Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Wiki In Africa’s exciting program of activities over 2022

statusCompleted

Wiki In Africa’s exciting program of activities over 2022

To achieve the main mission of Wiki In Africa, we have the following goals:

Goal 1 is to provide multiple ways (and reduce the barriers) for individuals and partnering organizations to contribute their knowledge to the open movement and thereby reduce knowledge gaps and redress biases.

Goal 2 is to build the capacity of a network of leaders across Africa and developing communities, who are committed to boosting the open movement, reducing knowledge gaps, and redressing biases.

start date2022-01-01T00:00:00Z2022-01-01

end date2022-12-31T00:00:00Z2022-12-31

budget (local currency)2060700 ZAR

amount requested (USD)135300 USD

amount recommended (USD)135300

grant typeNonprofit organization with Wikimedia mission

funding regionSSA

decision fiscal year2021-22

funding program roundRound 1

applicant and people related to proposalAnthere Islahaddow

organization (if applicable)Wiki in Africa

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Applicant details

Wikimedia username(s):

Anthere

Islahaddow

Organization:

Wiki in Africa

Have you received grants from the Wikimedia Foundation before?

Applied previously and did receive a grant

Have you received grants from any non-wiki organization before?

Yes

Which organization(s) did you receive grants from?

Fondation Orange (always through a fiscal sponsor as they can not send money to SA)

Goethe Institute Moleskine Foundation Creative Commons Wikimedia CH

Organization details

What is your organization or group's mission?

Wiki In Africa’s mission is to facilitate global access for all to open knowledge that reflects the diverse cultures, biodiversities, peoples, and histories of the African continent and other previously marginalized and disenfranchised communities with the same depth and breadth as other knowledges.

For more detail consult Wiki In Africa’s Strategy and Annual plan here: https://www.wikiinafrica.org/wiki-in-africa-annual-plan-2022/

If you would like, please share any websites or social media accounts that your group or organization has. (optional)

Wiki In Africa

Meta: https://w.wiki/3pZe Website: www.wikiinafrica.org News: https://www.wikiinafrica.org/newsletters/ YT: https://www.youtube.com/c/WikiInAfrica Facebook: @WikiAfrica Twitter: @WikiAfrica

Activities Wiki Loves Women website: http://www.wikiloveswomen.org Wiki Loves Africa website: http://www.wikilovesafrica.net WikiChallenge African Schools: https://w.wiki/4w2i WikiFundi website: http://www.wikifundi.org ISA Tool: https://isa.toolforge.org/ WikiAfrica Hour: https://w.wiki/3E6L

Grant proposal

Please state the title of your proposal. This will also be a title for the Meta-Wiki page.

Wiki In Africa’s exciting program of activities over 2022

Where will this proposal be implemented?

South Africa

Indicate if it is a local, international, or regional proposal and if it involves several countries? (optional)

International

If you have answered regional or international, please write the country names and any other information that is useful for understanding your proposal.

What are the main challenges you are trying to solve and your proposed solution?

4.1 billion people are online (ITU, 2020) – meaning that 3.6 billion are not connected, despite 97% of the global population being within reach of a mobile signal. 56% of the populations of Least Developed Countries are offline.

In Africa, 29% of individuals use the internet despite 79.5% mobile coverage (2019). Only 28% of urban households had internet access (6% in rural areas).

Women’s Internet use lags behind men. Globally, 48% of women use the Internet, versus 55% of men. In Africa, the internet usage rate drops to 37% for men and 20% for women. The digital gender gap in Africa is widening with the Gender Parity score of 0.79 (2013) dropping to 0.54 in 2019.

The ITU suggests this is caused by: A lack of digital skills (access, education) Affordability (data, technology, education costs) A lack of content that: People are interested in Relates the experience of the reader Reflects their cultural viewpoints and perspectives

This lack of information that people want or need to consume is a vicious cycle. If they do not see themselves reflected online with articles in their language and relevant to their experiences, they are unlikely to contribute content. If they do not find recognisable experiences and perspectives on knowledge platforms, few will return. Leaving nobody behind is a central precept of the UN’s SDGs.

