Grants:Project/Wiki’s global goals
Project idea
editWhat is the problem you're trying to solve?
editWhat problem are you trying to solve by doing this project? This problem should be small enough that you expect it to be completely or mostly resolved by the end of this project. Remember to review the tutorial for tips on how to answer this question.
Since the Wiki Loves SDGs project in September 2020, there are now updated and complete Wikipedia articles on the Sustainable Development Goals (otherwise known as the Global Goals). However, these pages are available in English which means that many people around the world who do not speak English will not be able to learn about these Goals, their importance or be able to help achieve them. Due to this, we’d like to close this information gap by translating the existing articles in Spanish and Arabic (two of the official United Nations languages). This will ensure a better access to information as well as a higher possibility to reach the Global Goals with the support of people from all over the world.
Indeed, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015 set a blueprint for peace and prosperity for people in the present and the future. The Global Goals are an urgent call to action to end poverty, improve health, allow access to education, reduce inequality and tackle climate change while preserving the environment. They are essential for the future of humanity, but if people lack the resources to know about them and tackle them, we will continue to be off track to find solutions and help achieve them.
Before Covid-19 hit, more and more activism was being conducted online, but the pandemic has ensured that almost overnight, the vast majority of action young people can take is from their houses. At a time when there is much misinformation online, fuelling debates about free speech, facts and truth, young people’s activism in updating Wikipedia articles could not be more important. What’s more, this activism is being conducted as part of a community, brought into sharp relief by the pandemic. The partners on this project are therefore interested in learning more about this type of youth activism and community building and will ensure that an element of learning and research is designed as part of this project to better understand what motivates young people to get involved in the project, how they are building community with other young people and what will ensure longevity of their activism beyond the project.
The project is part of a larger campaign we are leading on Youth-Led Research. Young volunteers are working on capturing key insights, making research accessible and actionable to diverse young people. The project will allow a tangible output for those in countries where research and information are not freely available.
What is your solution?
editFor the problem you identified in the previous section, briefly describe your how you would like to address this problem. We recognize that there are many ways to solve a problem. We’d like to understand why you chose this particular solution, and why you think it is worth pursuing. Remember to review the tutorial for tips on how to answer this question.
The previously held Wiki Loves SDGs edit-a-thon in September helped mobilise over 100 volunteers from around the world. Through taking on board the learnings from the previous edit-a-thon, Restless Development, Project Everyone and My World Mexico will deliver two smaller-scale virtual edit-a-thons in 2021 by engaging over 75 volunteers per language who are passionate about the Global Goals as well as experienced (Arabic- and Spanish-speaking) Wikipedians. Although our previous editathon already mobilized 100 volunteers, we do not envisage this editathon to grow exponentially yet as it will be working in a new context. Our aim is that after this reviewed experience, more young people become frequent members of the wikimedia community and in their turn engage new youth in their communities.
To help achieve the Global Goals it’s essential that more people know about them. Globally approximately 580 million people speak Spanish and 422 million people speak Arabic. On wikipedia arabic has over 2 million registered users ranking 16th in nº of articles per language. Spanish is the 9th language with most articles and 4th in number of edits. Both languages being vastly used it is important that more people have access to updated and translated information on the Global goals all UN countries have vowed to achieve.
With the translation of these wikipedia pages we can help reach an audience of over 1 billion people who will have the information necessary to tackle the most pressing issues in our world today and ensure a more just and sustainable future.
Project goals
editWhat are your goals for this project? Your goals should describe the top two or three benefits that will come out of your project. These should be benefits to the Wikimedia projects or Wikimedia communities. They should not be benefits to you individually. Remember to review the tutorial for tips on how to answer this question.
GOAL 1: Ensure there is reliable access to information about the Sustainable Development Goals for all. This will Raise awareness of the Global Goals through Wikipedia and reach Arabic and Spanish-speaking audiences around the world. Democratise knowledge by providing information on the Goals in Arabic and Spanish along with the thematic areas they cover to those who would not otherwise have access.
GOAL 2: Continue to Build youth activist communities online. Through COVID 19 we have seen that activism can be brought online. Young people are looking for new ways to engage and editing wikipedia pages should definitely be one of them. We have seen in this time how much misinformation can spread and believe that young activists can help make information more accessible and verify it’s truth.
GOAL 3: Explore a different type of activism and organising in a Covid world Organizing an in person event brings its own challenges but during COVID we have learned to organize with social distancing, global campaigns, breaching the digital divide and making sure no one is left behind in the different processes. This editathon will help build this inclusive activism from anywhere in the world.
