Affiliations Committee/News/Issue 1
Welcome to the first issue of the AffCom News! The newsletter distributes relevant news and events about the work of Wikimedia's Affiliations Committee. This issue covers January-March 2024.
The AffCom News is delivered quarterly to all Wikimedia Affiliates and individual subscribers. You can leave comments or ideas for future newsletter on the talk page. You can also help us by translating the newsletter into your language(s). Subscribe to the newsletter by adding your talk page to this list.
Affiliate Recognition and Derecognition
[edit]AffCom is responsible for overseeing the recognition and derecognition process for Wikimedia movement affiliates (Chapters, Thematic Organizations, and User Groups).
Here are the new Wikimedia Affiliates that were recognized in the past quarter:
- 29 February 2024: Wikimedia Community User Group Niger has been recognized as a user group for a one-year renewable period (resolution). The group "is a community of volunteers whose objective is to promote the free sharing of knowledge, to write and to improve the projects of the Wikimedia foundation in Niger."
- 29 February 2024: Telugu Wikimedians User Group has been recognized as a user group for a one-year renewable period (resolution). The group is "a group of Wikimedians which work on growth and promotion of Telugu Wikimedia projects, develop necessary skills and promote collaboration within Telugu Wikimedians and the broader Wikimedia movement."
- 1 March 2024: Wikimedia Community User Group Cyprus has been recognized as a user group for a one-year renewable period (resolution). The group is an "official group of users of Cypriot Wikimedia projects who are interested in organizing and participating in outreach activities on national and international level."
- 1 March 2024: Wikimedia Community User Group Botswana has been recognized as a user group for a one-year renewable period (resolution). The group is "an independent Wikimedia User group which is Officially Recognised by the Wikimedia Foundation to serve volunteers of the republic of Botswana."
No Wikimedia Affiliates were derecognized in the past quarter.
Affiliate Activities Report
[edit]Here are the activity reports from Wikimedia Affiliates published within the past quarter:
Chapters:
- Wikimedia Belgium
- Wikimedia South Africa
- Wikimedia Ukraine (in Ukrainian)
- Diff post (in English)
User groups:
- Wikimedia Community User Group Turkey
- Wikimedia Ghana User Group
- Wikimedia Stewards User Group
- North-West Russia Wiki-Historians User Group
- Deoband Community Wikimedia
- Gungbe Wikimedians User Group
- Wikimedians of Romania and Moldova
- Wikimedians for Sustainable Development
- Wikipedia & Education User Group
- Wikimedians of Republic of Srpska
- Wikisource Community User Group
- Wiki Advocates Philippines User Group
- Les sans pagEs
- West Bengal Wikimedians User Group
- Dagbani Wikimedians User Group
- Wikimedia Community Ireland
Thematic organizations:
AffCom Movement Contribution
[edit]AffCom participates in Wikimedia movement conversations that relate to the affiliate system or where the Committee's experience and expertise would be otherwise beneficial, including answering questions about the affiliate system, providing advice relevant to affiliates or potential affiliates, and sharing knowledge and lessons related to operating as a committee with other movement bodies.
In the past quarter, AffCom members or the committee as a whole participated in these conversations:
- Affiliates Strategy conversations: the Wikimedia Foundation Affiliates Strategy report, which was published in October 2023, identified a need to streamline the role of AffCom on Wikimedia Affiliates recognition, while identifying issues. After conversations with AffCom, the Board liaisons identified two big areas for improvement in the current work with affiliates related to recognition, which is: 1) requirements for affiliates; and 2) improving the workflows around the creation and recognition of user groups. Throughout February-March 2024, AffCom joined the Board in the community review period of the proposed Affiliates Strategy, which included three live conversations and a discussion at Meta-wiki.
AffCom Administration
[edit]Between 17 October and 17 November 2023, an open nomination period to the Affiliations Committee was open. The number of members AffCom needs to recruit was not set, as there was the intentional delay in selecting new members last year (announced in December 2022, as AffCom was “a key input for the Board in developing the Wikimedia Foundation Affiliates Strategy”) but it has created a need to stagger selection as all AffCom members term come to end at the same time: 31 December 2023.
At the start of the nomination period, two AffCom advisors were converted to join the committee full-time, for a term ending 31 December 2024:
- Maor Malul (Maor X): former AffCom member between 2013 and 2019, during which time he served first as chair and then as co-chair; and
- Aleksey Chalabyan (Xelgen): who has already been providing considerable value as an advisor since his appointment in 2022.
In addition, these incumbent AffCom members are continuing their term:
- Başak Tosun (Basak), for a term continuing until 30 June 2024; and
- Joy N. Y Agyepong (Joy Agyepong), for a term continuing until 30 June 2024;
Following the nomination period, the following individuals are appointed to the AffCom:
- Jeffrey Keefer (FULBERT), for a renewed term running from 1 March 2024 to 28 February 2027;
- Mehman Ibragimov (Mehman), for a renewed term running from 1 March 2024 to 28 February 2027;
- Suyash Dwivedi (Suyash.dwivedi), for a renewed term running from 1 March 2024 to 28 February 2027;
- Agus Damanik (Agus Damanik), for a new term running from 1 March 2024 to 28 February 2027;
- Mari Avetisyan (Մարի Ավետիսյան), for a new term running from 1 March 2024 to 28 February 2027;
- Harriet Henry Bayel (Mwintirew), for a new term running from 1 March 2024 to 28 February 2027; and
- Maciej Artur Nadzikiewicz (Nadzik), for a new term running from 1 March 2024 to 28 February 2027.
Finally, the following non-voting advisors were appointed for a one-year term running from 1 March 2024 to 28 February 2025:
- Aaryaa Joshi (आर्या जोशी)
- Benoît Prieur (Benoît Prieur)[1]
- Johnny Alegre (Buszmail)
- Hakan (HakanIST)
- Delphine Ménard (notafish)
- Nyinawumuntu Jeannette Rebecca (RebeccaRwanda)
- Lucas Teles (Teles)
Read more details about the appointments in Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees chair Nataliia Tymkiv's announcement to Wikimedia-L on 13 February 2024 and consult the latest list of AffCom members and advisors here on Meta-wiki.
Notes
[edit]- ↑ resigned on 9 April 2024
Upcoming Events
[edit]For the next quarter (April-June 2024), AffCom will be working on the following projects and/or participating in the following events:
- Wikimedia Summit 2024: meet up with AffCom on Friday, 19 April 2024, between 19:30-22:00 Central European Time (CET)