Wikimedia Community User Group Côte d'Ivoire/Reports/Annual report 2016
Introduction
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Novembre 28, 2016. For 2 years now the Wikimedia Community User Group of Côte d’Ivoire (WCUG-CI) has been existing officially, and for 11 years now a Wikipedia community has been living in Côte d’Ivoire. As time goes on, one year after another, this volunteers community from Côte d'Ivoire working for a free access to knowledge has grown up, both at a national and international level.
As for the 2016 period, being the main focus of this activities report, the User Group was dedicated mostly to enhancing its structure and organization while strengthening its understanding of the collaboration practice as followed by the Wikimedia.
In 2016, Wikimedia Community User Group of Côte multiplied collaborations with key actors from the Wikimedia environment, as well as partnerships with entities from outside the movement having missions and goals close to the scope of the Organization, which are education, culture, and the digital world.
African women, Francophonie & Wikimedia
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On the Wikimedia scene we can underline the Wiki Loves Women project. In march 2016, Wikimedia Côte d'Ivoire was selected, among 15 other applicants, for coordination during 12 months the Wiki Loves Women project in Côte d'Ivoire. This initiative aims at making available contents related to african women on Wikipedia and Internet in general.
Beyond spreading contents on internet, our action on the ground consists in advocacy works, sensitizing and capacity building of women and young girls in content editing and technical matters (MediaWiki, free licences, Open source, etc).
This project drew the attention and stimulated the commitment in leading this program. Then, out of four countries running this program simultaneously, Côte d'Ivoire is the only country which coordination team gathers as much as 2 women, the project manager and her first assistant, being also the Organization's vice-chairperson.
In octobre 2016, 7 months after the begining of the project, the figures show:
- + 100 participants to the projets, with 26% being women
- 65 pictures/medias uploaded
- +42 articles improved, translated or created
- + 13 events (Presentations, Edit-a-thons, training, WikiConvention francophone) organized or attended in Côte d’Ivoire and in France
- 6 partnerships (Goethe-Institut, Parliament, Akendewa NGO, Ovillage, Agence E-voir, JAM NGO)
- 3 working languages (French, English, and German)
We are also committed in WikiVillages contest in Cameroon. Côte d'Ivoire supports this Wikivillage through the partiticipation of its Chairperson, Donatien Kangah, as juror of this contest which purpose is to create Wikipedia articles on cameroon villages.
Same involvement during the Wikiconcours Lycéen 2015-2016 in France, where the Chairperson of the User Group was also a member of the jury.
We massively took part into the first MOOC for Wikipedia, also refered to as WikiMOOC. Promoter (around 50 participants from Côte d’Ivoire), Beta-testers (6), instructional designer (1), volunteers of the User Group had seized this first occasion for contributing to Wikipedia in the francophone area.
This engagement went on with our participation in the first WikiConvention Francophone in Paris in august 2016. With 6 scholarship granted at the begining, only two wikimedians from Côte d'Ivoire could effectively travel to Paris. Among the reasons were, the incompatibility between the convention schedule and the World congres of IFLA where we were invited, the withdrawal of one scholarship in favor of Burkina Faso, and the Schengen visa procedure.
The visa Schengen matter for entering Europe has already been a limitation to our participation during the Wikimedia Conference latest April 2016 in Berlin, Germany.
External partnerships
editOn top position is the GLAM-Wiki initiative particularly with the Librarians. Among them are the Goethe-institut of Abidjan, one of the main institutional partners of WCUG-CI, providing hostage for some activities, sponsorship for Wiki Loves Women project, and connection with the organizations of its network.
The User Group is also part of the BSF Campus network. This project, run by the French NGO Librarians Without Borders is a network of +30 young leaders from french-speaking African countries (Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal, Cameroon), dedicated to transform libraries for a better social impact in their communities. This group was selected in 2015 and stimulated to collaboration with GLAMs though meetups and workshops during which plea were made in favor of Wikipedia in libraries.
Awareness was raised among participants regarding the possibilities for collaboration with the Wikimedia community. Out of discussions and presentations, joint projects were drafted and future collaborations emerged.
A working group dedicated to GLAM-Wiki was born in Côte d'Ivoire. This group gathers 7 volunteers from WCUG-CI. Note as well that our participation in the 82nd Congress of IFLA at Colombus (OHIO) in August 2016, to which we were invited thanks to the Librarians Without Borders and the International French Committee for Librarians and Documentation.
