Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Rapid Fund/Our Voice Matters (ID: 22828484)
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Applicant Details
edit- Main Wikimedia username. (required)
Femonics
- Organization
N/A
- If you are a group or organization leader, board member, president, executive director, or staff member at any Wikimedia group, affiliate, or Wikimedia Foundation, you are required to self-identify and present all roles. (required)
N/A
- Describe all relevant roles with the name of the group or organization and description of the role. (required)
Main Proposal
edit- 1. Please state the title of your proposal. This will also be the Meta-Wiki page title.
Our Voice Matters
- 2. and 3. Proposed start and end dates for the proposal.
2024-12-02 - 2025-01-31
- 4. Where will this proposal be implemented? (required)
Pakistan
- 5. Are your activities part of a Wikimedia movement campaign, project, or event? If so, please select the relevant project or campaign. (required)
WikiGap
- 6. What is the change you are trying to bring? What are the main challenges or problems you are trying to solve? Describe this change or challenges, as well as main approaches to achieve it. (required)
The change I’m trying to bring about through this proposal is the creation of a more inclusive and diverse digital information ecosystem, with a focus on increasing the representation of women and promoting Urdu content. This change is important because the lack of female perspectives and underrepresentation of diverse languages, particularly Urdu, on platforms like Wikipedia contributes to an imbalance in knowledge sharing. If this proposal is implemented, it will have far-reaching positive effects: it will empower women as knowledge creators, increase visibility of women-related issues, and provide access to quality information for Urdu-speaking communities. I came across Wikipedia content gender gap in 2019 while searching for data on Women entrepreneurs from Pakistan, where I could see only 4 articles, two of which were not even entrepreneurs. Since then I started advocating and engaging women to review the content on Wikipedia through gender lens and to motivate more women editors to join the platform. I have organized two Edit A thons on my own with no funding from anywhere, encourage people through social media platforms, also uploaded the tutorial on YouTube, how to make ID and how to edit and use Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons to support the new people https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SMEuQxude0&t=168s Through Rapid Funds, the Photo walk and engaging students is very new to Pakistani community. I believe, it will generate the interest and will help to create an active community from Pakistan. Challenges/Problems: 1. Underrepresentation of Women: Wikipedia has disproportionately low numbers of female contributors, which limits the diversity of content available, particularly on topics related to women’s issues, history, and achievements and otherwise general topics with a gender balance narrative. 2. Lack of knowledge and awarness about Wikipedia and its availability in regional languages as an accessible platform to the masses. Students in general and women in general in Pakistan do not have the knowledge that they can edit and write articles in their National Language on Wikipedia. 3. Language Barriers: Urdu being national language of Pakistan, and 10th most spoken language in the world, there is limited content in Urdu, reducing the accessibility of information for millions of native speakers. This linguistic gap hampers learning and the representation of local knowledge. 4. Capacity Gap: Female content writers, especially those writing in Urdu, lack opportunities to develop the skills needed to contribute effectively to these platforms. Approaches/Strategies: 1. Sensitization on Gender Gaps: A key strategy will be running awareness campaigns to educate public about the importance of female representation in digital spaces and encouraging more women to contribute to Wikimedia. Evidence shows that focused efforts on gender sensitization can bring about shifts in mindset and behavior, making it more likely that women will engage with these platforms. 2. Capacity Building for Female Content Writers: The proposal includes capacity-building initiatives such as online and offline workshops, aimed at equipping women with the necessary digital literacy, editing, and content creation skills. These capacity-building efforts will be essential in enabling female contributors to effectively engage with platforms like Wikipedia. Research indicates that empowering women through skills training increases their confidence and participation in digital forums. 3. Creating an Urdu Writers’ Community: Establishing a dedicated Urdu writers' group within Wikimedia will help foster collaboration, peer support, and sustained content creation. This community will allow writers to share resources, discuss ideas, and produce culturally relevant, quality content. The Urdu language is one of the most widely spoken in the world, and this effort is crucial for preserving and promoting local knowledge. Why These Approaches? 1. Proven Track Record: Sensitization and capacity-building efforts in similar initiatives, such as Wikigap projects globally, have demonstrated effectiveness in increasing both female participation and quality content production. 2. Addressing Systemic Barriers: By focusing on systemic challenges such as gender bias and linguistic exclusion, these strategies offer sustainable solutions to increase representation on Wikimedia in a meaningful and lasting way.
