Afrika Baraza/Agenda Africana
A Agenda Africana
A Agenda Africana é um documento que captura os desafios e problemas enfrentados pelas comunidades wikimedistas em África. Apesar de a África ser muito diversa, há semelhanças significativas que sustentam parte dos obstáculos experienciados por todo o continente. A Agenda Africana busca reunir os objetivos que o continente pretende executar, oferecendo uma abordagem sistemática para lidar com seus desafios. No início de 2023, a Afrika Baraza se estabeleceu enquanto uma plataforma para que wikimedistas africanos possam se reunir e discutir os desafios a serem enfrentados pela Agenda Africana. Este fórum teve um papel crucial no planejamento das conversas e seguirá sendo instrumental durante a implementação da Agenda Africana e outros tópicos relevantes durante 2024.
Contexto
WikiIndaba é um encontro anual em que wikimedistas de comunidades africanas se reúnem para deliberar sobre os principais desafios e oportunidades para a região. O encontro funciona como um fórum dinâmico, no qual os participantes fazem imersões nos problemas existentes e emergentes, buscando soluções colaborativas que possam empoderar as comunidades e enriquecer o panorama da Wikimedia africana. No contexto do WikiIndaba 2022, em Ruanda, veio à tona um importante resultado: o chamado para que a WISCom expandisse suas responsabilidades para além do escopo existente, abrangendo outras áreas e problemas pelo continente. Ficou claro para muitos que apesar da ampla gama de desafios encontrados nas diferentes regiões da África, alguns dos problemas a serem resolvidos eram compartilhados. O reconhecimento de desafios compartilhados reforçou a noção de que a ação conjunta poderia levar a soluções mais efetivas. Em resposta a este consenso, a Fundação Wikimedia, em colaboração com a WISCom, tomou medidas proativas visando melhorar o engajamento e o diálogo para além do escopo do WikiIndaba. O resultado desta ação foi o estabelecimento da Africa Baraza, um fórum virtual que oferece discussões trimestrais, engajamento e acompanhamento relacionados a assuntos relativos ao WikiIndaba. Um objetivo central da Africa Baraza é fazer a curadoria da Agenda Africana, um documento compreensível que reúne a sabedoria coletiva e recomendações das comunidades wikimedistas africanas. Este documento servirá como guia, dando suporte a quem tiver interesse em participar do endereçamento coletivo de problemas e oportunidades identificados durante os encontros do WikiIndaba, garantindo um progresso sustentável.
Visão geral do Movimento Wikimedia na África
Em 2022, o total de conteúdo vindo de contribuições feitas na região da África Subsariana em todos os projetos Wikimedia foi 2% do total global. De forma similar, o número de editores ativos foi de 2% do total global, apesar de a região representar 15% da população mundial. No último trimestre de 2023, a Fundação Wikimedia começou um monitoramento descentralizado de tendências de editoria e contribuição vindos da região para alimentar futuras intervenções.
Ao final do ano fiscal 2022/2023, havia 28 grupos afiliados à Fundação Wikimedia na África Subsariana, que reportaram possuir um total de 876 membros. Também é duas vezes mais provavel que recém-chegados ao Movimento Wikimedia venham da África, de acordo com a última pesquisa sobre Diversidade, Equidade e Inclusão (DEI) conduzida pela Fundação.
Desafios, demandas e soluções propostas
Os níveis de conhecimento sobre a estrutura de governança do Movimento Wikimedia também seguem baixos. Consequentemente, wikimedistas africanos fazem falta em conversas e discussões globais relativas a este tema.
De acordo com o feedback compartilhado em duas edições da África Baraza, com o objetivo de descobrir o motivo pelo qual africanos não estão engajando em conversas globais, a maioria dos respondentes afirmaram que "não têm conhecimento sobre os espaços nos quais estas discussões estão ocorrendo, nem quando suas presenças se fazem necessárias ou o que é necessário para participar".
Algumas das áreas com potencial para participação são:
- WMF Board of Trustees - One of the areas the movement in Africa feels underrepresented is in the Foundation’s Board of Trustees. Never have Africans sat on this board, which often reflects a lack of the principle of diversity that our movement is built upon or strives to achieve.