GOAL 4: Create buzz around the Goals in two additional UN languages Global moments generate discussions about the global goals. Leaders make decisions, showcase young people and go back to their interests. This editathon is an opportunity to show that the global goals should be a buzz word everyday and not only in English but in other languages.
GOAL 5: Engage the Global Goals community by giving citizens, activists, academics and many others the opportunity to contribute to the Goals. Many while being stuck at home have not known how to contribute to achieving the 2030 agenda. But here we can bring a community together to ensure they continue contributing digitally.
Project impact
editHow will you know if you have met your goals?
editFor each of your goals, we’d like you to answer the following questions:
- During your project, what will you do to achieve this goal? (These are your outputs.)
- Once your project is over, how will it continue to positively impact the Wikimedia community or projects? (These are your outcomes.)
For each of your answers, think about how you will capture this information. Will you capture it with a survey? With a story? Will you measure it with a number? Remember, if you plan to measure a number, you will need to set a numeric target in your proposal (e.g. 45 people, 10 articles, 100 scanned documents). Remember to review the tutorial for tips on how to answer this question.
GOAL 1: Ensure there is reliable access and Democratise knowledge
1. Translation of the 17 existing pages on the Goals into both Spanish and Arabic
2. Encourage people to continue to edit Wikipedia, specifically through generating country and regional pages on the SDGs
GOAL 2: Continue to Build youth activist communities online
1. Youth friendly training of how to edit Wikipedia pages
2. Working with new and existing networks to ensure access to Wikipedia editing to people in specific countries like Lebanon and Mexico
GOAL 3: Explore a different type of activism and organizing in a Covid world
1. Young volunteers report strengthened agency and skills as a result of joining the project
2. Share the trainings at hand to help those who were not part of the Hackathon to continue being active even from home
GOAL 4: Create buzz around the Goals in two additional UN languages
1. Increased traffic to goal pages as a result of the hackathon
2. Invite people to read / correct and create Wikipedia pages related to the Global Goals
GOAL 5: Engage the Global Goals community by giving citizens, activists, academics and many others the opportunity to contribute to the Goals.
1. Share a toolkit online for those who would like to continue to update the Global goals pages even if they are previous not Wikipedia editors
2. Encourage those who did not have an editathon in their language to mobilise their communities for a same goal of translating the goals in all languages.
Do you have any goals around participation or content?
editAre any of your goals related to increasing participation within the Wikimedia movement, or increasing/improving the content on Wikimedia projects? If so, we ask that you look through these three metrics, and include any that are relevant to your project. Please set a numeric target against the metrics, if applicable. Remember to review the tutorial for tips on how to answer this question.
Encourage the application of women as female editors for the hackathon Train 50 new participants on wikipedia editing Improve the 17 pages on the Global Goals in Spanish and in Arabic: at least 34 pages will be fully up to date
Project plan
editActivities
editTell us how you'll carry out your project. What will you and other organizers spend your time doing? What will you have done at the end of your project? How will you follow-up with people that are involved with your project?
Two virtual edit-a-thons hosted in partnership with partner organisations.
Delivery of training sessions for those new to Wikipedia editing
Advertising materials created in a variety of languages – Arabic and Spanish – to encourage volunteer sign-ups
Evaluation report of the project based on the outcomes and the feedback provided by participants, with a focus on building online communities during the Covid-19 pandemic
Certificates provided to the most engaged volunteers
Budget
editHow you will use the funds you are requesting? List bullet points for each expense. (You can create a table later if needed.) Don’t forget to include a total amount, and update this amount in the Probox at the top of your page too!
| Budget section | Expense | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Admin and overhead | Snr Global Campaigns Coordinator 50% x 2 months | $2745 |
| Admin and overhead | SDG expert and Local contact | $3252 |
| Admin and overhead | Overhead | $3000 |
| Admin and overhead | Bank transfers | $200 |
| Comms | Snr Comms Manager 50% x 2 months | $6318.22 |
| Comms | Partner dissemination in Latin America - My World Mexico | $2000 |
| Comms | Branding | $5000 |
| Editor incentives | Prize winners (for nine volunteers) | $900 |
| Editor incentives | Data costs | $5000 |
| Editor incentives | Certificates for printing | $50 |
| Tech | Training | $5000 |
| Tech | Zoom Pro for 3 months | $600 |
Total: $33 525,22
Why do we need staff working on this project as well as volunteers?
editAt Restless we believe that young people can help us build a just and sustainable world. But their ideas and motivation lack funding and support. Paying a Campaigns coordinator currently working in the delivery of major events across the world around the global goals, will ensure that volunteers have the right followup and can make the most of this editathon. Also, in being from Peru, the contacts to reach young people in the region will be helpful for the editathon in Spanish.
