Wikimedia MA User Group/Events

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2021

WikiConvention francophone 2021 (20 - 21 November) - Online

Anass Sedrati, Soukaina Abelhad and Brahim Faraji, made two presentations at the French-speaking Wiki-conference. Anass presented the results of the survey study that he made about regional hubs in the Arabic speaking region, while Soukaina and Brahim shared their experience in relation with the pilot education project that was conducted in the country during 2020.

Slides of the regional hubs presented at the Wikiconvention francophone

WikiIndaba 2021 (5 - 7 November) - Online

For the African conference, two group members have made presentations related to the movement's strategy. Anass Sedrati presented in a joint panel his research work about regional hubs implementation, while Reda Benkhadra introduced the state of Free Knowlegde in Africa.

Video presentation of CEE meets African Wikimedians regarding hub work in both regions
Slides of the hubs presentation in WikiIndaba 2021 by Anass

WikiArabia 2021 (15 - 17 October) - Online

The fifth edition of WikiArabia, organized by Wikimedia Algeria UG, saw notable participation from Wikimedia Morocco members, in several interesting panels and presentations. The interventions included “Reading Wikipedia in the classroom” by Soukaina Abelhad and Brahim Faraji, “Volunteering in the Wikimedia movement” by Anass Sedrati and Reda Benkhadra, and “How to motivate editors to contribute continuously” by Zahira Gormat as well as the group participation at the affiliates round table, represented by the president Reda Benkhadra.

Video presentation of "Volunteering in the Wikimedia movement" by Anass and Reda
Video presentation of "How to motivate editors" by Zahira
Video presentation of "Reading Wikipedia in the Classroom" by Brahim and Soukaina
Video presentation of "Regional Hubs" by Anass

Arctic Knot Conference 2021, (24 - 25 June) - (Online)

For the third participation of the user group, and the second in the digital edition of the minority languages conference, Anass Sedrati and Reda Benkhadra, both user group members, shared a presentation entitled “How can editing contests support smaller Wikipedias?”. The presentation, inspired from work conducted in Morocco, aimed to introduce the audience to the importance of organizing contests in supporting smaller Wikipedias, even those still hosted in the incubator, to encourage more editors to participate in these versions.

A full recording of the session can be found on Youtube.

ContribuLing 2021, (3 - 4 June) - Online

Wikimedia Morocco participated actively in organizing the first edition of the ContribuLing conference. This event, a collaboration between INALCO, Wikimedias (France & Morocco), BULAC and UCAM, aimed to offer members of linguistic resource platforms an opportunity to give presentations on their tools and workshops on their use that will enable would-be users to contribute. Anass Sedrati participated with the organization committee in different tasks, while Reda Benkhadra held a presentation about the Wikimedia Incubator.

Reda Benkhadra presenting the Wikimedia incubator during Contribuling 2021

Wiki Loves Earth 2021 in Morocco, (1 - 30 June)

Theme: Natural heritage sites in Morocco

132 Participants - 442 pictures uploaded

Pictures from Wiki Loves Earth 2021 in Morocco

Winning Picture of WLE 2021 in Morocco.
Second Placed Picture at WLE 2021 in Morocco.
Third Placed Picture at WLE 2021 in Morocco.

WikiForHumanRights 2021 in Morocco, (18 March - 31 May)

Wikimedia Morocco was one of the first groups that joined the Wiki for Human Rights campaign organized by the Wikimedia Foundation and the OHCHR to raise awareness about the importance of documenting and advocating human rights.

Theme: The right to a healthy environment.

Contests in 4 languages: Arabic, French, Moroccan Arabic (Darija), Tachelhit.

20 participants wrote 247 articles:

145 in Arabic
49 in French
35 in Tachelhit
18 in Moroccan Darija

2020

Wiki Loves Monuments 2020 in Morocco, (01 - 30 November)

Theme: Classified national monuments of Morocco

51 Participants - 431 pictures uploaded

More detailed information about participation and pictures can be found in the contest final report

Pictures from Wiki Loves Monuments 2020 in Morocco

Tazouda Castle, one of the Top 10 pictures of Wiki Loves Monuments 2020 in Morocco.
Ruins of Challah, one of the Top 10 pictures of Wiki Loves Monuments 2020 in Morocco.
Bahia Palace, one of the Top 10 pictures of Wiki Loves Monuments 2020 in Morocco.
Alburjeen Castle, one of the Top 10 pictures of Wiki Loves Monuments 2020 in Morocco.