- Participação em eventos/discussões globais -a participação africana em eventos e discussões globais do Movimento Wikimedia seguem sendo um tema sensível para a região. Por exemplo, a impossibiliade de participar do Wikimedia Summit por conta de problemas com os vistos pode ter afetado a participação em processos como a Estratégia do Movimento. Comunidades seguem citando diversas barreiras, que incluem vieses comunitários, restrições de vistos, falta de conhecimento, alocação desigual de bolsas entre regiões, e outras necessidades relativas a recursos.
- Desenvolvimento de liderança e comunidade - wikimedistas africanos, e em particular as lideranças do Movimento Wikimedia, têm reiterado a necessidade de suporte para o desenvolvimento comunitário. Há uma necessidade por intervenções estratégicas que levem em conta as demandas específicas de cada comunidade na região. As necessidades de comunidades já estabelecidas irão variar constantemente em relação às comunidades emergentes. Um dos maiores desafios das comunidades mais novas, por exemplo, é a baixa compreensão do panorama, das melhores práticas e da boa governança.
- Hubs regionais - A maioria das comunidades na África que pariciparam do processo de priorização da Estratégia do Movimento estiveram em favor de priorizar hubs regionais como uma forma de garantir equidade na representação e nas tomadas de decisão.
Atualmente, os hubs estão começando a ser formados pelo Movimento Wikimedia tanto temática quanto regionalmente.
Na África, o Hub Temático e Regional da África Oriental (EARTH) está liderando a formação de hubs na região. O WISCom também tem explorado a ideia de se tornar um hub. Em agosto de 2023, o Comitê de Redação da Carta do Movimento (MCDC) publicou o primeiro bloco de rascunhos, esboçando a estrutura dos hubs.
Como a emergência de hubs na região poderia ocorrer? Como podemos evitar a sopreposição de papéis?
Este é um conceito em desenvolvimento no Movimento Wikimedia e, como uma região, reconhecemos a necessidade de conversas mais profundas e do alinhamento de estratégias.
- Alinhamento com problemas emergentes a nível global - como os wikimedistas Africanos deveriam engajar partes interessadas em problemas emergentes que podem afetar o trabalho feito no presente ou em um futuro próximo? Alguns destes problemas incluem a censura na internet, a falta de informação e a desinformação.
Soluções propostas
- Deveria haver uma sintetização das estruturas de governança e fiscussão do Movimento Wikimedia - Os níveis de conhecimento sobre a governança do Movimento Wikimedia seguem sendo baixos e os espaços nos quais as discussões sobre estas futuras estruturas estão ocorrenfo são desconhecidas por africanos. Também deveria haver uma tentativa deliberada de levar africanos para as conversas sobre governança sendo realizadas, o que pode significar fazer o esforço de publicar as informações em ambientes que são familiares às pessoas desta região.
- Reconstituição do processo eleitoral e dos critérios de votação para cadeiras do Conselho para uma porcentagem ponderada entre regiões - Há uma década, nossos questionamentos sobre os motivos pelos quais o Conselho da Fundação Wikimedia não tem representantes africanos, mesmo sem ter sido pensado com este objetivo, não têm sido ouvidos. Acreditamos que atual sistema de votação é um concurso popular e deve mudar se quisermos tratar a diversidade e a representação com seriedade. A maioria dos editores ativos do Movimento Wikimedia são do ocidente, o que reflete a atual formação do Conselho. Deixando de lado o atual sistema de votação, que favorece as regiões com maior número de editores, adotando em seu lugar um sistema de voto ponderado por região, garantirá que nenhum região tenha vantagem sobre a outra em virtude de seus números.
- Empoderando a autonomia - Comunidade citaram de forma consistente, por toda a Agenda Africana, a necessidade de serem empoderadas a nível local para se engajarem de forma efetiva nestes espaços. Isto podeia incluir
- Conduzir pesquisa de avaliação de necessidades para desenvolver abordagens para o desenvolvimento de capacidades e lideranças, engajamento comunitário e sensibilização em cada comunidade.
- WISCom, hubs regionais e outros grupos reconhecidos pela Fundação Wikimedia são empoderados com autoridade para representarem e falarem em nome de seus membros.
- Desenvolvimento e transmissão de capacidades de liderança - criar espaços organizados para reunir lideranças.