Our SDG Expert based in Lebanon will help with the arabic side of the editathon, reaching out to universities, using her networks and expertise. She has already lead in the "Wiki loves SDGs" editathon and already brought regular contributors to the wikimedia community. Her time and personal ressources are essential to make sure this hackathon works as well as the first.
In terms of the training, we want to make sure, based on our previous experience, that young people join the hackathon having prior knowledge of what to do or how to do it. We are looking to build the capacity of young people beyond the #youthpowerhacks.
Community engagement
editCommunity input and participation helps make projects successful. How will you let others in your community know about your project? Why are you targeting a specific audience? How will you engage the community you’re aiming to serve during your project?
Restless Development, Project Everyone and My World Mexico will engage with their Arabic and Spanish speaking participants/ communities through advertising the opportunity to participate via newsletters (Restless Development has over 36,700 subscribers on the monthly newsletter), social media posts and engagement with other partner organisations who would have engaged networks (including My World Mexico, The Millenials movement and local universities). In Lebanon some Universities include: American University of Beirut, Lebanese American University, Université Saint-Joseph de Beyrout, Beirut Arab University, Université Libanais, Notre Dame University, Université Saint-Esprit de Kaslik, University of Balamand, Lebanese International University, Khalifa University, University of Sharjah, Zayed University, American University in Dubai (AUD), Qatar University.
The reason why this specific audience is being targeted for the project is due to the fact that we need volunteers who are passionate about the Goals and/ or have translation and Wikipedia editing skills in order to accurately translate the existing information in Spanish and Arabic.
The partner organisations of this project (Restless Development, Project Everyone and My World Mexico) aim to engage the community through digital platforms such as Slack to allow participants to speak to one another, ask questions and truly build a strong and engaged community. This decision is based on the learnings of the Wiki Loves SDGs edit-a-thon (hosted by Project Everyone) where volunteers/ participants used Workplace by Facebook to speak to the team, ask questions and feel like a member of a global community.
Restless Development already works with a large group of volunteers from around the world including the Youth Power Panel, a group of 12 young activists, working on achieving the Gloal Goals. One of our panelists is in Lebanon and another in Latin America, helping us reach a large community of leaders through their networks. Our Youth Collective will also help engage communities as it’s goal is to problem solve and work together. In the collective we work together to create training and resources, collaborate with different organizations and advocate on key issues affecting Youth Civil Society (this includes work on the Global Goals).
Prior to the start of the edit-a-thons, our partner organisations also aim to engage with the community through providing training to those who are new to Wikipedia editing to ensure Wikipedia etiquette is preserved and protected.
Similar to the Wiki Loves SDGs edit-a-thon, the partner of this project also aim to celebrate the achievement of the volunteers and award the most engaged participants with a prize. Based on the learnings of the previous edit-a-thon, this helped encourage higher participation rates from volunteers and also led to many of the winners continuing their journey as Wikipedia editors.
Get involved
editParticipants
editPlease use this section to tell us more about who is working on this project. For each member of the team, please describe any project-related skills, experience, or other background you have that might help contribute to making this idea a success.
Bruna Elias - Youth power panelist Programs Manager at the Lebanese Chapter of the United Nations Global Compact. Works on many of developmental projects spanning between the local level (Lebanon) and the global level Liaises with major Lebanese organizations around their sustainability initiatives and works with national and international stakeholders towards achieving the 2030 agenda in the middle eastern region. Led research and report production on different sustainability and SDGs topics, in english and arabic. Was part of the wiki loves SDGs project as SDGs expert, gained hands on experience in wikipedia editing.
Inés Yábar - Senior Global Campaigns Coordinator Currently working on the Youth power Hacks project helping young people hack solutions to the most pressing issues in their societies in countries in Africa and Asia. She has experience previously working in Lebanon and also an expert on different SDGs in whichever language she is fluent in: English, Spanish, French. Her work in the Environment and humanitarian sectors have brought her recognition such as being part of partnerships with the World Economic Forum or being part of her national delegation for Peru in COP26. Her knowledge beyond project management will help this project be a success.
Community notification
editPlease paste links below to where relevant communities have been notified of your proposal, and to any other relevant community discussions. You are responsible for notifying relevant communities of your proposal, so that they can help you! Depending on your project, notification may be most appropriate on a Village Pump, talk page, mailing list, etc. Need notification tips?
Endorsements
editDo you think this project should be selected for a Project Grant? Please add your name and rationale for endorsing this project below! (Other constructive feedback is welcome on the discussion page).