Wiki for Human Rights Campaign in the Philippines
Author: Anthony Diaz
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Summary: The Philippines has participated in the international campaign of the Wiki for Human Rights: Right to a healthy environment through the volunteers of Wiki Para sa Karapatan Pantawo of the Central Bikol Wikipedia.
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Wiki Para sa Karapatan Pantawo Official Poster -
Volunteer editors group picture -
Jusan Misolas teaching the Content Translation tool
The Philippines has participated in the international campaign of the Wiki for Human Rights: Right to a healthy environment through the volunteers of Wiki Para sa Karapatan Pantawo of the Central Bikol Wikipedia. The aim of the campaign was to increase awareness of every human being in a safe, clean, and sustainable environment to live in. It is timely that Jusan Misolas, one of the community organizers for this campaign, is also an environmental activist, and has an actual immersion in communities in rural and coastal areas.
The event kick-off was during Labor Day in the Philippines, May 1, 2021. It was participated by new editors from different sectors. The session was part tutorial and orientation of the overall Wikimedia projects. The second session was attended by teachers and by the project organizer of Philippines Climate Change Translate-a-thon. Julius Bulahan has shared some of his best practices during his campaign. Since both events tackle the environment and climate, it has complemented each other. The campaign has also organized talks tackling environmental activism here in the Philippines. It has also held exhibits to support both environmental and human rights activists in partnership with Artifa (Artists against Fascism). The team was inspired by Alex Stinson’s message to stay resilient despite the threats and unfavorable conditions of activists here in the Philippines.
The entire edit-a-thon of Wiki para sa Karapatan Pantawo was able to create 83 new articles from the list recommended by the international organizers and UNICEF, and 18 editors were able to register on the outreach dashboard. The whole project has later evolved into hybrid sessions to accommodate interested participants, even if they don’t have the technical skills and know-how on editing Wikipedia. For the last meeting, the team will be having an Art Walk tour, a Psychogeographical Art event, in partnership with other human rights activists and artists such as Lunan and Marginals Milieu.