At 21 billion page views/month (Sept 2021), the Wikimedia projects are the most accessed Open Education Resources globally. Yet only 18% of all Wikimedia content relates to women. Africa has almost double the population of Europe, but the total number of Africa-related articles amount to 15% of Europe’s articles. Given the ITU stats, it is not surprising that 1.5% of Wikipedia editors are in Africa, despite Africa’s population being 17% of the world’s total.

Since 2016, Wiki In Africa has developed successful free-to-access open programs that focus on strategic sectors to address the significant barriers to access and digital skill acquisition, and thus encourage content contribution. Our programs lower access, transfer skills, develop leaders, and build communities. Collectively, they address representation by bridging the contribution and content gaps that perpetuate the digital divide that plagues Africa. Thousands of WIA participants add content ‘their’ Africa and shares the knowledges, cultures, and lived realities of Africa, and decolonizes online knowledge.

What is the main objective of your proposal?

To achieve the main mission of Wiki In Africa, we have the following goals:

Goal 1 is to provide multiple ways (and reduce the barriers) for individuals and partnering organizations to contribute their knowledge to the open movement and thereby reduce knowledge gaps and redress biases.

Goal 2 is to build the capacity of a network of leaders across Africa and developing communities, who are committed to boosting the open movement, reducing knowledge gaps, and redressing biases.

Describe your main strategies to achieve this objective and the main activities you will be developing as part of these strategies.

In line with organisational goals, the programs have four key strategic objectives:

1. inform, make visible and advocate about the issues 2. provide multiple fun, engaging and accessible ways and formats for individuals to contribute 3. identify and train leaders to activate open movement projects, and 4. grow networks of communities that boost the open movement, reduce knowledge gaps and facilitate cross-pollination between communities

Wiki In Africa’s projects pose Wikimedia-based solutions by addressing contributor and content gaps through six strategic sectors enacted in 2022 via 15 key activities.

MULTIMEDIA: AFRICAN VISUAL NARRATIVE Wiki Loves Africa is an annual photo contest that is run across the African continent

1: WLA annual photographic contest (Feb-April 2022)
2: WLA ISA campaign (Oct-Dec)
3: WPWP WLA campaign (July-Aug)
4: Wide Angle training – based on Nos Jardins (external funds)

GENDER EQUITY Wiki Loves Women activates and trains leaders to implement their own programs

5 : WLW Focus Group: 18 women from 12 African countries activate their communities
6 : WLW Equity Course: full immersion into the gender gap (external funds)
7 : #SheSaid global campaign (Nov-Dec): annual campaign on Wikiquote
8: ISA global campaign (March)
9: Inspiring Open podcasts – launch 2022 (externally funded)

EDUCATION

10: WikiChallenge Ecoles d’Afrique: 5th writing contest in 9 francophone African countries involving primary schools using WikiFundi. (external funds)
11: WikiAfrica OER curation and creation – curated resources for offline use on WikiFundi + IP and copyright teaching materials

ACCESS: TECH SOLUTIONS

12 : WikiFundi – promote 2021 release (English, French, and Spanish)
13: ISA Tool - Update tool in 2022 in partnership with Wikimedia SV

COMMUNITY

14 : WikiAfrica Hour – live broadcast to members of the WikiAfrica movement informing about Africa and global WM activities

GLAM & HERITAGE

15: Training GLAM – training of GLAM professionals (launched 2021)

During 2022, overarching additional focuses include: 1. build inter-project communities, 2. train and mentors leaders, 3.train key skill groups, i.e. photographers, 4. foster digital skills within and contribution by the next generation, 5. advocate for open practices through external-focused campaigns, and 6. expand our circle of friends in the open knowledge movement.

See https://www.wikiinafrica.org/wiki-in-africa-annual-plan-2022/ for smart objectives for each program.

