Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Free Knowledge Africa Development and GLAM Support/Final Report
Report Status: Under review
Due date: 30 July 2024
Funding program: Wikimedia Community Fund
Report type: Final
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General information
[edit]This form is for organizations, groups, or individuals receiving Wikimedia Community Funds or Wikimedia Alliances Funds to report on their final results.
- Name of Organization: Access to Knowledge Africa Initiative
- Title of Proposal: Free Knowledge Africa Development and GLAM Support
- Amount awarded: 24777.48 USD, 11519050 NGN
- Amount spent: 11519050 NGN
Part 1 Understanding your work
[edit]1. Briefly describe how your proposed activities and strategies were implemented.
We were able to implement most of our proposed activities in the previous years.
1) Explore Africa Expedition We organized the Explore Africa contest which resulted in the creation of over 100 articles and phrase books on Wikivoyage
2) Afrosports We organized a virtual sport symposium Afrosports contest. contributions in English, yoruba, igbo, hausa, kinyarwanda, swahili, over 2000
3) Advocacy in Plateau, Partnership with National Library Kwara
4) The FKA Podcast
In the past year, Free Knowledge Africa implemented its strategies through several key activities aimed at promoting open knowledge in Nigeria. It launched the Wiki Tourism Education Program in hospitality and tourism schools, which, despite challenges, successfully trained tourism enthusiasts and improved Wikivoyage content. The organization established a public domain database, digitizing and cataloging Nigerian public domain works, with files hosted on platforms like Wikimedia Commons. An advocacy and outreach program was developed to train librarians and sports professionals in open access practices, fostering a network of open knowledge advocates. The Afrosports Contest encouraged the creation of Wikipedia articles about African sports, enriching the content available online. These efforts focused on community engagement, stakeholder collaboration, digital infrastructure development, and advocacy to make open knowledge more accessible in Nigeria.
2. Were there any strategies or approaches that you felt were effective in achieving your goals?
Free Knowledge Africa effectively employed several strategies to promote open knowledge and make public domain works accessible in Nigeria, achieving its goals through a multifaceted approach. The organization focused on community engagement by conducting workshops and training sessions to build the capacity of Nigerian communities, fostering a sense of ownership and sustainability in open knowledge initiatives. Stakeholder engagement was another critical strategy, involving collaboration with government agencies, cultural and academic institutions, and civil society organizations to build partnerships and secure support. The development of digital infrastructure was essential for digitizing, cataloging, and disseminating public domain works, leveraging platforms like Wikimedia Commons for efficient access and distribution. Advocacy and public engagement activities, including social media campaigns and public events, helped raise awareness and promote open access to cultural resources. Additionally, partnership building with similar organizations and institutions was pivotal in sharing resources, knowledge, and best practices, thereby amplifying the impact of Free Knowledge Africa's initiatives.
3. Would you say that your project had any innovations? Are there things that you did very differently than you have seen them done by others?
Free Knowledge Africa, in collaboration with the National Library of Nigeria, undertook the Public Domain Project to identify, compile, and digitize public domain works, making them freely accessible online through platforms like Wikimedia Commons. This initiative is part of broader efforts to enhance open access to cultural and informational resources across Africa. The project included developing a central database and repository to facilitate open access and sharing of digitized materials, ensuring that Nigeria's rich cultural heritage is preserved and accessible to a global audience.
4. Please describe how different communities participated and/or were informed about your work.
All activities were posted on diff, our website, and social media pages. We contacted the Wikimedia Community User Groups for Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, Dagbani, and Tanzania via talk pages.
5. Documentation of your impact. Please use the two spaces below to share files and links that help tell your story and impact. This can be documentation that shows your results through testimonies, videos, sound files, images (photos and infographics, etc.) social media posts, dashboards, etc.
- Upload Documents and Files
- Here is an additional field to type in URLs.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Afrosports_Contest_2024#Article_Achievements
https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=9Oqg48kpGWo
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsYmMMiVCUjNrminI8rp6MN5Wst9KugF0&si=NIfOy85BrTGqoQZP
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Free_Knowledge_Africa
6. To what extent do you agree with the following statements regarding the work carried out with the support of this Fund? You can choose “not applicable” if your work does not relate to these goals.
| A. Bring in participants from underrepresented groups | Agree |
| B. Create a more inclusive and connected culture in our community | Agree |
| C. Develop content about underrepresented topics/groups | Strongly agree |
| D. Develop content from underrepresented perspectives | Agree |
| E. Encourage the retention of editors | Agree |
| F. Encourage the retention of organizers | Agree |
| G. Increased participants' feelings of belonging and connection to the movement. | Agree |
7. Is there anything else you would like to share about how your efforts helped to bring in participants and/or build out content, particularly for underrepresented groups?