- Criar oportunidades para a transferência de conhecimentos e suporte regular em direção à contrução de comunidade, especiamente enttre voluntários que acabam se tornando parte da equipe da Fundação Wikimedia. Por exemplo, separando uma porcentagem de suas horas de trabalho para prestarem suporte às suas comunidades e regiões de maneira geral.
- Engajar Organizações da Sociedade Civil - As comunidades expressaram a necessidade de ir além do ecossistema Wiki e dialogar com stakeholders como governos e Organizações da Sociedade Civil para que possam influenciar no desenvolvimento de políticas relacionadas a questões emergentes como os objetivos da Agenda Africana para 2030, os planos da AfLIA para o ecossistema de bibliotecas na África, o Great African Museums Project da União Africana etc.
Retenção de editores e artigos
Aprender sobre os números de editores ativos no continente é uma surpresa para a maioria dos africanos. Por mais alarmantes que estas descobertas possam ser, elas não estão isoladas dos aprendizados/lições das nossas comunidades. A retenção de editores e artigos têm sido temas importantes de dicussões em todas as edições anteriores do WikiIndaba e ainda estamos buscando uma solução para este desafio.
Desafios para a retenção de editores e artigos se bifurcam em duas categorias de problemas no continente: lacunas de capacidades e conhecimentos e a falta de um sistema de suporte on-Wiki (sistema de suporte social).
Retenção de artigos: o problema da retenção de artigos se refere aos casos em que um artigo não é mantido na Wikipédia sob a alegação de que os critérios basicos para a escrita de verbetes sobre aquele tema não foram atingidos. Este problema pode ser causado por um baixo entendimento sobre as políticas e fundamentos básicos das plataformas Wikimedia ou pela baixa conscientização dos contribuidores em relação à (falta de) notoriedade da temática ou à credibilidade das referências/fontes utilizadas em um verbete.
Retenção de editores: o problema da retenção de editores se refere à dificuldade de manter os voluntários interessados em contribuir com as plataformas Wikimedia. Este problema pode ser o resultado de fatores que incluem, mas não se limitam a, burnout, falta de engajamento e acompanhamento adequado, bloquei de usuários, bloqueio de IPs, a retenção de artigos, entre outros.
Challenges/Frustrations
- Lack of Africans participating at a global scale (African Administrators) - The current Wikimedia admin stewardship has a lot of admins judging articles out of their contexts and regions. This could hamper successful notability checks among other article policies across Wikis. African admins should ideally be manning and scrutinizing content that is related to Africa to ensure fairness. There have been several instances where an article deserving to be on Wikipedia was nominated to be deleted due to lack of context and insight on the notability of the subject or credibility of a notable and reliable source.
- Lack of a learning culture - The lack of standardized training and resources to guide new recruits on what to know in the various stages of the volunteer journey can be detrimental to contributing to the Wikis. This leaves a lot of new contributors to self-learn, rely on other self-taught colleagues, and most often what comes their way. Self-learning can be useful in providing knowledge at a large scale but only beneficial when it is structured and guided. Relying on other self-taught colleagues who may have also learned by grappling with what came their way or through another self-taught person who learned the wrong way or didn’t make sense of the information learned, can create a cycle of uneducated volunteers within the movement. This has caused many to never come across some policies until they land themselves in trouble or led them to misinterpret policies.
- Lack of understanding of the policies - In terms of article curation, a lot of African Wikimedians don’t know much about Wikimedia policies on article writing which stems from the lack of a proper learning culture and available resources. For instance, a lot of African Wikimedians don’t know that there are various templates for different types of articles. The template followed while documenting a politician is different from that of an athlete, an academic, or a movie star. The variations need to be well taught across the African communities for people to understand how to navigate through it. Other policies that Africans are normally caught in the snares of are NPOV, Notability, Orphaned Articles, etc.
- IP Blocks - The IP block as elaborated above can be frustrating to editors and organizers and can cause frustration in either journey. An unresolved IP block issue can lead to a dropout along the volunteer journey and cause a loss to prospective or new recruits. The number one way we recruit in our movement today is through word of mouth and as they say, bad word travels fast. A major issue that needs a lasting solution
- Contributor Blocks - This normally occurs when a user is blocked from editing due to actions that administrators may perceive as misconduct or the lack of understanding of the fundamental principles of contributing to Wikimedia projects. It is often a sanction towards mistrust of the character or lack of goodwill for a volunteer's work. It normally occurs at the discretion of the Administrator sometimes without a wide consultative process on the goodwill or integrity of the volunteer. As explained from the lack of understanding of policies section, one may note that the culture of learning or initiating volunteers into the movement could be improved and possibly streamlined.