Please state if you will be carrying out any of these activities within your programs? Select all that apply.

Organizing Meet-up online, Workshops, Train-the-Trainer, Contest, Photo/Media campaign, Wiki Loves campaign, Media outreach campaign, Central organizing for movement campaign, Other

Technology

Are you running any in-person events or activities?

No

Please state if your proposal aims to work on any of the identified content knowledge gaps?

Content Gender gap, Geography, Language, Socioeconomic Status, Cultural background, ethnicity, religion, racial

Please state if your proposal includes any of these areas or thematic focus.

Education, Culture, heritage or GLAM , Open Technology, Diversity

Will your work focus on involving participants from any underrepresented communities? Select all categories that apply.

Gender Identity, Geographic , Ethnic/racial/religious or cultural background, Linguistic / Language, Socioeconomic status, Age, Digital Access

Please tell us more about your target participants.

6 key stages in the participant’s journey have been identified through 10 years of experience with Wikimedia projects across Africa. The stages range from passive observers to organisers or activators. In the middle are activists (participants) and supporters (social ambassadors).

Our activities are focused on two key areas:

facilitating activists to participate (through easy to access campaigns and contests), and
building skills and developing the Wikiverse knowledge of activators to build community builders and organise campaigns

The participant starts as unaware and then becomes observers (curious, but not sure how to be involved). Supporters share WIA opportunities (social media/word of mouth).

Activists actively participate either as individuals (via online contests or drives) or as part of a group at a local event. Activists participate in Wiki Loves Africa, ISA Tool drives, WPWP, or Wiki Loves Women’s SheSaid campaigns. The pupils engaged through WikiChallenge are considered activists. Through participation, some activists become active group members and acquire Wiki skills immersion in local or global WM events.

The final stage is to become an activator or organizer, as a leader of programs and teams. This stage requires training, mentorship, and support via such initiatives as Wiki Loves Women Focus Group, Wiki Loves Africa organiser support initiatives, WikiChallenge facilitator training, etc.

The participant’s journey is a funnel that ends with the activator role. Sustainability, scalability, and growth are ensured through the knowledge acquired through our programs, which also consolidates their immersion into the Wikimedia Movement.

Sustainability is supported by:

Introduction to and training in WMF processes, i.e. Meta, funding, documentation, community building, best practices, and metrics
Program, skills, and leadership development through our webinars, office hours, working sessions, mentorship, communications support, etc.
Programs and campaigns designed to involve existing communities
Visibility and acknowledgment of winners and participants through social media, newsletter announcements, presentations to the WM community, press releases, WikiAfrica Hour coverage, etc.
Busy Telegram channels build cohesion, solidarity, and support within groups
Partnerships with local organizations encouraged for additional support, i.e. event venues (space, internet access, logistics), communications, interested member networks, etc.

Do you have plans to work with other Wikimedia communities, groups or affiliates in your country, or in other countries, to implement this proposal?

Yes

Please tell us about these connections online and offline and how you have let Wikimedia communities know about this proposal.

WIA programs are designed for WM communities. We discuss plans, consulting via meetings, polls and surveys. Examples of methods include:

WLA supports Africa’s WM groups through a meta page, meetings, webinars, shared best practices and tools, and Telegram. The organisers’ survey records experiences and polls themes. Global WM is informed via Telegram, Wikimedia-L, DIFF, presentations at Wikimania, WikiArabia, WikiIndaba, etc. and via contest page, website, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram campaigns and youtube.

WLW consults its members (individuals from WM training (e.g. AFLia) or Africa’s UGs) and WLW Advisory Committee (WLW alumni and Gender Gap UG leaders). Focus Group discuss on Telegram. WLW activity recorded on meta, en.wp, fr.wp, website, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Guests for WLW’s podcast were nominated by WM members.

The WikiFundi offline tool was created to support WM groups. Partnerships through discussion with UG leaders (e.g. WikiFundi used in OFWA’s Kiwix4School)

Will you be working with other external, non-Wikimedian partners to implement this proposal?

