Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Alliances Fund/Queer Facts +
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Applicant information[edit]
A. Organization type
- Mission-aligned organization
B. Organization name
- Media in Cooperation and Transition
E. Do you have an account on a Wikimedia project?
- No
E1. Please provide the main Wikimedia Username (required) and Usernames of people related to this proposal.
- Justice Okai Allotey
G. Have you received grants from the Wikimedia Foundation before?
- Applied previously and did receive a grant
H. Have you received grants from any non-wiki organization before?
- Yes
- H1. Which organization(s) did you receive grants from?
- German Develpoment Ministry, International Organization on Migration (IOM), German Foreign Office, UN Women, German Corporation for International Collaboration (GiZ),
- H2. Please state the size of these grants from the following options.
- Above 50,000 USD
- H3. What type of organization (s) did you receive grants from?
- Government, International NGO
- H4. What percentage of your program budget do other funders contribute to?
- More than 75%
1. Do you have a fiscal sponsor?
- No
1a. Fiscal organization name.
- N/A
2. Are you legally registered?
- Yes
3. What type of organization are you?
- Non profit organisation
4. What is your organization or group's mission and how does it align with the Wikimedia movement?
- At MiCT, we collaborate with our partners supporting audiences to adapt to changing circumstances caused by the climate crisis, conflict, health emergencies and disasters, ever more arbitrary systems or challenging economic circumstances.
Cooperation is vital as we work with partners towards financial viability and creating contextually relevant, valuable content and platforms. MiCT leverages localised collaboration to guarantee access to vital information and an equitable knowledge transfer.
5. If you would like, please share any websites or social media accounts that your group or organization has. (optional)
Grant proposal[edit]
6. Please state the title of your proposal.
- Queer Facts +
9. Where will this proposal be implemented?
- Ghana
10. Indicate if it is a local, international, or regional proposal and if it involves several countries?
- International
10a. If you have answered international, please write the country names and any other information that is useful for understanding your proposal.
- MENA and Africa: Ghana, Turkey, Iraq (Online), Nigeria
10b. Are there any specific sub-regions or areas where your proposal will be implemented?
- N/A
11. What is the challenge or problem you are addressing and why is this important?
- The central challenge that MiCT seeks to address is the paucity of factual information regarding Queer life and existence, particualrly in Africa and the MENA region. In all four countries of operation proposed within this project, the media systems can be characterised by systemic threats of political manipulation of information, knowledge gaps that reflect material and social disadvantages of Queer people, and political barriers to entry in knowledge creation this community.
As the world continues to see social life and knowledge creation transition online, ensuring that the internet provides not only factual, relevant, and free knowledge, but also mechanisms for participation and agency--two components essential to the democratisation of knowledge creation--is essential. While the four proposed countries of implementation--Ghana, Nigeria, Turkey, and Iraq--vary drastically along language, geographical, and historical dimensions--they all naviigate a hostile environment to public advocacy for Queer rights. MiCT sees itself primarily supporting the agency of individuals or organisations in affecting their communities through media work. Within the context of Queer liberation, MiCT considers a first step the provision of factual information for the public--likely valued highly by queer people seeking information relevant to their lives. The proposed project with Wikimedia aims to support the agency of individuals and groups to contribute to their media environments, and through it, their social and political lives. In the contexts in which we propose to work, information is often captured by monetary, political, or partisan interests. Through Wikipedia activities, MiCT hopes to support the queer community in generating their own knowledge and serving the needs of their community and the global body of knowledge simultaneously.
12. What is the main objective of your proposal? Please state why you think partnering with Wikimedia Movement helps to achieve this objective?
- We aim to expand and diversify editing communities to contribute to Queer knowledge. In partnering with Wikipedia, we have discovered through our previous project the value that Wiki Editing has for communities that flooded with erroneous information on their existence. Through Wikimedia's focus on consent, democracy, and truth, Queer communities can experience the intersection between their own movement and open source knowledge.
13. Describe your main strategies to achieve this objective?
- The central challenge that the project addresses is the need for queer editing communities to grow. This requires organisational partnerships, technical infrastructure, and new editors. The following strategies are consistent with MiCT's previous Alliance Fund Project.
For the Wiki community to thrive, partnerships with mission aligned organisations is essential to expanding not only the Wiki community, but also diversifying the content generated by editors. This expansion of the Wiki movement must include engagement with Queer people, whose knowledge and history is directly negagted through political and social institutions. MiCT's strategy is to engage queer activists working in environments where oppression of the Queer community is considerable. Not only done out of solidarity with the oppressed, this strategy takes advantage of the fact that Queer communities in these settings are looking for ways to remain active while not putting their lives in jeopardy. Wikimedia offers a uniquely public AND anonymous way to support the queer community and offer factual alternatives to propaganda or anti-queer information Drawing connections between Queer networks that work often across and against nation states, the project seeks to regionalize and internationalize activist networks along the same cultrual foundations of Wikipedia: working for a truly global movement. Building on the success of the previous pilot project implemented by Wiki volunteers, existing teams in Ghana will support expanding the number of Queer editors across for countries, representing nearly 10 nationalities. Building on the passion and success of our previous collaborations is therfore a central strategy for achieving our goals.