Celtic Knot Conference, (9 - 10 July) - (Online)

For the second participation of the user group in the conference related to minority languages, Anass Sedrati presented “digitally” a session entitled “Developing Wikis in local languages - From Offline to Online”, relating the experience of Moroccan Arabic Wikipedia, and the collaboration made at the group level to support it.

A full recording of the session can be found on Youtube.

WikiGap 2020, March - (Online)

Originally, and similar to previous years (2018-2019), WikiGap was intended to be held in-person at the Swedish Embassy in Rabat. However, and even before deciding on the event date, the news of different restrictions coming with the pandemic obliged the group to change the plans.

After a careful consideration, the setup was radically changed for this year, and instead of having a physical one-day edit-a-thon and presentation, the event was switched instead to an online edit-a-thon held for a full month (march 2020). Even Though this setup was new and challenging, many people did participate in the event, and 31 new articles were created in several languages, about different Moroccan women. More details and figures about the virtual 2020 WikiGap in Morocco, can be found at this link.

Reading Wikipedia in the Classroom - Pilot Project

Reading Wikipedia in the Classroom is pilot project launched by the Education team at the Wikimedia Foundation, in collaboration with local user groups, to help teachers understand and leverage Wikipedia’s educational value. Through a localized set of tools and professional training opportunities, the project helps both educators and students to develop vital media and information literacy skills for the 21st century. Wikimedia Morocco was chosen as one of the three affiliates worldwide to collaborate in this project (alongside groups from Philippines and Bolivia).

Across all of Morocco, one hundred teachers received 36 hours of training led by two members of Wikimedia MA UG (Brahim Faraji and Soukaina Abelhad). The high level of participation in the pilot program is particularly notable given the unique and stressful demands teachers faced amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Through 12 weeks of training, teachers participated in live webinars and asynchronous discussions as they explored how Wikipedia works, the importance of teaching information literacy across the curriculum, and how the Wikimedia community is working to close knowledge gaps. By the end of the training, teachers’ perception of the educational value of Wikipedia evolved, and they were able to incorporate it into their lesson plans.

Many user group members participated to support this project by answering the teachers questions about Wikipedia (either in Zoom training, or at the project Facebook group), in addition to the continuous support of the local coordinators. The material was highly appreciated by the teachers based on their answers on the post program survey (63% rated the course material as Excellent, 31% as good, and 6% average). Moreover, all of the participants in the Moroccan pilot project (100%) expressed the readiness to participate in any future training programs provided by the Wikimedia Foundation.

Wiki Loves Africa 2020 in Morocco (15 February - 31 March, extended to 15 April due to Covid-19)

Theme: Transportation (Africa on the move)
109 participants - 825 pictures taken.
Pictures from Wiki Loves Africa 2020 in Morocco

Winning Picture of WLA 2020 in Morocco.
Second Placed Picture at WLA 2020 in Morocco.
Third Placed Picture at WLA 2020 in Morocco.

Strategy Salon 2020, (8 February) - Rabat (Morocco)

To continue the Strategic discussion started in 2019, Wikimedia Morocco User Group organized a second Strategy related event, where 9 people met in Rabat to discuss the 13 draft recommendations that were open for community conversation so that they could give their input about them.

Strategy Meeting in Rabat
Session Presentation

2019

Wiki Indaba 2019, (8 - 10 November) - Abuja (Nigeria)

Two members of Wikimedia Morocco User Group took part in WikiIndaba 2019 in Nigeria: Nassima Chahboun and Anass Sedrati. The latter delivered a full presentation about How to Strengthen Local African content, and participated in animating two panels: Local African Languages as well as Wikimedia 2030 Strategy.

WikiIndaba 2019 Participation Report - Anass Sedrati

Anass Sedrati presenting at WikiIndaba 2019
Nassima Chahboun (Second to the right) with female participants at WikiIndaba 2019
Anass Sedrati at a Panel in WikiIndaba 2019

Organization of WikiArabia 2019 — (4 - 6 October) - Marrakesh (Morocco)

The WikiArabia regional conference was held between 4-6 October in the ocher city of Marrakesh, and was organized by Wikimedia Morocco User Group. With a total of 79 participants, local and international from the four corners of the globe, it focused on the theme of Wikimedia and local communities, with a rich program having covered the subject from different perspectives.