Free Knowledge Africa has been instrumental in bringing in participants from underrepresented groups and building content through various strategies. By implementing the Wiki Tourism Education Program, we engaged students in hospitality and tourism, particularly those from diverse backgrounds, empowering them to contribute content that reflects their cultures and perspectives. Our advocacy and outreach programs also focused on training librarians and sports professionals from different communities, equipping them with the skills to advocate for open access and develop content relevant to their regions. Moreover, the Afrosports Contest highlighted African sports, drawing contributions from diverse Africanlanguages and promoting visibility for lesser-known topics in African sports history. These efforts not only increased participation from underrepresented groups but also enriched the content on platforms like Wikipedia, ensuring a more inclusive and comprehensive representation of African cultures and knowledge.
Part 2: Your main learning
[edit]8. In your application, you outlined your learning priorities. What did you learn about these areas during this period?
During this period, we gained valuable insights into several key areas:
Engaging Underrepresented Groups: We found that tailored outreach strategies and building partnerships with local organizations significantly enhanced the engagement and retention of underrepresented groups on Wikimedia projects in Nigeria. Evaluating impact is best achieved through regular feedback mechanisms and tracking participation metrics.
Incorporating Local Languages: Integrating local languages and cultural perspectives requires active collaboration with community experts and linguistic groups. Promoting language diversity is most effective when supported by dedicated editing workshops and inclusive content policies.
Promoting Copyright and Open Access Awareness: Awareness is best promoted through targeted educational campaigns and collaborative workshops with stakeholders, including libraries and educational institutions. Effective strategies involve creating accessible resources and leveraging local media.
Impact of Digitization: Digitization of public domain works significantly improves access to knowledge. Measuring impact involves tracking usage statistics, user feedback, and qualitative assessments of increased access and engagement in local contexts.
9. Did anything unexpected or surprising happen when implementing your activities?
During the implementation of our activities, several unexpected challenges arose, primarily due to severe instability in the foreign exchange rate. Initially, we received the grant at a rate of 1 USD to 460 NGN, but within a few weeks, this rate fluctuated drastically to as high as 1 USD to 1550 NGN. This rapid devaluation, coupled with the ongoing economic crisis in the country, significantly impacted our budget and constrained the scale at which we could execute the planned projects. The volatile exchange rate led to increased costs for resources and services, requiring us to reevaluate and prioritize project activities to ensure the most critical goals were met. This unexpected financial challenge highlighted the importance of adaptive planning and resource management in navigating economic instability.
10. How do you hope to use this learning? For instance, do you have any new priorities, ideas for activities, or goals for the future?
From our recent experiences and challenges, we hope to apply several key learnings:
Enhanced Financial Planning: We will prioritize developing more robust financial strategies to better manage currency fluctuations and economic instability. This includes creating contingency plans and diversifying funding sources. Adaptive Project Management: We aim to incorporate more flexible project management practices that allow us to quickly adapt to changing circumstances without compromising the core objectives. Innovative Approaches: We plan to foster innovation by encouraging team and community members to brainstorm creative solutions to unforeseen challenges, thus ensuring resilience and sustainability. Community Engagement: Strengthening our relationship with the local community will be crucial. By building stronger networks, we can pool resources and ideas that can help mitigate the effects of economic challenges. Training and Development: Focus on continuous learning and development for our team to equip them with skills to handle unexpected situations effectively, ensuring we remain agile and proactive.
By setting these priorities, we aim to enhance our resilience and ability to innovate, ensuring we can continue to achieve our goals even in challenging environments.
11. If you were sitting with a friend to tell them one thing about your work during this fund, what would it be (think of inspiring or fascinating moments, tough challenges, interesting anecdotes, or anything that feels important to you)?
One of the most inspiring aspects of working was the novel partnership with the National Library of Nigeria to digitize and share public domain works. The process was challenging but rewarding, as it involved navigating technical hurdles and ensuring cultural sensitivity. One memorable moment was the discovery of rare historical documents that had been hidden away for decades. Bringing these to light and making them accessible online was profoundly fulfilling. It was amazing to witness the transformation of physical archives into digital formats, knowing that this work would preserve Nigeria’s rich cultural heritage for future generations and make it accessible to everyone worldwide.