- 7. What are the planned activities? (required) Please provide a list of main activities. You can also add a link to the public page for your project where details about your project can be found. Alternatively, you can upload a timeline document. When the activities include partnerships, include details about your partners and planned partnerships.
1. Week 1-2 Mobilization Campaign o Activity: Reach out to the women universities and colleges and campuses to explain the initiatives to the management and onboard them conduct an activity in their premises to raise awareness about Wikipedia and role of women. o Initiate a social media campaign to talk about the initiative , to spread awareness and to engage public to join the initiative. o Purpose: Reaching out the youth through educational institutes is the best place to onboard the participants and to introduce them to new ideas. o Engage directly with potential contributors, raise awareness about the gender and language gaps, and inspire women to join the community. Likewise, social media helps to reachout to the wider audience and helps to build the rapport o Why it Works: Direct outreach has proven effective in recruiting participants and building initial momentum for community-led projects.
2. Week 3 and 4: Information dissemination and registration desk: o Activity: finalize four women’s colleges and universities to introduce the Wikimedia Pakistan for Urdu and English editors group and the Wikigap initiative by establishing a booth/counter for information dissemination. o Booths will be set up at the universities for one day each. o Generally most of the visitors are not aware of Wiki projects. Students will be introduced to Wikipedia through articles of their interest like about their birth place, their favorite movie, literary personality, political and other events etc. They’ll be asked to see if the articles exist and if they do, any changes are required in these pages. This will generate their interest. o Informational brochures will be distributed about contributing to Wikipedia in Urdu, with a call to action to join the community through QR code. Target is to distribute 5000 brochures among students in 4 selected colleges/universities/campuses. o Provide alternate way of registering by offering an offline registration form o The brochure will explain the Edit A Thon - Our Voice Matters and how students can register for the trainings and become part of the community, the purpose and benefits. o Purpose: Provide clear instructions and a tangible takeaway for students to consider joining after the in-person visits. o Why it Works: brochures offer a low-cost, accessible way to spark interest and reach a wider audience at each educational institution. 3. Week 5 Participant Outreach: o Activity: Follow up with registered participants via email, WhatsApp and social media to provide more details about the project, upcoming training sessions, and involvement opportunities. o Purpose: Keep participants engaged and onboard throughout the initial phases. o Why it Works: Consistent communication keeps potential contributors connected and informed, increasing retention rates. 4. Week 6 Online Training Sessions: o Activity: Reach out to Urdu Wikipedia editors to onboard them as Master Trainers. Organize and host an online workshop for the new participants, they will create their IDs on Wikipedia. The training session will be focusing on Wikipedia editing, Wikimedia Commons, content creation, and gender-sensitive content analysis. The session will also analyse the content that will be edited during Edit A Thon. Strategies, roles and responsibilities of the Edit-A-thon will be discussed and why the page needs edits and what’s needed https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_cultural_heritage_sites_in_Islamabad&veaction=edit&wvprov=sticky-header https://ur.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%81%DB%81%D8%B1%D8%B3%D8%AA_%D8%AB%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AA%DB%8C_%D9%88%D8%B1%D8%AB%DB%81_%D8%A7%D8%B3%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%85_%D8%A2%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%AF_%DA%A9%DB%92_%D9%85%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%AA%D8%8C_%D9%BE%D8%A7%DA%A9%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%A7%D9%86 o Purpose: Equip women with the technical skills required to contribute effectively to Wikimedia projects. o Why it Works: Training is essential to bridge the skill gap and ensure that participants are confident and capable of making meaningful contributions. 5. Week 7 Photo walk: Photographing Missing Monuments: o Activity: Organize a one-day visit within Islamabad, where participants will document and photograph monuments that are missing from Wikipedia. o Purpose: Increase the visual representation of local cultural heritage on Wikipedia, especially monuments that may be underrepresented or missing. Improve the articles through a gender lens by providing information on the role of women associated with the monuments. o Why it Works: Hands-on activities such as fieldwork foster collaboration and engagement, making participants feel more invested in the project. 6. Week 8 Virtual Edit-a-Thon: o Activity: Host a Edit-A-Thon. Onboard a Wikipedia Expert from the neighboring country India or from within Pakistan. Under the supervision of the expert, the participants upload the monument images, analyze existing Wikipedia content through a gender lens, and translate articles into Urdu. o The top three contributors will receive gift vouchers to encourage them and motivate others. o Purpose: Address both the gender gap and the Urdu language gap on Wikipedia. o Why it Works: Edit-A-Thons offer a collaborative, goal-driven environment that accelerates content creation and improves representation. A Press Release will be done to share the activity with the wider audience.