WikiArabia 2019 Pictures
WikiArabia 2019 Booklet
WikiArabia 2019 Participants in Marrakesh
WikiGap session during WikiArabia 2019

WikiConvention Francophone 2019, (6 - 8 September) - Brussels (Belgium)

Two members of Wikimedia Morocco User Group took part in WikiConvention Francophone 2019 in Brussels:

Nassima Chahboun, presented WikiKsour project.
Anass Sedrati, presented on Wikimedia 2030 - Recommendations for the future of the movement.

Nassima Chahboun Presenting at WikiConvention Francophone 2019
Moroccan Wikimedians Anass and Nassima with participants at WikiConvention Francophone 2019

Wiki Loves Monuments 2019 in Morocco (01 - 30 September)

150 participants - 750 pictures taken.
Pictures from Wiki Loves Monuments 2019 in Morocco

Winning Picture of Wiki Loves Monuments 2019 in Morocco.
Second Placed Picture at Wiki Loves Monuments 2019 in Morocco.
Third Placed Picture at Wiki Loves Monuments 2019 in Morocco.

Wikimania 2019, (14 - 18 August) - Stockholm (Sweden)

Three members of Wikimedia Morocco User Group took part in Wikimania 2019: Ian Borim, Abderrahman Ait Ali,and Anass Sedrati. The latter was the volunteer coordinator for the conference, a panelist on the session Why indigenous languages matter more (now) and what we can do for them, and co-hosted a talk about Wikimedia and Arabic Sociolinguistics.

Ian Borim at a Wikimania 2019 Session with Jimmy Wales
Anass Sedrati (second to the right) with Advocacy Working Group members during Wikimania 2019
Presentation Slides of Arabic Linguistics talk.
Anass Sedrati (left) together with Eric Luth, John Andersson and Liam Wyatt, chairs for Wikimania 2019.

Strategy Salon 2019 — (13 July) - Mohammedia (Morocco)

As part of the Wikimedia movement's 2030 strategy development process, a strategy salon was organized in Mohammedia (Morocco) on July 2019 and saw the participation of a dozen of Wikimedians living in Morocco, as well as Anass Sedrati, who works with the Wikimedia Foundation as a Strategy Liaison for the Arabic speaking communities, and is a member of the Wikimedia 2030 Advocacy Working Group. This event was an occasion to bring Moroccan contributors together for the first time.

Reda Benkhadra presenting Strategy to Moroccan User Group members
Strategy Meeting in Mohammedia
After the Salon came sun time with the Atlantic Ocean view!

Celtic Knot Conference, (4 - 5 July) - Penryn (United Kingdom)

For the first participation of the User Group in the conference related to minority languages, Anass Sedrati presented three sessions:

Challenges for Berber Wikipedias and Learnings (Slides - Watch on YouTube)
Advocacy Work in Minority Languages (Slides - Watch on YouTube)
An Oral Wikipedia, a dream or reality? (Slides - Watch on YouTube)

Anass Sedrati Presenting at Celtic Knot 2019
Anass Sedrati - Challenges for Berber Wikipedias - Celtic Knot 2019(Video)
Anass Sedrati - Advocacy Work in Minority Languages - Celtic Knot 2019(Video)
Anass Sedrati - An Oral Wikipedia, a dream or reality -Celtic Knot 2019 (Video)

Creative Commons Summit 2019, (9 - 11 May) - Lisbon (Portugal)

Anass Sedrati, member of the User Group, took part in CC Summit 2019 and presented two sessions together with Strategy Working Group members:

Wikimedia Summit 2019, (29 - 31 March) - Berlin (Germany)

Wikimedia Morocco User Group was represented by Nassima Chahboun.
Anass Sedrati, member of the User Group, was also present, as a Strategy Working group member (Advocacy).

