Movement Charter/Supplementary Document/Amendment Process

These supplementary documents are provided by the Movement Charter Drafting Committee for information purposes, and to provide further context on the Wikimedia Movement Charter’s content. They are not part of the Charter, and therefore are not included in the ratification vote, but they have been developed during the course of the MCDC’s research and consultation process. They include several types of documents:

Information on topics related to the Charter.
Suggestions for policy or process development or consideration by the Global Council after the Charter is ratified.
Processes related to the Charter ratification vote.

The amendment process follows a structured sequence, ensuring thorough consideration, community input, and final decision-making.

Notice of Upcoming Changes:

Initial communication from the GC or relevant committee regarding upcoming changes.
Provides stakeholders with early notification and context for the proposed amendments.

Internal Work and Proposed Draft:

The GC liaisons and GC staff engage in internal discussions and draft proposed amendments.
The proposed draft is reviewed, refined, and then presented to the GC for approval to publish for community comments.

Call for Comments:

GC-approved proposed amendments are published for community-wide feedback.
A dedicated call for comments allows stakeholders to review, discuss, and provide input on the proposed changes.

Work with Comments:

A collaborative phase involving the GC, GC staff, and the community to address, analyze, and incorporate feedback received during the comment period.

Resolution on Changes:

The GC, informed by community feedback and internal deliberations, passes a resolution to adopt the final amended charter.

Voting phase:

For Category 4 and 5 amendments, a voting process similar to the ratification process will be carried out to determine adoption of amendments. Once the GC has made its resolution to adopt the amendment, it will proceed to the community/affiliate/WMF voting phase.
Only if ratified by all three groups will the amendment be formally incorporated into the charter.

Amendment proposals from outside of the Global Council[edit]

The Wikimedia Movement may propose to amend the Wikimedia Movement Charter. Proposals will be considered valid only under these circumstances:

The proposal is published on Meta-Wiki on a designated webpage.
The GCB is notified of the proposal after it is published.
The published proposal receives support from:
- A minimum of 200 individual community members, where:
  - These community members must be participants in a minimum of 10 Wikimedia projects, and
- A minimum of five authorized representatives of Wikimedia affiliates.
The proposal is open for support for a period of eight weeks. If it does not receive the required level of support by the end of that time, the proposal will be closed without further direct action.
- The GC is encouraged to review closed proposals when considering changes to the Wikimedia Movement Charter that relate to the proposal.
All interested community members may participate in the discussion of the proposal. This includes members of the GCB and GCA.
Only proposals that receive the required level of support may proceed to formal voting.
- These proposals are considered Category 5 amendments, and are approved by a movement-wide vote as described in the Charter.

This structured amendment and implementation process ensures a balanced approach to governance, incorporating both internal expertise and community input. The Wikimedia Movement Charter strives to uphold transparency, inclusivity, accountability, and sustainability within the Wikimedia Movement by delineating categories of amendments and the corresponding approval processes.