- Lack of belonging and a sense of community - The lack of a strong African community online/on Wiki leaves a lot of our community members wanting when they land themselves in crisis. This leaves a lot to be desired from our local communities and limits the amount of support one can get when required. Volunteers feel comfortable reaching out to familiar people from their regions and the absence of this can reduce the feeling of communal support. This feeling of a sense of belonging is needed in a virtual community like ours to be motivated and empowered that others are in this with you. This is the more reason why offline activities/events (edit-a-thons, conferences, etc.) are in the fiber of our existence but that sense of community must also be emulated online for people to want to be here.
- Not just Wikipedia, pick and choose what suits your journey - As a movement we know that Wikipedia by far is the largest project in the movement. However, it doesn’t mean it should be the only door through which everyone enters our home. We can agree that volunteers only contribute to initiatives and projects that are of keen interest to them. A phenomenon that can be tested through the surge of campaigns around topics for impact organizing. The lack of options stifles people's interest and over time causes retention issues.
- Burnout - Burnout can be caused by a series of frustrating events, the lack of a channel to vent and be heard, or exhaustion from being overworked. There are several circumstances listed above that can contribute to the frustration of volunteers which build up can cause burnout. Some of such issues are IP Block, article retention, and editor retention issues. A continuous feeling of such grievances not being heard or acted upon can lead to a desire to walk away.
Proposed Solutions
- Create a program to train and recruit the first crop of African Administrators - More experienced African editors should be nominated and voted into the stewardship and administrative whenever the call for nomination comes up. This can solve a lot of the issues mentioned in this document. As we create a program to look at this we must also review the process of selection to ensure it is designed to support equity and equal representation.
- Create and maintain the presence of an African community online - A huge number of persons in the African community only focus on their individual journeys and pay very little attention to what is happening around them. Writing the article is just not enough anymore, especially if we want to be serious about coverage of the continent and filling the gaps. We have to replicate the offline enabling environment we create for our editors online. This online support system will build trust and bolster confidence in our new recruits while providing practical support for problems related to article and editor retention.
- Developing a standardized onboarding process/experience for newbies - The lack of a learning culture can be corrupting as bad habits/broken knowledge can be unintentionally passed on to new recruits which can create a cycle of uneducated volunteers that can result in the aforementioned issues. Creating a standardized way of training newbies will bring confidence in the knowledge that is imparted (control on what is being thought) in our newbies and will ensure that what a newbie in Country A knows or is taught is the same thing that a newbie in Country B will also know. NB: The curriculum for such programs should not only focus on Wikipedia but also the many touch points within the movement that might interest prospective volunteers.
- Develop a skills Request Box - Just like we have the community wish list, the African Wikimedian communities should have a skills wish list or portal. This list should be connected to programs like let's connect or be accessible to mentors and mentees alike for easy pairing. We can also make the list accessible to mentors who are not African but are willing to help members of the African community up-skill.
- Offline connections are key - As much as we are a heavily virtual movement and community, the need for in-person interactions and editing events cannot be overemphasized. Creating environments that provide a personal connection (for example in-person editing events) can provide trust and tangibility for volunteers who require that to operate. It’s also good that community leaders warm up to new editors and try to create a face or a point of contact for the community. This shows warmth and solidarity in doing this together. Community leaders should have a culture of celebrating editors on their birthdays, as it helps them feel like they are part of a community that cares beyond the edits. Advocate to also put them in global and regional conferences/situations (like WikiIndaba, Wikimania, etc.) to make connections with some of these functionaries, it creates familiarity and networking which can go a long way to remove the barrier of trust in editing on the part of the functionary even when a mistake has been made.
- Presenting Wikimedia as a set of efficient tools that can amplify advocacy - Actors/Advocates/Activists and Civil Society Organisations who are already fighting for a cause and can utilize Wikimedia as a platform to document and create information about the cause (developing thematic projects & content-focused training). This can lead a new crop of professionals and volunteers to our platforms. Once relevance is established through this editor, recruitment can increase as well as retention.
