‘Wiki-Menstruation’: The melding of Wikipedia’s Education Platform, with Global Menstrual Health in Alignment with the UN’s Global Goals

More than 800 attendees from nearly 80 countries gathered in Stockholm, Sweden, for the fifteenth annual Wikimania Conference

The launch of ‘Wiki-Menstruation’ hosted by Padman Africa was perfectly timed in alignment with Wikimania 2019, which took place in Stockholm this August 16th-18th. The annual international conference celebrating Wikimedia project editors, and the Wikimedia free knowledge projects; and this was its first year being held in a Nordic country. ‘Wiki-Menstruation’ also aims to build on this year’s conference theme: “Stronger Together: Wikimedia, free knowledge and the Sustainable Development Goals.” This initiative is one example of how Wikimedia contributors and partners can come together to drive lasting change on global goals like gender equality.

“Wikimania is a celebration of our global free knowledge movement and what we can accomplish when we all come together,” said Katherine Maher, Executive Director of the Wikimedia Foundation. “Only through collaboration will we achieve the ambitious goals we have set for 2030 and create a world that is stronger, more equitable, and sustainable for generations to come.”

The Future for ‘Wiki-Menstruation’ hopes to help bring to life the vision of a Wikipedia that is reflective and equitable for women. This initiative aims to complement efforts like the WikiGap, Equal Edit, WikiMed, Internet-in-a-Box,alongside the various global efforts undertaken by Wikimedia volunteers around the world to continue to build greater gender equity and representation across Wikimedia projects.

The key concepts under the umbrella term of ‘Wiki-Menstruation’ are as follows:

1. Creating awareness that Wikipedia is a place where information about menstruation in general, the current state of menstrual health, can be found

2. Providing access to information on what menstrual health products are currently on the market, whether or not they are eco-friendly, and whether or not they are chemical-free, and friendly to the bodies of women and girls.

3. Providing access to information in different languages, which is something strongly encouraged and emphasized for the next generation of wiki-contributors. (“If you can write in another language, get on board and contribute to these articles, and help drive the ‘wiki-menstruation’ movement of the future!” said Harleen Hundal, Managing Partner of Padman Africa)

As the panel concluded, it is only through a holistic and multi-sectoral approach that applies gender equality, education, human rights, and sustainability perspectives that we can empower girls to take control of their bodies and, ultimately, their lives. Without addressing these linkages, Wikipedia’ efforts to achieve the SDGs will fall short on Menstrual Cycle and emotion https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Motivation_and_emotion/Book/2015/Menstrual_cycle_and_emotion

Photos : Rudolf H. Boettcher and Wikimania 2019 Gallery