14. Are you running any in-person events or activities?
- Yes
15. Please state if your proposal aims to work to bridge any of the identified content knowledge gaps?
- Content Gender gap, Geography, Language, Socioeconomic Status, Sexual Orientation, Important Topics (topics considered to be of impact or important in the specific context)
16. Please state if your proposal includes any of these areas or thematic focus.
- Education, Culture, heritage or GLAM , Diversity
17. Will your work focus on involving participants from any underrepresented communities? Select all categories that apply.
- Gender Identity, Sexual Orientation, Geographic , Linguistic / Language
18. Please tell us more about your target participants.
- Target particpants in the project are Queer indiivduals living in Ghana, Nigeria, Iraq, and Turley. Within Turkey--specifically Istanbul--individuals from both Tukery and other predominantly Arab speaking countries will be engaged. Istanbul is a common city of the Arab Queer diaspora and therefore will include activites with persons from across the region.
19. Do you have plans to work with other Wikimedia communities, groups or affiliates in your country, or in other countries, to implement this proposal?
- Yes
19a. If yes, please tell us about these connections online and offline and how you have let Wikimedia communities know about this proposal.
- The primary Wiki community that is aware and integral to the implementation of this proposal is the Wikipedia Ghana chpater, specifically the volunteer Justice Okai-Allotey. Further correspondence and connection to the LGBTQ+ Wiki Chapter is envisioned as a first step of the program, however connection with other chapters in Iraq, Nigeria, andTurkey is not immediately approporaite as the safety and security of Queer activists is of primary importance. MiCT and the participating networks of activists will further collaborate with other Wiki groups with the knowledge that they are supportive and accepting of Queer communties. This will be done at project begin.
19b. If no, please tell us the reasons why it has not been possible to make these connections.
- N/A
20. Will you be working with other external non-Wikimedian partners to implement this proposal?
- Yes
20a. If yes, please describe these partnerships.
- LGBTQ+ Rights Ghana (Exisiting Partner): existing partner of MiCT and coordinating organization in the previous Alliance Fun Project. They will continue to work in collaobration with Wiki Volunteer Okai-Allotey and together support the Nigerian program in getting on its feet.
African Queer Youth Initiative (Nigeria, External Coordinator: Matthew Blaise): Nigerian Queer initaitive that will connect project coordinators with interested persons for editing events. Children of Nature (Turkey, External Coordinator: Kuma Blue): activist organization that is associated with Queer networks in Istanbul. Openly queer organizations are the subject of significant legal harrqasment and therefore we will be mainly working with unofficial networks active within intersecting movements/organizations. Queer Netowrks in Iraq will be engaged through backchanneling efforts from MiCT project staff and the Iraqi Queer Diaspora in Istanbul.
20a. If yes, indicate sharing of resources from these partners (in kind support, grants, donations, payments).
- Technical, financial, and training support will be mananged by MiCT to bring the basic pilot project previously implemented in Ghana to two other countries within this project (Iraq engaged online due to security concerns). Previously engaged editors in Ghana will be supported in increasing their skills (through training module development--online through MiCT's LMS--and event support) and in the future be able to train and support the inclusion of groups accross West Africa and beyond.
Technical resources (laptops) will be distributed to ensure that networks can particiapte in the program, training modules will be created or translated into relevant languages for participants, and payments will be made to the teams on the ground to run events that can support training and editing.
21. Please tell us how your organization is structured.
- MiCT is directed by Co-Founders Klaas Glenewinkel and Dr. Anja Wollenberg. Overseeing project implementation will be Senior Project Manager Christa Waegemann along with key team members Dima Salem and Omar Elmalawany. MiCT's finance and administration department is headed by Maren Hornung and she will manage two other finance officers to lead financial controlling activities.
Across all project countries, Weagemann will direct a core team on the ground. Her role is primarily to implement activities set out in the proposal and coordinate with MiCT team member in Baghdad, Dima Salem, and External Coordinators in each countrxy of implementation. Salem is a seasoned coordinator and project officer supporting all activities alongside Waegemann across all project countries. Elmalawany is additionally a core member of the Iraq team. He handles a mixture of financial controlling along with a finance department representative as well as key project management activity support. Other positions in the budget are either a mixture of paid organizers or facilitators. The strategic plan uploaded below will give greater clarity to the running of activities and responsible staff and organizers. Where activities have not yet been agreed upon between MiCT and the user group in question, general activity descriptions were provided with mechanisms set in place to require MiCT to agree on metrics for assessment once activites are solidified.