- Understanding and supporting the diversity of background of our editors from the region - Creating programs that Impact the lives of our editors can also improve editor retention. Providing opportunities such as research scholarships, capacity building in 21st-century digital skills, and certificate-based empowerment programs that will improve the eligibility of our editors to attain jobs and improve their lives. Africa is a youthful continent and there is a growing unemployment gap so preparing our editors with these unique skills to be successful in their lives can capture their allegiance for the Wikimedia work. We must learn to sing to the tune or needs of our target region, a basic concept of the relationship which answers the question “what’s in it for them”. We must realize that Africa has issues with poverty, which affects many people's lives.
IP Blocks
Background
Wikimedia IP blocking is the practice of blocking an IP address or range of IP addresses from editing Wikipedia. This is done to protect the encyclopedia from vandalism, spam, and other forms of abuse. The block normally applies to the user's ability to edit and doesn’t restrict activities such as reading and viewing the encyclopedia.
The major cause or reason for IP Blocks from Africa is that it is allocated a small range in the global IP address allocation systems which leaves telecommunication companies very few opportunities to provide dynamic IPs. This means that a device has to hop onto different IPs and this unfortunate mechanism may land a user in a blocked range sometimes which blocks a legitimate user for no reason. There are mainly two types of Wikimedia IP blocks, namely local and global blocks.
Local Block: A local block is applied to a user (user accounts, IP addresses, or range of IP addresses) on a specific Wikimedia wiki, such as the English Wikipedia or the French Wikipedia for a definite or indefinite period of time.
Global Block: A global block is applied to a user (user accounts, IP addresses, or range of IP addresses) on all Wikimedia wikis for a definite or indefinite period of time.
Reasons for an IP Block:
- The IP address has been used to vandalize Wikipedia pages.
- The IP address has been used to spam Wikipedia pages.
- The IP address has been used to disrupt Wikipedia discussions.
- The IP address has been used to impersonate other users.
- The IP address has been used to break other Wikipedia policies.
Challenges/Frustrations
- Blocks can sometimes be meted out to legitimate users in error and reduce access to editing
- Blocks meted out to legitimate users can sometimes not be overturned because admins don’t have the right tools to unblock specific IPs in a range.
- Blocks reduce the enthusiasm of new editors and cause frustration with erroneous blocks on legitimate users which can lead to editor retention issues.
- Such frustration can cause victims to limit their participation in their communities or even in organizing (i.e. can be embarrassing for organizers running events).
- Many hours of volunteer time can be wasted in trying to engage an administrator to unblock, which is mostly unsuccessful.
- Africa does not have a say in matters pertaining to IP blocking because there are no African administrators in the big Wikipedia languages.
- Pushes majority away from the main languages Wikis which brings prioritized benefits to small African language Wikis. Even though somewhat a good thing for our language Wikis, this represents a loss for ensuring representation of the continent/Africa in the most read/relevant Wikipedia.
- English Wikipedia standards and how it does not reflect the needs of Africa - requiring sourcing and referencing to European sources, very little understanding and relevance of African sources, etc.
Current Solutions
- Request to be unblocked (not timely for an event happening, mostly unsuccessful)
- Submit a prior request for an IP range protection/unblock for the IP range of your event location.
- Create accounts before the event session.
- Acquire an IP block exemption user right
- Acquire and use the event coordinator user right to create accounts in a session
- Create a new account on a different Wiki when an IP Block issue occurs
Reasons why current solutions are not enough or don’t work
- To request an unblock of your IP address, you can submit a request to an administrator on the relevant wiki. However, it is important to note that requests to unblock IP addresses are generally not granted or timely, even if you are innocent (i.e. the block is meted out in error). This is because it is difficult to distinguish between innocent users and abusive users who are using the same IP address, and this has affected a lot of Global South Wikimedians, especially African volunteers.
- Unless your event location uses ethernet connections you will not be able to determine your allotted IP or IP range for an event to happen in the future due to the IPs changing frequently. Read the background above for more information.
- In practice, this works to a certain extent as most participants show up to events through word of mouth and don’t necessarily sign up ahead of time. So they don’t receive specific instructions on action before events. Which can lead to uncreated accounts before the event.
- In our experience having an IP block exemption is sometimes not enough for certain events because right after participants leave they get blocked, which means they can continue to practice what they learned and frustration thereafter.
