User:Brochon99/WikiFranca

WikiFranca logo. Writing feathers. The five colors of Francophonie.

WikiFranca is a partnership between francophone Wikimedia chapters and affiliated working groups. The objective is to encourage activities in the French Wikimedia projects such as Wikipedia and its sister projects, both on the Web and on the ground. It not only allows local working groups with no chapters in their countries to organize activities and events in their communities and in their language, but also to build a bridge between the countries participating in the Wikimedia projects in French language.

Background[edit]

The idea of a partnership between francophone chapters was first discussed in 2011, at the Forum mondial de la langue française (Global Forum of the French language), where several members of Wikimédia France, Wikimedia Canada and Quebec Committee joined forces to be present at the Forum which as held in Quebec city. The discussions were going well because creating "Francocoop", based on the model Iberocoop, was in the air.

In 2012, a first francophone chapters meeting was held at Wikimania DC to discuss, to present projects and to exchange innovative ideas. Among the countries represented at this meeting, there were Belgium, Canada, France, Italy, Switzerland and Tunisia. It was during this meeting that a collaboration between francophone chapters became evident.

At Wikimania Hong Kong, francophone chapters had a second meeting, where a coordinator has been elected and formalizing WikiFranca. A first global project was organized in October 2013, called Mois international de la contribution francophone (International Francophone contribution month) where 26 workshops were organized in 21 cities around the world. The event had a worldwide media coverage, which has encouraged the organizers worldwide.

Observation[edit]

The model of national chapters is effective for countries where language and culture are homogeneous, but the reality is quite different for countries where French cohabits with another language is a minority or where only small groups of Wikipedians are limited by the chronic lack of active and involved participants. It appears important that collaboration between francophone countries is in place to meet the needs of these groups.

One of the features multilingual chapters is that work on various Wikimedia projects . This may seem insignificant , but it is clear the difficulty the difficulty of involving a group working in two language versions of Wikipedia , Wikisource , etc. . An association chapters and Francophone groups could coordinate the efforts of those who have the desire to contribute in French in Francophone Wikimedia projects.

In addition, some countries do not have the possibility of forming a chapter, and it may not be a viable option , such as the countries of Francophone Africa, Canada Indian reserves where access the internet is limited. Quebec is another example of a francophone nation enclosed by a culture / different language and have little difficulty thrive in a chapter Anglophone majority. Belgium and Tunisia experiencing similar situations.

Mission[edit]

Projects and activities[edit]

Participants[edit]

Pays	Nom	Statut	Représentant(e)s	Site web	Liste de distribution	Canal IRC
Belgique	Wikimedia Belgium	Chapitre en création	M0tty, Dimi	be.wikimedia.org	wikimediabe-l@lists.wikimedia.org	#wikimedia-be^connect
Canada	Wikimedia Canada	Chapitre	Benoit Rochon	www.wikimedia.ca	groups.google.com/group/wmca-public	#wikimedia-ca^connect
France	Wikimédia France	Chapitre		www.wikimedia.fr	info@wikimedia.fr	#wikimedia-fr^connect
Suisse	Wikimedia CH	Chapitre		www.wikimedia.ch	wikimediach-l@lists.wikimedia.org	#wikimedia-ch^connect
Tunisie	Wikimedia Tunisie	Chapitre en création		www.wikimedia.tn