Yes

Please describe these partnerships.

Historically, most WiA initiatives have received external project funding.

In 2022, our main external partnership is (since 2014) with Orange Foundation and their local affiliates in 9 Francophone countries on the WikiChallenge Offline Education project. WikiChallenge is also supported through the Vikidia community and on-the-ground training/liaison provided by some Wikimedia affiliates.

WikiChallenge has a “host page” on Vikidia, a meta page, and Facebook page. It is often featured at Wikimedia events (Wikimania, WikiIndaba, WikiConvention francophone), on Wikimedia France blog, in the Education Newsletter. Fondation Orange provides funding, a network of schools, computer equipment for the schools, local facilitators, and communications support.

Other external partners in 2022 include the Goethe-Institut (direct funding, venue access, and communication support), and the Simon’s Town Museum (facilitation, network, communications).

How do you hope to sustain or expand the work carried out in this proposal after the grant?

Our mission is ambitious. The contribution and content gaps are significant and healing the systemic damage is a long process. True contribution and knowledge equity will not be achieved without the involvement of multiple partners, aligned movements and individuals across different, often intersecting, sectors.

Most of our programmatic objectives are designed to encourage tiered levels of participation, both in our programs and the wider WM movement. As Wiki In Africa, our sustainability focuses are to: 1. Reach and support new or fledgling communities and new isolated individuals in Africa through our programs and assist in their transition from activists to activators. 2. Expand the core team to better balance the workload, benefit from the advanced skills of all staff, and incorporate multiple voices, experiences and passions. Until this year there were 2 core staff. In 2021, the 2 additional members increased motivation and expanded the scope of the projects through the integration of their networks and ideas. 3. External consultation and consistent effort to secure external funding to scale and extend programmatic impact through layered activities. In 2021, WIA received funding from Orange Fondation, Goethe-Institut, Movetia, Wikimedia CH. 4. Organisational development through internal analysis, process consolidation, communications strategy, and staff development. In 2021, this approach resulted in Wiki In Africa’s Theory of Change and a reviewed strategic plan.

Do you have the team that is needed to implement this proposal?

Name: Florence Devouard

Role: Co-Lead Username: Anthere Responsibilities: General management, coordination, and oversight of the Wiki In Africa programs, staff, and organization. Responsibilities include strategy, funding prospecting, and research, project rollout, on-wiki communications, prep and evaluation, tech development, and staff support. Organisationally, she manages the financial accounts and generates the financial report

Name: Isla Haddow-Flood Role: Co-Lead Username: Islahaddow Responsibilities: General management, coordination, design, and oversight of the Wiki In Africa programs, staff, and organization. Responsibilities include strategy, funding applications, project rollout, brand management, communications, processes, and staff development. Organisationally, she manages all payments, legal elements and generates the annual report. WLA communication and jury management

Name: (currently) Ceslause Obanaya Role: Wiki Loves Africa & Education administrative assistant| WikiAfrica Hour host Username: Ceslause Responsibilities: Facilitate the WLA organizer meetings, and facilitate the international jury process. In addition for all projects (with exception of WLW) liaise over comms plan, act as a community liaison and provide project support. Continue to develop and expand WikiAfrica Hour, in consultation with Isla and Florence

Name: (currently) Candy Kholihwe Role: Wiki Loves Women administrative assistant Username: Shoodho Responsibilities: For Wiki Loves Women facilitate and plan Focus Group meetings, liaise over larger comms plans, act as community liaison, and provide project support as needed on all gender-equity programs

Name: *Intern Role: Community engagement and facilitation Username: *tba Responsibilities: Promote events, training sessions, and opportunities per project across all social media; update websites and chase community contributions to blog posts, etc. Assist with podcast and WikiAfrica hour pre and post elements and noise

In what ways do you think your proposal most contributes to the Movement Strategy 2030 recommendations. Select a maximum of three options that most apply.

