When I first saw the announcement about the CEE Women Campaign grant opportunity in CEE Telegram groups, I became immediately interested. For a long time, I have enjoyed writing articles about women-related topics and contributing such content to Uzbek Wikipedia and, more recently, Uzbek Wikiquote. Because of this, the grant felt like a perfect opportunity for me.
I submitted my project proposal shortly after the announcement. Soon, I learned that another active Uzbek Wikimedian, Miss Kamola, had also applied for the same grant. Interestingly, we had originally wanted to work together, but without realizing it, we had submitted separate proposals. After reviewing both projects, Mohammad suggested combining them into one initiative. We revised the proposal together, resubmitted it, and eventually received the grant.
The main goal of the project was to reduce the gender gap on Uzbek Wikipedia and Uzbek Wikiquote by creating and improving women-related content, while also engaging new contributors in Wikimedia projects. To achieve this, we organized workshops, photowalks, online edit-a-thons, and a final awarding ceremony.
The project ran from March 9 to April 9, 2026, and included two parallel online campaigns: a Wikipedia Marathon and a Wikiquote Marathon. Participants created new articles, improved existing pages, added quotations, uploaded photographs to Wikimedia Commons, and contributed to Wikidata.
One of the most surprising moments for me was the level of activity on Uzbek Wikiquote. Honestly, I did not expect such strong participation there. On the final day of the competition, participants showed incredible motivation and competitiveness. Until then, I had worried that we might not even surpass the results I had personally achieved on Wikiquote before the project. Instead, the outcome exceeded all expectations.
By the end of the campaign, the project achieved the following results:
In addition to the online campaigns, we organized several offline events. On March 14, a Wikipedia editing workshop was held in collaboration with the TSUE Wiki Club, where participants learned about editing articles, adding references, using templates, and creating categories.
We also organized three photowalks across Tashkent. During the Navruz photowalk on March 21, participants documented traditional celebrations, national costumes, and Uzbek cultural elements. Another photowalk took place at the State Museum of Applied Arts of Uzbekistan, where participants photographed museum exhibits and collected information about them. The final photowalk was organized at the house museums of Tamarakhonim, Oybek, and the first Uzbek female chemist Zarifa Saidnosirova, contributing valuable freely licensed media related to Uzbek culture and notable women.
One of the most memorable parts of the project for me was meeting so many enthusiastic contributors during workshops and events. Some participants created their very first Wikipedia/Wikiquote articles, while others spent hours improving content or uploading media files. Their energy and interest became one of the biggest motivations for continuing the project.
At the same time, organizing the initiative was not always easy. During the later stages of the project, much of the organizational responsibility fell on me, including planning, coordination, communication, and event preparation. Fortunately, Javoxir Yorqulov and the TSUE Wiki Club provided significant support during the preparation of the final awarding ceremony.
On May 2, we organized the final event and presented the project results. While carrying banners to the TSUE campus together with my younger brother that morning, I remember feeling genuinely happy after reviewing the project statistics the night before. Every participant who dedicated time and effort to the campaign felt valuable to me.
Because of that, we decided to recognize not only the top winners, but also active contributors and the participant who uploaded the highest number of photographs to Wikimedia Commons. Participants received certificates, appreciation awards, and Asaxiy vouchers. We also expressed special gratitude to Miss Kamola and Javoxir Yorqulov for their support throughout the project.
The atmosphere during the awarding ceremony felt warm and meaningful. Participants celebrated together, shared experiences, and enjoyed specially prepared cookies featuring our local campaign logo — a redesigned version of the CEE Women Campaign logo created by a volunteer designer user:Adskinmoe as an Uzbek-inspired women’s edition. Sticker packs with project logos were also distributed among participants.
I have participated in many Wikimedia projects before, but this initiative reminded me once again that with a supportive community and shared motivation, it is possible to achieve meaningful results together.
I am deeply grateful to everyone who supported the project and contributed to CEE Women Campaign Uzbekistan 2026.
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