Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan / 15 May 2023 – United Nations Development Programme in collaboration with the Bishkek Feminist Initiative has developed 35 additional articles on gender issues in the Kyrgyz language for Wikipedia. Previously, there were another 35 thematic articles published in Wikipedia that aimed to educate the Kyrgyz-speaking audience with gender concepts and why women’s and girls’ empowerment contribute to overall development. The thematic areas also cover challenges faced by women in Kyrgyzstan and special measures adopted by the country to eradicate discrimination and gender-based violence. 

"While the internet underwent immense growth, there is a disproportionate lack of information on women's rights available in the Kyrgyz language, particularly related to gender, sexual and domestic violence as well as feminist activism. However, access to reliable information is crucial for promoting the rights of women and girls in Kyrgyzstan. Therefore, we need more available data in open sources for Kyrgyz speakers," says Gulaim Aiylchy, the editor of the articles on Wikipedia.

The challenges of implementing the Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment concept includes the lack of precise formulation and presentation of new terms and concepts related to the topic of gender inequality in the kyrgyz language, as well as the lack of information where new concepts are linked with practice, cases, and evidence from Kyrgyzstan. This Wikipedia initiative addressed this gap, that if there is no concept or word, then there is no such phenomenon.

“We are continuing to contribute to moving gender agenda forward in Kyrgyzstan. This initiative highlights the importance of introducing such new concepts to Kyrgyz-peaking audience, as the absence of these thematic areas can be perceived as they do not exist or do not take place in the Kyrgyz society due to lack of awareness and absence of information related to the local context.” – says Louise Chamberlain, UNDP Resident Representative in the Kyrgyz Republic. 

UNDP is committed to empowering women and girls to advocate for their rights and gender equality. Adding content and knowledge on open, online sources enables citizens of Kyrgyzstan to learn more about their rights and increase their awareness of gender equality and social norms. A higher level of gender awareness improves mutual understanding between women and men and helps develop skills necessary for societal change and to break gender stereotypes. With this contribution, UNDP hopes to inspire others to contribute more articles on women’s issues in the Kyrgyz language to be published on Wikipedia.

“Now, only 15% of the registered users in the Kyrgyz language Wikipedia are women, and as a result, less than 20% of the content is about women. This is often because women typically spend disproportionately more time on unpaid domestic work, and have limited time left for additional activities, including volunteering. We are encouraging Kyrgyz-speaking volunteers to become Wikipedia editors and join us in decreasing this gender gap in our country and increasing the visibility of women’s contributions to history, politics, science, and raising issues of women’s rights." - added Gulyaim Aiylchy.

Wikipedia allows for the publication of balanced and unbiased information that is reviewed by users and administrators of the community. The advantages of this platform are that search engines display Wikipedia articles in the top search results, and the information is verified by an independent community of users and administrators, which in turn contributes to a high level of trust in the Internet encyclopedia among users. Today, Wikipedia in Kyrgyz language, since its launch in 2010 published more than 80 000 articles and 8 authors from among the leaders and employees of women's, youth and feminist organizations developed articles which were published in Wikipedia to contribute to the knowledge and awareness.

Newly added articles and links:

1. Human rights
2.   LGBT rights
3.   Activism
4.   Personal boundaries
5.   Child marriage
6.   Sex education
7.   Child abuse
8.   Bullying
9.   Human Rights Defender 
10.   Non-Governmental Organization
11.   Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
12.   Gender Inequality Index
13.   Gender pay gap  
14.   Female genital mutilation
15.   Gender discrimination
16.   Gender stereotypes 
17.   Sexual harassment
18.   Wartime sexual violence 
19.   The personal is political
20.   Matrilineality 
21.   Women's March
22.   Suffragette
23.   Intersectional feminism
24.   Cyberfeminism
25.   Postmodern feminism
26.   Islamic feminism 
27.   Radical feminism
28.   Bechdel Test
29.   Matilda effect
30.   Rape culture
31.   Neopatriarchy
32.   Feminist activism
33.   Glass ceiling
34.   Homophobia 
35.   Mansplaining