Replication and Expansion: o Activity: In the future, Reiterate the project based on the learnings and replicate the model in other cities, inviting the most active contributors from this exercise to lead and replicate the edit-a-thons in other cities. o Purpose: Expand the community and increase Urdu content on Wikipedia. o Why it Works: Empowering participants to take leadership roles ensures the sustainability and growth of the initiative, while also encouraging ownership at the local level. Theme-Based Edit-a-Thons: o Activity: In the future, once an active community of female urdu Wikipedia editors is developed, Organize edit-a-thons focused on specific themes such as women in science, history, women hygiene , medical issues, or cultural heritage. o Purpose: Ensure continuous engagement of the community with targeted topics and further increase the breadth and depth of Urdu content. o Why it Works: Theme-based events encourage participants to focus on underrepresented areas, resulting in more comprehensive content on Wikipedia. By implementing these activities, we aim to build a strong community of female contributors who will fill the content gaps and foster long-term growth of Urdu content on Wikipedia
- 8. Describe your team. Please provide their roles, Wikimedia Usernames and other details. (required) Include more details of the team, including their roles, usernames, Wikimedia group, and whether they are salaried, volunteers, consultants/contractors, etc. Team members involved in the grant application need to be aware of their involvement in the project.
Main Lead: Username Femonics. I have been organizing Edit A Thons in the past, therefore I'll lead the implementation the rapid fund. Since there is no women group of Urdu writers in Pakistans, two volunteer Master trainers who can edit in Urdu and English languages from within Pakistan or the neighboring countries will be onboarded to conduct a Training session and to lead the Edit A Thon. Once girls/women register for the activity, two of them will be asked to volunteer to help me organize the activities. Since the activity involves a lot of coordination among participants, universities, vendors, including logistics, travel, graphic designer, therefore One project manager from the volunteers will be onboarded as well.
- 9. Who are the target participants and from which community? How will you engage participants before and during the activities? How will you follow up with participants after the activities? (required)
The target audience are women, girls and people who identify as females. Colleges, Universities and women campuses will be reached out to onboard them by establishing booth at 4 selected institutions and distributing 5000 brochures. There will be offline forms too, where the visitors will be able to register. A Social media campaign will be run too to engage potential female editors. The activity will be shared in Facebook groups and pages The interested people will be reached out through WhatsAPP, email and social media A Facebook Group will be created where everyone interested in future activities will be requested to join. The Wikipedia Pakistan- Women Group will be a dedicated place to extend support, motivate and encourage the female editors to continue the journey. It will also help us to be organzaied, spread the word for future activities.
- 10. Does your project involve work with children or youth? (required)
No
- 10.1. Please provide a link to your Youth Safety Policy. (required) If the proposal indicates direct contact with children or youth, you are required to outline compliance with international and local laws for working with children and youth, and provide a youth safety policy aligned with these laws. Read more here.
N/A
- 11. How did you discuss the idea of your project with your community members and/or any relevant groups? Please describe steps taken and provide links to any on-wiki community discussion(s) about the proposal. (required) You need to inform the community and/or group, discuss the project with them, and involve them in planning this proposal. You also need to align the activities with other projects happening in the planned area of implementation to ensure collaboration within the community.
At Wikimania 2024- Poland, I discussed the idea with the community from the neighboring country who encouraged me to apply. Rather they highlighted the gap to bring in more Urdu editors from Pakistan. Once I was back, I discussed the idea with the universities, they found it to be very interesting and a very positive activity to engage the youth and showed interest in providing the venue for the booth. A few young females that I have spoken to, are excited and eager to join the initiative.