Nassima Chahboun at Wikimedia Summit 2019
Nassima Chahboun and Anass Sedrati among African Wikimedians at Wikimedia Summit 2019
Anass Sedrati during Wikimedia Summit 2019

2018

Wikimedia Technical Conference, (22 - 26 October) - Portland (USA)

Zakaria Oudrhiri represented the Moroccan and Arabic speaking community in the new rebranded edition of the Mediawiki related conference for Wikimedia developers. Zakaria facilitated two sessions: Applying the Architecture Principles and Standardizing frontend development tooling.

Months of African Cinema Contest (October 2018)

WikiConvention Francophone 2018, (5 - 7 October) - Grenoble (France)

The User Group member and photographer Brahim Faraji participated in the Wikimedian French-speaking 2018 Conference as representative of the group. He attended several presentations and discussions related to Africa and to the movement as a whole.

Wiki Loves Monuments 2018 in Morocco (1 - 30 September)

140 participants - 500 pictures taken.
Pictures from Wiki Loves Monuments 2018 in Morocco

Winning Picture of Wiki Loves Monuments 2018 in Morocco.
Second Placed Picture at Wiki Loves Monuments 2018 in Morocco.
Third Placed Picture at Wiki Loves Monuments 2018 in Morocco.

Wiki Loves Earth 2018 in Morocco (1 - 31 May)

593 participants - 2284 pictures taken.
Pictures from Wiki Loves Earth 2018 in Morocco

Winning Picture of Wiki Loves Earth 2018 in Morocco.
Second Placed Picture at Wiki Loves Earth 2018 in Morocco.
Third Placed Picture at Wiki Loves Earth 2018 in Morocco.

13 August 2018

Official Recognition of Wikimedia Tamazight User Group by the WMF Affiliations Committee, a partner group for Wikimedia Morocco.

Wikimania 2018, (18 - 22 July) - Cape Town (South Africa)

Oslo Freedom Forum, (28 -30 May) - Oslo (Norway)

Anass Sedrati participated at the Oslo Freedom Forum 2018 edition after being invited by Wikimedia Norge, in order to ensure the representativity of the languages he speaks. During that event, the Wikimedian delegation engaged discussions with human rights activists from Africa and MENA in order to advocate Wikimedia and its use in human rights.

Wikimedian group at Oslo Freedom Forum 2018.
Picture of participants with the south Sudanese singer Emmanuel Jal.
Wikimedians advocatind role of free knowledge in human rights.

Wikimedia Conference 2018, (18 - 22 April) - Berlin (Germany)

Two members (Abderrahman Ait Ali and Anass Sedrati) from the user group took part of the 2018 Wikimedia conference.

They took part of different sessions from both the strategy track and the capacity building track, in addition to the thematic sessions with Arabic community, Berber and Darija language community with Algerian Wikimedians, and Iberian community. This conference was the first place where the idea of organizing WikiArabia 2019 in Morocco was brought into table.

Abderrahman Ait Ali during Wikimedia Conference 2018.
Anass and Abderrahman with the Arabic speaking Wikimedians at a meetup.
Participants from the Maghreb region at Wikimedia Conference 2018.
Anass and Abderrahman, at the Wikimedia Conference 2018.

WikiGap 2018, (7 March) - Rabat (Morocco)

The WikiGap 2018 workshop was organised at the Swedish Embassy in Rabat. The workshop aimed to improve the Moroccan women's representation on Wikipedia, in order to reduce the existing gap in terms of encyclopedic content, compared to men.

During the day, the participants focused on creating articles about female personalities from politics and civil society.

Talk from Swedish Embassy representative.
Participants at WikiGap Rabat 2018 at the Swedish Embassy in Rabat.
Workshop Participants

Wiki Indaba 2018, (16 - 19 March) - Tunis (Tunisia)

The second participation of Wikimedia Morocco in Wiki Indaba saw the presence of two board members: Reda Benkhadra and Anass Sedrati. It was an occasion to strengthen the links earlier with our continental fellows, and to discuss common challenges and eventual collaborations. During this edition, Anass held a presentation regarding Refugee projects in Wikimedia.

WikiIndaba 2018 Participation Report - Anass Sedrati

Anass and Reda with Arabic speaking Wikimedians during Wiki Indaba 2018.
From left to right, Anass Sedrati and Reda Benkhadra, at the WikiIndaba 2018 Conference.
Presentation by Anass on Refugee Projects - Wiki Indaba 2018.

