Grants:Conference/Algeria Wikimedians User Group/WikiArabia 2021 Conference

Please give a brief description of the event you are planning. What do you hope to accomplish during the event? Why is this event important for your community?

The purpose and the vision of WikiArabia 2021 is to provide an opportunity to the Wikipedians/Wikimedians of the Arab region to interact and to share their experiences and their activities. It is also a chance for the Arab community to bring up organisational problems and discuss possible solutions in order to enrich the quality and quantity of the content of Arabic projects. This edition is Also the conference where an Arab World Affiliate Committee will be established. This year's event will also serve to create several other affiliations across the Arab world.

Important details

Please add key information to the table below. The dates, location and number of participants can be estimates and do not need to be finalized at this time.

Proposed date(s)	April 2021
Proposed location	Algiers, Algeria.
Number of participants	65
Event page	WikiArabia/2021
Primary contact person	Reda Kerbouche Mohammed Bachounda

Background

Community input

Context

It is helpful to get an understanding of why this event is important to your community, and what experiences you have had in the past. Please answer the applicable questions below.

1. What inspired your community to begin planning this event?

After a long discussion between all the MENA Wikimedians, there a lot of changes in the movement and in their strategy. The community decided to start an Arab steering committee, we wish to announce it in Algeria. Also, we want to organize this conference to bring together the Wikipedian in Algeria so that they discover the Arab community. The conference will give a new start to the cooperation with the other UGs. and our objective is to find new contributors in the Arabic language.

2. How does this event relate to other activities that your community is working on?

The need for the conference was demonstrated some years ago. after each conference, many contributors come back home full of ideas to apply the acquired knowledge with their groups. Four conferences were held until now, this edition will be in line with the previous ones.

3. Please list the priorities identified in the report from the last conference organized by this community. What progress have you made in those areas?

The report from WikiArabia 2019 in Morocco listed several priorities such as dialogue sessions and meetings, the community asked the future conferences to be more open to the free meetings. Dealing with new wikipedians, we need to setup a strategy regarding new contributors, also, we noted that we need to discuss Wikipedia policies. find new ideas to increase knowledge content of the arabic world.

4. If your community has hosted a similar conference in the past, what key lessons were learned, and what would you like to improve on?

Like the past event and based on the report from the previous conference, many lessons have been mentioned such as following-ups, importance of social media usage, good communication. However, documentation and reporting could be improved.

Plan

Venue and Logistics

1. If the venue is more than 1 hour away from a major airport or transportation hub, how will participants travel to the event venue?

There is a big international airport in Algiers close to the city centre. All the participants will come through.

2. Is the event venue within walking distance from the hotel? If not, how will people travel between the two locations?

The event is planned to take place at the same place where the participants will be accommodated.

3. Is the event venue and hotel accessible for people with physical disabilities?

The venue is equipped to facilitate the accessibility to people with physical disabilities.

Friendly space policy

Friendly space policy for Wikimedia Foundation events will be used for this event.

Participation

It is crucial that most participants have a minimum level of Wikimedia experience so that they can engage actively in workshops and discussions. Please answer all applicable questions below.

1. Please describe the target audience for this conference or event.

Attendees are active Arab speaking contributors on Wikimedia projects, and also other people working on open knowledge questions, as well as local Algerian contributors.

2. If your conference has an outreach component, how will you ensure engagement with these participants after the conference, and what impact do you see them having on the projects?

Since the participants will be chosen based on their activity and therefore their commitment, the follow-up will be done through social networks and online meetings. An email will be sent three months after the conference to the participants to hear from them and get their updates.

3. Are you thinking about inviting WMF staff to attend or participate in the event? If yes, please list individuals or teams who you may want to invite, or describe how you would like WMF staff to be involved in the event.

The Foundation's staff will be invited, we wish to invite the current executive director of the Wikimedia Foundation, and the co-founder of Wikipedia (Jimmy Wales) in order to encourage the local community and promote the foundation and the open knowledge work in Algeria. Among the teams of the Foundation we’re thinking on inviting members working on the following fields: Wikipedia Education Program, Community Resources team, the legal team, Communications, Learning and Evaluation (Operations), Community Programs, Talent and Culture, LangCom.