- 12. Does your proposal aim to work to bridge any of the content knowledge gaps (Knowledge Inequity)? Select one option that most apply to your work. (required)
Content Gender gap
- 13. Does your proposal include any of these areas or thematic focus? Select one option that most applies to your work. (required)
Culture, heritage or GLAM
- 14. Will your work focus on involving participants from any underrepresented communities? Select one option that most apply to your work. (required)
Gender Identity
- 15. In what ways do you think your proposal most contributes to the Movement Strategy 2030 recommendations. Select one that most applies. (required)
Increase the Sustainability of Our Movement
Learning and metrics
edit- 17. What do you hope to learn from your work in this project or proposal? (required)
1- How effective is direct outreach in motivating women to contribute to Wikimedia platforms? 2- How successful is the capacity-building approach in equipping women with the skills and confidence to contribute to Wikipedia? 3- How replicable and scalable is this model for expanding the Wikimedia women Urdu writers group to other cities? 4-How can local cultural and heritage documentation (e.g., photographing missing monuments) impact participants' engagement and sense of ownership? 5- What are the barriers preventing women from consistently contributing to Wikimedia platforms, and how can we address them? 6-
- 18. What are your Wikimedia project targets in numbers (metrics)? (required)
| Other Metrics | Target | Optional description |
|---|---|---|
| Number of participants | 100 | Outreach to new participants: 5000 through brochure distribution at Colleges, Universities, and campuses and 1000 through social media campaign |
| Number of editors | 30 | A 100 newly registered participants are expected to take part in the sessions/training. Among them, 30 are expected to join the full day photo walk |
| Number of organizers | 6 | 1- Lead organiser
2- Vlunteer Coordinators 1- Project Manager 2- Master Trainers |
| Wikimedia project | Number of content created or improved |
|---|---|
| Wikipedia | 20 |
| Wikimedia Commons | 100 |
| Wikidata | |
| Wiktionary | |
| Wikisource | |
| Wikimedia Incubator | |
| Translatewiki | |
| MediaWiki | |
| Wikiquote | |
| Wikivoyage | |
| Wikibooks | |
| Wikiversity | |
| Wikinews | |
| Wikispecies | |
| Wikifunctions or Abstract Wikipedia |
- Optional description for content contributions.
N/A
- 19. Do you have any other project targets in numbers (metrics)? (optional)
No
| Main Open Metrics | Description | Target |
|---|---|---|
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
- 20. What tools would you use to measure each metrics? Please refer to the guide for a list of tools. You can also write that you are not sure and need support. (required)
I will do pre and post activity survey with the participants I will compare the registration from day one to the last day of the activity to gauge retention for direct engagement metrics. For the indirect metrics, will look into the social media insights as to reach and action and how many people joined the Facebook group.
Financial proposal
edit- 21. Please upload your budget for this proposal or indicate the link to it. (required)
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1IYbIHJEHRKMaeSmBp-qqS9APDDdcxzjs2cp_4FyWY64/edit?usp=sharing
- 22. and 22.1. What is the amount you are requesting for this proposal? Please provide the amount in your local currency. (required)
1353900 PKR
- 22.2. Convert the amount requested into USD using the Oanda converter. This is done only to help you assess the USD equivalent of the requested amount. Your request should be between 500 - 5,000 USD.
4826 USD
- We/I have read the Application Privacy Statement, WMF Friendly Space Policy and Universal Code of Conduct.
Yes
Endorsements and Feedback
editPlease add endorsements and feedback to the grant discussion page only. Endorsements added here will be removed automatically.
Community members are invited to share meaningful feedback on the proposal and include reasons why they endorse the proposal. Consider the following:
- Stating why the proposal is important for the communities involved and why they think the strategies chosen will achieve the results that are expected.
- Highlighting any aspects they think are particularly well developed: for instance, the strategies and activities proposed, the levels of community engagement, outreach to underrepresented groups, addressing knowledge gaps, partnerships, the overall budget and learning and evaluation section of the proposal, etc.
- Highlighting if the proposal focuses on any interesting research, learning or innovation, etc. Also if it builds on learning from past proposals developed by the individual or organization, or other Wikimedia communities.
- Analyzing if the proposal is going to contribute in any way to important developments around specific Wikimedia projects or Movement Strategy.
- Analysing if the proposal is coherent in terms of the objectives, strategies, budget, and expected results (metrics).