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Family picture after a brainstorming with librarians of the BSF Campus network at the Goethe-institut, Abidjan. -
Dominique Eliane at Wiki Convention Francophone in Paris, presenting the Wiki Loves Women experience in Côte d'Ivoire. -
Some pictures from the participation of Donatien Kangah, chairperson of Wikimedia Côte d'Ivoire, in the 82nd congress of IFLA.
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A part from the GLAM project, Wikimedia Côte d'Ivoire make strong partnerships with dozens of local actors from the culture, digital, and education environment. Note for example:
- the National commission for Francophonie, with which we are involved in a tour taking place in twenty cities of Côte d’Ivoire in view of training and sensitizing the youth regarding the benefits of digital technologies;
- E-voir, a web agency sheltering the headquarters of WCUG-CI in Abidjan;
- coworking space such as Ovillage and JokkoLabs, the Jeunes Africains Modèles NGO, Akendewa, the Groupe de Recherches Philosophiques, the communication agency Afriqayoh, the Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Embassy, etc.
Decentralized organization
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Two years after being acknowledged by the Affiliation committee, the User Group has consolidated its structural and organizational foundations. The General Assembly of June 2016 allowed for example the election of a new General Treasurer. The former had to withdraw for personal reasons related to her absence from the Ivorian territory; Which made her unable to fulfill her missions. This passage of torch allowed a more effective delegation of the Association accounts management to the General Treasury, allowing this strategic department to operate more accurately.
This process of decentralization continues and extends to all spheres of the Association, with a view to empowering the maximum number of members with regard to the affairs of the User Group. Today, Wikimedia Côte d'Ivoire has 3 Mission Officers / Project Managers (Newcomers program, Wiki Loves Women & Wiki Loves Africa) and a working group (GLAM Côte d'Ivoire), in addition to the Executive
Board and Statutory Auditors.
Regarding the mobilization, as of October 30, 2016, we noted 32 members and a community of 4,000 supporters through our social media (Facebook & Twitter). More than 43% of the Association members are women / girls. Engaged in the functioning of the User Group, they are in charge of 60% of the positions within the organization; Enabling them to develop their skills and expertise, thus promoting their involvement in the ICT sector.
The case of our Deputy Secretary General is a paragon how women benefit from their involvement within the Association. She was was recruited during her term as part of the International Volunteer of the Francophonie program for her digital experience is particularly striking. As well as that of the Vice-President selected for the Regional YALI Program in Dakar.
62% of the 32 members of the Association are digital actors, working in Côte d'Ivoire, Africa and around the world, as Consultant-Trainer, Lecturer, Community Manager or Entrepreneur. The dynamism of this community has been mobilized through thirty activities, including meet-up, workshops (reflection / training), board meetings, project / task team meetings, edit-a-thon, Hackhaton, brainstorming, etc.
Finances
editIncomes and expenses table as at 30 November 2016 (XOF)
| INCOMES | EXPENSES | ||
| Title | Amount | Title | Amount |
| Balances (checkout and bank account) as at 31 December 2015 | 100 600 | Transportation expenses | 318 550 |
| Donations from some members | 306 800 | Meetings (Cocktail expenses) | 694 450 |
| Registration and Annual Fees | 230 000 | Printing document | 105 100 |
| Members contributions to "Solidarity expenses" | 15 000 | Telephone expenses | 75 000 |
| Contribution to the Wiknic 2016 | 40 000 | Outreach printing | 723 000 |
| Payment refunds | 34 000 | Allowances | 1 633 600 |
| Partners wires for supporting the Association | 5 401 326 | Bank fees | 10 900 |
| Internet expenses | 160 300 | ||
| Solidarity expenses | 143 600 | ||
| Materials expenses | 55 000 | ||
| Rent | 360 000 | ||
| Computer Hardware | 57000 | ||
| Other expenses | 161 150 | ||
| TOTAL INCOMES | 6 127 726 | TOTAL EXPENSES | 4 497 650 |
| DEBIT BALANCE | 1 630 076 | ||
| TOTAL | 6 127 726 | TOTAL | 6 127 726 |
Conclusion
editIn view of the results and the impact observed since its existence, Wikimedia Community User Group shows a certain maturity, regional leadership and a real national and international influence both within the Wikimedia movement, as well as in its thematic and geographical scope of intervention.
In order to face upcoming challenges, the User Group has defined, in accordance with the resolutions of its General Assembly of 11 June 2016, five priority axes that will guide its action from 2017 to 2020: INSTITUTION, HUMAN CAPITAL & CAPACITY BUILDING, CONTENT LIBERATION, ORGANIZATION, SOCIAL AND COMMUNITY APPROACH.
The Chairperson --Papischou (talk) 14:36, 21 December 2016 (UTC)