- Sometimes blocks can affect even user rights such as the event coordinator.
Proposed Solutions
- Create a program to train African Administrators on English, French & Arabic Wikipedia - The frustration with IP blocks is that the process to unturn a block is not timely and the administrators sometimes lack knowledge about the persons being blocked and the context. Sometimes a block happens just because an administrator is unsure about the user and just needs a vouch to lift a block. Having at least 1-2 African Administrators can solve this problem.
- Improved or better Steward tools - Per our research, one of the reasons is that the respective functionaries (in particular Stewards) lack the needed tools to do simple things like unblocking an IP in a range. We are aware several requests have been made to the WMF since 2020 and yet no response or action has been taken. We need steward tools to be prioritized and functionaries to be well-supported to do diligent work around this.
- IP Block Exempt For Known Events - We need an events page, calendar, or any page that curates and provides oversight on all upcoming events in the movement. This will help functionaries identify and see all upcoming events so that when a request is made for an unblock, it is not an issue of making a case/justifying the need for the request. This will create trust for admins on such events and allow timely unblocks.
- IP Block Exempt for Autoconfirmed Users or Users of 6 Month Good Standing - New and active users of edits backdating more than 6 months and in good standing should be exempted from IP block unless they have had a case of vandalism or showed traits of that through their edits. The same should go for extended users or auto-confirmed users.
- Create Temporary User Rights For Trusted and Responsible African Contributors - These should be experienced contributors of good standing with the community. They can fill in some of the social gaps highlighted in the proposed solution for Administrators from Africa. This can be a transitional solution while we investigate how to create new Admins from Africa. They can check and revert wrong or erroneous blocks.
Systematic and Non-financial Support
Africa faces unique challenges compared to other regions. However, we have seen that the strategies deployed in other regions for the past two decades continue to be used today. Here are some key issues that require more strategic and non-financial support:
Internet, Devices, and Infrastructural Support
According to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in 2021, only 33 percent of Africa's population uses the internet. This means that approximately 871 million people are unable to benefit from digital advantages. Moreover, the monthly cost of a fixed broadband connection in Africa is 36.6 percent of the gross national income, compared to 14.5 percent globally. The accessibility and affordability of the Internet in Africa undermines the sustainability of our communities.
The high cost of data, limited internet access, and lack of internet-enabled devices pose a serious threat to the future of editing in Africa. The Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) has taken some steps to address these challenges, such as providing data scholarships, donating laptops, and funding community edit-a-thons. While these efforts partially tackle the issues, they offer only temporary solutions and not long-term resolutions.
Proposed Solutions
- We urge the WMF to review or explore the implementation of a program like Wikipedia Zero, which provides internet access to users on the continent.
- Additionally, we recommend establishing partnerships with institutions that have internet access and spaces where communities can gather. This will enable community members to conveniently carry out their daily Wikimedia editing tasks. Maker spaces, technology hubs, libraries, and community centers have proven to be excellent partners for such collaborations. Examples of potential partners include the Goethe Institutes, Impact Hubs, and Mozilla maker spaces across Africa.
- Furthermore, we encourage the WMF to collaborate with institutions willing to donate their used laptops for recycling purposes. This initiative would greatly impact our communities and contribute to computer recycling in Africa. IBM, Google, Ericsson, MTN, Corporate Africa, and similar organizations in the region could be potential partners in this endeavor.
Strategic Positioning and Resource Mobilization
Wikipedia continues to be a resource used in Africa, but many people lack a complete understanding of how it works. People have accepted information about the platform without conducting proper research, which negatively impacts our communities in the region. This has resulted in decreased growth in various areas, such as the number of editors, participation of activists and civil society organizations, and resource mobilization.
As African Wikimedia communities aim to decrease their dependence on grants from WMF, it's important to effectively share our story in a way that resonates with African civil society and corporate entities. To gather resources within Africa for our campaigns and operations, we need to establish a relatable brand that highlights the value of open knowledge in Africa and the role that Wikimedia projects play in promoting it. This endeavor should focus on attracting individuals, corporate organizations, and groups who grasp the importance of knowledge as a public good, encouraging them to actively support African Wikimedians. Accomplishing this will help reposition Wikipedia as a storytelling tool, aligning with global causes and enhancing resource mobilization efforts from Africa.