2017

WikiDiversity Conference 2017 (3 - 5 November) - Stockholm (Sweden)

For the second edition of Wikimedia Diversity Conference, Wikimedia Morocco was represented with three members: Anass Sedrati, Abderrahman Ait Ali and Zakaria Oudrhiri. The latter gave a talk about Reaching Diversity through Technology.

Zakaria Oudrhiri presenting at Wikimedia Diversity Conference 2017.
Participants at Wikimedia Diversity Conference 2017.

WikiArabia 2017 (23 - 25 October) - Cairo (Egypt)

In the Arab regional conference WikiArabia 2017, Omar2040 represented Wikimedia Morocco, and participated in the open panel about Arab user groups. He made also an intervention introducing the Wikipedia Zero program, and the challenges it faces.

Omar Ghrida intervening at WikiArabia 2017
Omar Ghrida and Katherine Maher at WikiArabia 2017
WikiArabia 2017 Participants.

WikiConvention Francophone 2017 (19 - 21 October) - Strasbourg (France)

Ismael Zniber participated in the French-speaking Wikimedia conference as representative of the group.

Wiki Loves Monuments 2017 in Morocco (1 -30 September)

98 participants - 320 pictures taken.
Pictures from Wiki Loves Monuments 2017 in Morocco

Winning Picture of Wiki Loves Monuments 2017 in Morocco.
Second Placed Picture at Wiki Loves Monuments 2017 in Morocco.
Third Placed Picture at Wiki Loves Monuments 2017 in Morocco.

Wiki Loves Earth 2017 in Morocco (1 - 31 May)

215 participants - 760 pictures taken.
Pictures from Wiki Loves Earth 2017 in Morocco

Winning Picture of Wiki Loves Earth 2017 in Morocco.
Second Placed Picture at Wiki Loves Earth 2017 in Morocco.
Third Placed Picture at Wiki Loves Earth 2017 in Morocco.

Wikimedia Conference 2017 (31 March - 2 April) - Berlin (Germany)

Two members of the user group took part at the Wikimedia Conference 2017 in Berlin: Anass Sedrati (for the movement strategy track) and Saad Nabbi (for the capacity building).

Anass Sedrati (third from left) with African Wikimedians during Wikimedia Conference 2017

Wiki Indaba 2017 (20 - 22 January) - Accra (Ghana)

For its first continental participation, Wikimedia Morocco was represented in the WikiIndaba conference by its projects coordinator Anass Sedrati. Anass gave a presentation on The Situation of African Language Wikipedias together with the german expert Ingo Koll.

Anass Sedrati presenting at WikiIndaba 2017.
Presentation on Local African Languages Situation.
WikiIndaba 2017 Group Picture.

2016

Wikipedia Training Workshop (26 November) - INPT - Rabat (Morocco)

This event was the first event of the User Group to introduce Wikimedia projects to the general public in Morocco. It started by a number of presentations, before then concluding with a workshop to teach those interested how to edit Wikipedia.

Pictures from the Workshop
Introductory Talk from INPT Director
Workshop Attendees and Audience
Anass Sedrati Presenting
Group Picture of INPT Workshp Participants

Delivered Presentations during the Workshop (in Moroccan Arabic)
Presentation of Wikipedia
Presentation of Wikimedia projects
Presentation of Moroccan Activies on Wikimedia Projects
How to make Wikipedia more Moroccan

Wiki Loves Monuments 2016 in Morocco (1 -30 September)

56 participants - ~200 pictures taken.

Winning Picture of Wiki Loves Monuments 2016 in Morocco.
Second Placed Picture at Wiki Loves Monuments 2016 in Morocco.
Third Placed Picture at Wiki Loves Monuments 2016 in Morocco.

WikiConvention Francophone 2016 (19 - 21 August) - Paris (France)

Two Wikimedia Morocco Board members Anass Sedrati, and Reda Benkhadra participated in the first meeting of the francophone community, and delivered a presentation on the linguistic challenges of French-speaking countries on Wikipedia based on the example of Morocco.

Reda Benkhadra and Anass Sedrati holding the Moroccan flag at WikiConvention francophone 2016.
Reda Benkhadra presenting at WikiConvention francophone 2016.
Anass Sedrati at WikiConvention francophone 2016.
Presentation delivered by Anass and Reda during WikiConvention francophone 2016.

