectives, thereby enriching the content.
The attendants also discussed flexible participation options, acknowledging the diverse commitments of women by providing flexible and varied opportunities for them to contribute to open data. In addition, the participants found it useful to emphasize advocating for policies within Wikimedia that support gender equality and the participation of underrepresented groups.
The participants valued Wikimedia Rwanda’s initiatives and its commitment to fostering gender-inclusive participation in the Wikimedia movement. The meeting stressed that Wikimedia Rwanda should continue to work towards increasing female participation and creating a more balanced representation of knowledge on its platforms. In addition, for women to achieve this, men should also be supportive to build a more inclusive and representative knowledge base where men and women contribute equally in Wikimedia Projects.
We take this opportunity to extend our warm gratitude to Open Knowledge Foundation (OKFN), Datopian, and the Communauté d’Afrique Francophone des Données Ouvertes (CAFDO) for their unwavering support to have this event a success. We promise that Wikimedia Rwanda will remain committed to advancing the cause of open data and look forward to organizing similar initiatives in the future.
In conclusion, the event was highly successful, providing valuable insights on addressing the gender gap and ways of increasing the representation of women through the creation and improvement of articles on Wikimedia platforms in Rwanda.
About Open Data Day
Open Data Day (ODD) is an annual celebration of open data all over the world. Groups from many countries create local events on the day where they will use open data in their communities. ODD is led by the Open Knowledge Foundation (OKFN) and the Open Knowledge Network.
As a way to increase the representation of different cultures, since 2023 we offer the opportunity for organisations to host an Open Data Day event on the best date over one week. In 2025, a total of 189 events happened all over the world between March 1st and 7th, in 57 countries using 15+ different languages. All outputs are open for everyone to use and re-use.
For more information, you can reach out to the Open Knowledge Foundation team by emailing opendataday@okfn.org. You can also join the Open Data Day Google Group or join the Open Data Day Slack channel to ask for advice, share tips and get connected with others.