Implementation plan
This document presents the Strategic Implementation plan for the Africa Agenda. It covers activities and projects that will be rolled out both in the first phase ( Jan- June 2024) of the AA Implementation and will also be updated periodically to include a multi-year Strategy.
Background
The Africa Agenda was consolidated and finalized between 2023-April 2024 following recommendations from Wiki indaba 2022 in Kigali. The AA, which provides a collective action for African Wikimedians outlines the challenges faced by Wikimedians in Africa, proposed solutions and the opportunities the region has to grow the movement in Africa. The Afrika Baraza Working Group facilitated the development and consolidation of the Africa Agenda and will be overseeing the implementation in consultation with WISCom.
Goals & Objectives
- To institute Implementation committee comprising of WISCom + Baraza Working group + Regional/Hub reps
- To create a framework for the successful implementation of phase 1 of the Africa Agenda.
- Community Health - Mapp out communities in the region to establish specific needs and areas of regional or thematic alignment to pave way for the AA localization and adoption.
Strategic Activities in Scope
- Communication and outreach: Oct 2024 - June 2025
- Regional Community Mapping: Jan-March 2025
- Equity in Representation
- BOT voter sensitization: Nov 21, 2025 - June 2025
- Regional/hubs Community Reps
- Leadership & capacity building
- Coordinate workshop to train Affiliate leads on key need areas Such as Conflict resolution, Communications , Project Management: April/May 2025
- Incorporate a major in-person annual training as a pre-conference in each Indaba. This will be a good opportunity to loop in external partners as well.
FAQ
The WikiIndaba Steering Committee (WISCom) will have the mandate as the implementation body and facilitator of the agenda together with the Wikimedia Foundation and global collaborators that include local affiliates. All current and future collaborators should refer to this document as the singular set of milestones set to be achieved for the next 5 years.
The document linked here captures the detailed collaborative process and provides a way to follow or reference each step of the process.
At Indaba 2022, following the request from the movement in Africa, WISCom pledged to expand its scope of support to address additional needs in the African Community.
Africa, though diverse in culture, needs, and challenges, has a lot of common/connected issues. Addressing the individual challenges of 54 countries can be herculean and redundant as some of the issues are shared across other countries. This document attempts to capture only common issues faced by the majority and does not cover/capture the entirety of the issues on the continent.
This document seeks to provide that singular consultative plan that provides the Foundation and key allies with the needed information and data to work with/support the continent. We hope that this will make clear the prioritized goals of the communities on the continent.
Concluído Q1 Afrika Braraza Meetup; setting the stage for the Africa Agenda discussions - Mar 30, 2023
Concluído Q2 Afrika Braraza Meetup; Identifying and tabling topics for discussion - Jun 23, 2023
Concluído Afrika Baraza Meetup (Wikimania Edition); discussing the key challenge areas on the continent - Aug 18, 2023
Concluído Transcribe information/data from Wikimania - Sep 4, 2023
Concluído Reorganize data into buckets and topical areas - Sep 5, 2023
Concluído Review and copy edit document - Sep 11, 2023 to Sep 15, 2023
Concluído Community engagement - Oct 3, 2023 to Oct 9, 2023
Concluído Discuss newly suggested (additional) topical areas at the next Baraza - Oct 6, 2023
Concluído Improve document based on information collected - Oct 9, 2023 to Oct 15, 2023
Concluído Consultation and engagement with the community on the current draft - Oct 16, 2023 to Oct 31, 2023
Concluído Organise sessions at Wiki Indaba for final inputs - Nov 3, 2023 to Nov 5, 2023
Concluído Adding update from WikiIndaba and engagement period after - Nov 6, 2023 to Jan 15, 2024
Concluído Translation of documents in French and Arabic - Jan 15, 2024 to Jan 18, 2024
Concluído Publication of draft on Meta - Jan 15, 2024 to Jan 18, 2024
Concluído Final Engagement Exercise - Jan 18, 2024 to Jan 31, 2024
Em andamento… Update the document with information from final engagement round - Feb 01, 2024 to Feb 16, 2024
Pending Publication of final document on Meta - Feb 19, 2024
Pending Socialization and engagement with movement stakeholders - Feb 20, 2024 to Mar 31, 2024
Pending Execution Committee Setup and Planning April 01 2024 to May 31 2024
Pending Execution Commencement June 2024