Wikimania 2016 (21 - 28 June) - Esino Lario (Italy)

For the first participation of Wikimedia Morocco in Wikimania, the member Zakaria Oudrhiri gave a presentation about Wikipedia Zero project in Morocco, entitled In Morocco we do know that we have Wikipedia Zero to expose challenges that confront it.

Zakaria Oudrhiri presenting at Wikimania 2016.
Video of the full session, presented by Jack Rabah (WMF) and Zakaria Oudrhiri.

eLearning Africa 2016 (24 - 26 May) - Cairo (Egypt)

Zakaria Oudrhiri represented the Wikipedian community in the 11th International Conference on ICT for Developement, education & Taining eLearning Africa. Zakaria moderated a two hour workshop on learning to and understading the impact of quick edits to Wikipedia, where he presented initiatives in Africa, such as the Wikipedia Education Program (WEP) in Egypt.

Wiki Loves Earth 2016 in Morocco (1 - 31 May)

625 participants - 3050 pictures taken.

Winning Picture of Wiki Loves Earth 2016 in Morocco.
Second Placed Picture at Wiki Loves Earth 2016 in Morocco.
Third Placed Picture at Wiki Loves Earth 2016 in Morocco.

Wikimedia Conference 2016 (20 - 24 April) - Berlin (Germany)

In its first appearance for the Wikimedia Conference in Berlin, Wikimedia Morocco User Group was represented by its president Reda Benkhadra.

Reda Benkhadra (middle) at the Wikimedia Conference with Katherine Maher (left) and Jimmy Wales (Right).

WikiArabia2016, (24 - 28 March) - Amman (Jordan)

The projects coordinator (Anass Sedrati) participated to the second edition of WikiArabia as representative of the group, and took part in the open discussion about Arab user groups.

Anass Sedrati in WikiArabia 2016.

2015

6 October 2015

Official recognition of Wikimedia MA User Group by the WMF Affiliations Committee

Producer Prize (Second half of 2015)

Two members of the user group have participated in the producer prize organized on the Arabic version of Wikipedia, this semi-annual prize rewards contributors who have done important work on the encyclopedia during a specific period ; Omar Ghrida (Omar2040) and Mohamed Boualam (محمد بوعلام عصامي), this last won the third place (100 $ US).

Wiki Loves Earth (1 -31 May)

351 participants - 1715 pictures taken.

Winning Picture of Wiki Loves Earth 2015 in Morocco.
Second Placed Picture at Wiki Loves Earth 2015 in Morocco.
Third Placed Picture at Wiki Loves Earth 2015 in Morocco.

WikiArabia2015 (3 - 5 April) - Monastir (Tunisia)

Four Moroccans have participed in the first regional conference about Wikipedia in the Arabic World : Anass Sedrati (Anass Sedrati), Ismael Zniber (Ismael zniber), Mohammed Mokhtari (محمد مختاري) and Zakaria Oudrhiri (زكريا), this last made an intervention about Developing Arabic Wikipedia and Sister Projects.

Group picture of WikiArabia 2015, with 4 Moroccan participants.
Zakaria Oudrhiri presenting during WikiArabia 2015.
Ismael Zniber during WikiArabia 2015.
Mohammed Mokhtari (to left) and Anass Sedrati (second from right) during WikiArabia 2015.

Wiki Loves Mosques 2015 (1 - 31 January)

Moroccan Wikimedian Activities Before 2015

2013

Wikimania 2013 (7 - 13 August 2013) at Hong Kong

Watch session on YouTube

Zakaria Oudrhiri (زكريا) has represented Morocco at the 9th edition of the international conference Wikimania, and gave a presentation titled "A Proposal for Progressive Disclosure in Wikipedia".

Wikipedia WorkShop (26 - 27 January) - Amman (Jordan)

Zakaria Oudrhiri (زكريا) participated in the Wikipedia WorkShop organized in Amman.

2012

Wikipedia WorkShop (21 - 22 October) - 6th of October City (Egypt)

Mohamed Amarochan (Mohamed Amarochan) took part at Wikipedia WorkShop organized in 6th of October City.

Pictures of Moroccan Wikimedians in 2012 and 2013 Events
Mohamed Amarochan, first on the right (front row)
Zakaria Wadghiri, second from left (front row)