Provide for Safety and Inclusion, Coordinate Across Stakeholders, Invest in Skills and Leadership Development

Please state if your organization or group has a Strategic Plan that can help us further understand your proposal. You can also upload it here. (optional)

Upload Strategic Plan

WIA-2022-Annual-Plan.pdf

Learning, Sharing, and Evaluation

What do you hope to learn from your work in this fund proposal?

The Wiki In Africa programs are designed to be both multilayered and adaptive and are constantly tested to ensure that short-term and long-term implications are charted and considered. It is important that we constantly learn from our work and apply those lessons back into the work itself. Specific learnings per project over 2022 include:

WLW:

How much impact has the Focus Group had on local community growth and development?
How empowered do women feel through the program and initiatives?
How do communications, engagement, and event tactics compare across cultures and spaces, and why?
What keeps participants returning to events?
How do we chart their participation journey?
What impact does the podcasts have on the audience?

WLA:

What is the photographers’ journey through the contest?
What do photographers need to contribute beyond the contest to Commons?
What do experienced organizers need to increase the impact on the community of their participation in Wiki Loves Africa?

WikiChallenge African Schools:

How much do the children get out of it?
How important is it for teachers to get involved?
Does it have an impact beyond the contest?

WikiFundi:

How is WikiFundi used, and in what way?
What impact does it have in each sector?

WikiAfrica Hour:

How effective is this format for imparting knowledge, building community skills, cohesion, and shared purpose?
WikiAfrica Hour:
Does this format work?
Is it replicable in other regions by other communities?

Core Metrics

Enter a description of the metric and a number in the target field. If the metric does not apply to you, enter N/A for not applicable.

Core Metrics Summary
Core metrics	Description	Target
Number of participants	WLA participants = 1,500 Wikiquote participants = 9 x 20 ISA participants = 40 WAHour guests = 12 x 4 WLW Inspiring Open podcast guests = 12	1800
Number of editors	WLA participants = 1,500 Wikiquote participants = 9 x 20 ISA participants = 40 WAHour guests = 12 x 4 WLW Inspiring Open podcast guests = 12	1800
Number of organizers	WLA org team members = 21 x 3 WikiAfrica Heritage trained = 15 WLW Focus group members = 12 + 6 additional Note: it is nevertheless likely that some figures overlap between organizers WLW and organizers WLA...	96

**Number of new content contributions per Wikimedia project**
Wikimedia Project	Description	Target
Wikimedia Commons	Images collected through Wiki Loves Africa photo contest	8000
Wikiquote	Wiki Loves Women she said entries	400
Wikimedia Commons	ISA descriptions and captions added	50000
Wikipedia	WPWP-WLA edits ( revisions + pages modified)	100
N/A	N/A	N/A

If for some reason your proposal will not measure these core metrics please provide an explanation.

The WIA mission is to rebalance the content available online about African and marginalized communities, but this cannot be achieved until there is a critical mass of digital and content savvy contributors who are motivated, trained, and led by skilled, interconnected leaders across various populations and communities.

The skills deficit of newbies requires that content contribution is a tiered process. While the ultimate aim is to increase content, the main focus is on developing the skills, knowledge, access, and abilities for sustainable contribution in multiple formats. This tiered process leads to more focused, quality contributions by activists due to the solid foundation of skills of the activators.

While content is developed as part of the programs by activists, the main programmatic focus and effort (and indicator of programmatic success) is on the effectiveness and community impact of the capacity building, knowledge transfer, and leadership development.

Additional Metrics

Enter a description of the metric and a number in the target field. If the metric does not apply to you, enter N/A for not applicable.