Scholarships

1. How many scholarships would you like to offer?

A total of 65 scholarships will be offered, including 45 for international participants and 20 for locals.

2. What expenses will the scholarship cover?

The scholarship will include travel expenses from the participants' hometowns to Algiers airport as well as accommodation, catering, and visa fees for internationals. Office tools such as pen, notebook and small bag for each participant will also be covered by the scholarship.

3. How will scholarship recipients be selected?

Scholarship recipients will be selected based on a clear defined and transparent criteria taking into account:

The involvement of the candidate in Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects
The involvement of the candidate within their communities to promote the Wikimedia projects,
The involvement of the candidate to promote the Open Knowledge. The participation in similar events. In case of equality between highly qualified candidates, priority will be given to the candidate that has never attended WikiArabia. This will give them the opportunity to experience this event similarly to their colleagues.

Diversity - In case of equality between highly qualified candidates, priority will be given to the candidate coming from an underrepresented fraction (gender, region, minority). The reason is that the their candidates will be more likely to promote Wikimedia within their community and close the gaps experienced in the region.

A scholarship form will be published and shared via different communication channels (mailing lists, social media channels, conference page on meta). Wikimedians will be invited to submit their scholarship requests.

Resources and risks

Describe the resource potential for successfully executing this project and the key risks/threats.

Resources

Organizing team

Team	User Names
WMF Liaison	Reda, Bachounda
Logistics	ASCA
Conference Program	Bachounda, Ismail Trabelsi, Mekkia Benama, Flouer, Fayçal R.
Scholarships	Reda, Ahmed Houamel, Nacim Aboura, Zakaria Mimouni
Communications	Ahmed Yahoui, Ahmed Houamel
Volunteer Coordinators	Bachounda, Nahla
Administration	Reda
Other team members	Zakaria M., Muhammed amine benloulou.

Risks

Budget

Please provide a detailed breakdown of project expenses according to the instructions here. See Budget Guidelines.

Event budget table

Nr.	Item description	Unit	Quantity	Cost in DZD	Cost in USD	Comments
1.	Travel costs & visas				39260 USD
1.1	International travel costs	participant	45	3602416 DZD	30100 USD
1.2	Domestic travel costs	participant	20	179522 DZA	1500 USD	Transportation of local participants from other cities of Algeria to Algiers Airport.
1.3	Visas	participant	26	497622 DZD	4160 USD	Cost of a single Algerian visa is 160 USD
1.4	Visa travel	-	-	239241 DZD	2000 USD	Travel costs for those applying for a visa outside of their hometown or country.
1.5	Traveling Agency	-	-	179431 DZD	1500 USD	Fixed cost.
2.	Accommodation & catering				23815 USD
2.1	Accommodation	double rooms * nights	40	2641924 DZD	21177 USD	Accommodation in double rooms (including breakfast, lunch, and dinner). Participants will travel in the night of third day depending on the flight tickets availability.
2.2	Coffee breaks	-	-	195000 DZD	1638 USD
3.	Venue costs				4620 USD
3.1	Conference room	days	1 x 3	550008 DZD	4620 USD	The venue will be located at the same place where participants will be accomodated.
4.	Additionnal expenses				7077 USD
4.1	Materials and gifts for participants	participant	65	292500 DZD	2457 USD	Pens, notebooks, t-shirt, bags (4500 DZD/participant)
4.2	Social event	-	-	300000 DZD	2520 USD	Social event
4.3	Emergency & contingencies	-	-	250000 DZD	2100 USD
TOTAL					74772 USD

Total cost of event: The total estimated cost of the event is around 74 772 USD.

Total amount requested from the Conference and Event Grants program: The total amount requested from the conference and event grant program is 74 772 USD.

Please confirm that you are aware that changes to the approved budget beyond 10% in any category must be approved in advance.

Yes, we do confirm that we are aware that changes to the budget beyond 10 % needs approval in advance.

Discussion

Endorsements

Do you think this project should be selected for a Conference Grant? Please add your name and rationale for endorsing this project in the list below. Other feedback, questions or concerns from community members are also highly valued, but please post them on the talk page of this proposal.