22. Do you have the team that is needed to implement this proposal?
- As mentioned above, the core project team that will implement this proposal is highly experienced, and now after the completion of the previous Alliance Fund Program and the successful implementation of the pilot project in Ghana, the team described above is prepared to further expand the project.
Waegeman and Salem opperate as MiCT's key representatives and support team for the local coordinators that will implement on the ground. Each country team will be simultaneously supported by MiCT and the Ghana team (External Coordinator and Wiki Volunteer), which have taken a front seat in drafting the project deisgn.
23. Please state if your organization or group has a Strategic Plan that can help us further understand your proposal. You can also upload it here.
Learning, Sharing, and Evaluation[edit]
24. What do you hope to learn from this proposal?
- MiCT is keen to learn the different implementation needs of the teams based on the social, geogrpahical, and political realities of each context. For example, the team in Istanbul pushed to make explicit space for editing on intersectional topics of social justice, inclduing editing on other topics like Kurdish liberation, European policies toward migrants, etc. In this manner, MiCT hopes to learn and exchange with diverse groups of acitivtsts that see their position within their own social surroundings as unique and the relevance of Wiki Activities in different ways. This exchange and room for local teams to direct their own project is highly valued by MiCT which expects to improve its own project development and mangement processes by learning from the teams outside of Berlin.
Core Metrics[edit]
25. Enter a description of the metric and a number in the target field. If the metric does not apply to you, enter N/A for not applicable.
| Core metrics | Description | Target |
|---|---|---|
| Number of participants | Returning Participants: 10 from Ghana
New Participants : 20 Ghana, 20 Turkey, 10 Iraq, 10 Nigeria |
70 |
| Number of editors | All participants in the program will be involved as either existing editors or new editors. | 70 |
| Number of organizers | 4 organizers (2 Ghana, 1 Nigeria, 1 Istanbul) are at this stage involved in the planning. Additional time is needed to find an appropriate facilitator in Turkey and Iraq, which will be dependent on finding something that the Queer community consents to for security reasons. | 4 |
| Wikimedia Project | Description | Target |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia | The existing project focused on getting new editors in the psotion to edit existing articles on Wikipedia. this will likewise be the first step for the other countries. The number of edits or pieces of content will be based on the final outcomes of the current project ending in September. The total number will be therfore left blank until metrics can be set by the project teams themselves based on the experience of the Ghana team. | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
25a. If for some reason your proposal will not measure these core metrics please provide an explanation. (optional)
- Explanation above.
26. What other information will you be collecting to learn about the impact of your work? (optional)
- Qualty of the training material will be a key metric to ensure that the onboarding training material can adequately support new editors in gaining skills quickly.
27. What tools would you use to measure each metric selected?
- The tools used will be decided at project begin with lead from the Ghana team which will use its experience in impact measurement to support the other country teams.
28. How do you hope to share these results so that others can learn from them?
- Make a short presentation of the experience, Share results with our communities
Financial Proposal[edit]
29. What is the amount you are requesting from WMF? Please provide this amount in your local currency.
- 62600 EUR
30. What is this amount in US Currency (to the best of your knowledge)?
- 62170 USD
31. & 32. Please provide a budget for the amount of funding requested.
33. What do you do to make sure there is a good management of funds?
- MiCT has years of experience working across transitional countries or lands with unstable security or banking systems. We pride ourselves on having an experienced project management and financial team that coordinated with staff in country to comply with German financial obligations as well as donor compliance rules.
34. How will you contribute towards creating a supportive environment for participants using the UCOC and Friendly Space Policy?
- MiCT will not only target incorporating under-represented groups into the Wiki movement will follow internal policies on diversity inclusion, mediation, and other measures to support safe environments within the project. This also includes following security guidance of staff in country and experienced management staff.
35. Please use this optional space to upload any documents that you feel are important for further understanding your proposal.
- Other public document(s):
Final message[edit]
By submitting your proposal/funding request you agree that you are in agreement with the Application Privacy Statement, WMF Friendly Space Policy and the Universal Code of Conduct.
36. We/I have read the Application Privacy Statement, WMF Friendly Space Policy and Universal Code of Conduct.
- Yes
Feedback[edit]
- Please add any feedback to the grant discussion page only. Any feedback added here will be removed.
- Wikimedia Alliances Fund/Proposals
- Wikimedia Alliances Fund/Proposals/Not funded
- Not funded Wikimedia Alliances Funds for SSA in FY 2022-23
- Wikimedia Alliances Funds for SSA in FY 2022-23
- Wikimedia Alliances Funds in FY 2022-23
- Not funded Wikimedia Alliances Funds for SSA in FY 2022-23 (Round 1)
- Wikimedia Alliances Funds for SSA in FY 2022-23 (Round 1)
- Wikimedia Alliances Funds in FY 2022-23 (Round 1)
- Not funded Wikimedia Alliances Funds in FY 2022-23 (Round 1)