Additional Metrics	Description	Target
Number of editors that continue to participate/retained after activities	N/A	N/A
Number of organizers that continue to participate/retained after activities	N/A	N/A
Number of strategic partnerships that contribute to longer term growth, diversity and sustainability	N/A	N/A
Feedback from participants on effective strategies for attracting and retaining contributors	Wiki Loves Women Focus Group members feedback. We’ll seek advice from the Community Resources team on how to best do this.	12
Diversity of participants brought in by grantees	N/A	N/A
Number of people reached through social media publications	– new followers : 30% increase	30
Number of activities developed	N/A	N/A
Number of volunteer hours	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	N/A	N/A

What other information will you be collecting to learn about the impact of your work? (optional)

The impact of our work is assessed via various methods. These include, but are not limited to:

Surveys to gather experiences of organisers and participants
Collation of personal stories in their own words
Queries for content on-Wiki
Longitudinal analysis of statistics and impact
Social media, website and email list analytics and engagement statistics
Audience analytics for WikiAfrica Hour + WLW Inspiring Open podcast

One example is WikiChallenge that is partly run on Wikimedia Commons and Vikidia (which is not a Wikimedia project). Parameters collected are:

number of participating schools
number of articles produced by the children and later published on Vikidia
number of images uploaded on Commons

What tools would you use to measure each metric selected?

Wiki related tools

 * Montage
 * Mass messages
 * the Hashtag tool
 * the Wiki Loves Tool / Baglama2 / Glamorous /  Glamorgan (link to our WLA tools)
 * Quarry and Wikidata query Service
 * Glamify Tool
 * Outreach dashboard 
 * ISA Tool

External tools

 * Hootsuit
 * MailChimp
 * MailBlaze
 * Qualtrix (WMF)
 * Zoom (pro)
 * StreamYard
 * Menti

How do you hope to share these results so that others can learn from them?

Create a video of our experience, Make a short presentation of the experience, Create a training workshop to show others what we learned, Share results on social media, Share results with our communities, Participate in one on one peer sharing session with other grantees, Develop learning material for other users, Share it on Meta-Wiki, I would like to receive support from the Foundation to discover how I can share my learning

Financial Proposal

What is the amount you are requesting from WMF? Please provide this amount in your local currency. If you are thinking about a multi-year fund, please provide the amount for the first year.

2060700 ZAR

What is this amount in US Currency (to the best of your knowledge)?

135300 USD

Do you want to apply for multi-year funding?

Yes

If you have calculated it, please provide an estimate of the year 2 or year 3 request.

20% increase per year

Please share your budget for this proposal.

You will find on this page : https://www.wikiinafrica.org/wiki-in-africa-annual-plan-2022/

Our Annual Plan 2022
a PDF version of our Application document (with operating links)
Our Strategic Plan
Our Theory of Change

Our budget may be accessed here : https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-tNBnwgwxPsNpSbJDlk0ZPIxIBVZfLrOLuDsMRduHMo/edit#gid=1612849677

What do you do to make sure there is a good management of funds?

Wiki In Africa has a separate business account. All receipts are uploaded to a shared folder on Drive and the ongoing inward and outward funds are logged into a shared file (that is checked by both principals). Payments are made by one principal and full checking done by the other. WiA financial situation is assessed every 3 months internally. The final amounts are confirmed and processed into Annual Financial Statement reports by an independent bookkeeper. All Annual Financial Statements can be provided on request.

How will you contribute towards creating a supportive environment for participants using the UCOC and Friendly Space Policy?

Safety and security are of paramount importance for us as an organization. We are only as strong as the group of people who wish to be involved in our projects. The projects can only sustain people if they are welcoming, nurturing, and safe. As such, we ensure that all our programs include training on and reference to the UCOC and Friendly Space Policy.

Further, beyond our projects, we ensure that the larger community is kept informed with changes and opportunities that arise through the community consultation process by covering the UCoC process on WikiAfrica Hour. Episode 6 [1] covered the current state of the UCoC process. We will continue with this practice.

Please use this optional space to upload any documents that you feel are important for further understanding your proposal.

Staffing plan or organogram:

Final Message

By submitting your proposal/funding request you agree that you are in agreement with the Application Privacy Statement, WMF Friendly Space Policy and the Universal Code of Conduct.

We/I have read the Application Privacy Statement, WMF Friendly Space Policy and Universal Code of Conduct.

Yes

Feedback

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