12. Please share resources that would be useful to share with other Wikimedia organizations so that they can learn from, adapt or build upon your work. For instance, guides, training material, presentations, work processes, or any other material the team has created to document and transfer knowledge about your work and can be useful for others. Please share any specific resources that you are creating, adapting/contextualizing in ways that are unique to your context (i.e. training material).
- Upload Documents and Files
- Here is an additional field to type in URLs.
https://open.spotify.com/show/2B6vcxIqkRS6b3V6x1ZE3U
https://www.youtube.com/@freeknowledgeafrica/videos
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1XPBM1zLeezjnmkKfHbBRSuUjL6UxIosczSlY0o1ORcE/edit?usp=sharing
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1pZOlbUn3FZYgJbrFmYndwFNuO78tShebHMBx8R6nBYE/edit?usp=sharing
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1_aDY-BE8AnH_Xif7lWbMNo8KR_zJgjbmUaZ1zqGk-BE/edit?usp=sharing
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1_NgeyMqXVNGacWBFrHoVk7d234-Lz3EOUIAzCH3xOro/edit?usp=sharing
Part 3: Metrics
[edit]13a. Open and additional metrics data
| Open Metrics | Description | Target | Results | Comments | Methodology |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Participants | This will include people who participate in our campaigns, attend our events and webinar, and participate in our surveys and outreaches. | 1000 | 528 | Due to cost constraints, we couldn't achieve our target | Registration and attendance records from events and training sessions |
| Editors | Editors who participate in our edit-a-thons, writing and photography campaigns | 500 | 103 | Explore Nigeria - 54
Afrosports - 49 |
Number of enrolled and registered participants in the contest and training |
| Digitized public domain works | Number of public domain works that are digitized and uploaded on Wikimedia Commons | 500 | 389 | Cost constraints to digitize more works | Number of files digitized and uploaded |
| Organizers | At least 15 people would organise activities and events for this project. There are four core team members. | 15 | 15 | Target achieved | Enumeration |
| N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Additional Metrics | Description | Target | Results | Comments | Methodology |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of editors that continue to participate/retained after activities | We would ensure that at least 50% of our program editors continue to contribute actively after the project ends. | 250 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Number of organizers that continue to participate/retained after activities | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Number of strategic partnerships that contribute to longer term growth, diversity and sustainability | We would establish strategic long-term partnerships with GLAM institutions in Nigeria and travel, tourism, and sports organizations. | 15 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Feedback from participants on effective strategies for attracting and retaining contributors | We would carry out a feedback survey for all our activities to measure and evaluate our impact for further improvements in subsequent projects and share learnings with other organizers in the movement. | 100 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Diversity of participants brought in by grantees | We would ensure that 60% of our participants are either youths or women | 600 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Number of people reached through social media publications | Number of people reached via social media post and promotions (organic and inorganic) | 500000 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Number of activities developed | The number of activities that would be carried out during the project. | 10 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Number of volunteer hours | Number of hours volunteers put in to volunteering with Free Knowledge Africa | 500 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
13b. Additional core metrics data.
| Core metrics | Description | Target | Results | Comments | Methodology |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of participants | This will include people who participate in our campaigns, attend our events and webinar, and participate in our surveys and outreaches. | 1000 | 528 | Due to cost constraints, we couldn't achieve our target | Registration and attendance records from events and training sessions |
| Number of editors | Editors who participate in our edit-a-thons, writing and photography campaigns. We will ensure that 40% are new editors. | 200 | 103 | 16% of editors were new editors, Due to cost constraints, we couldn't achieve our target | Number of enrolled and registered participants in the contest and training |
| Number of organizers | At least 15 people would organise activities and events for this project. There are four core team members. | 15 | 15 | We achieved our targets through partnerships established with different institutions | Enumeration |
| Wikimedia Project | Description | Target | Results | Comments | Methodology |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia | Articles created during the monthly editing workshops and campaigns as well as the Wiki Tourism Education Program | 1500 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Wikimedia Commons | Public domain works that are digitized and uploaded on Commons | 500 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Wikidata | Wikidata items created for the public domain works | 500 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Wikivoyage | Articles created during the monthly editing workshops and campaigns as well as the Wiki Tourism Education Program | 500 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
14. Were there any metrics in your proposal that you could not collect or that you had to change?
No
15. If you have any difficulties collecting data to measure your results, please describe and add any recommendations on how to address them in the future.
N/A
16. Use this space to link or upload any additional documents that would be useful to understand your data collection (e.g., dashboards, surveys you have carried out, communications material, training material, etc).
- Upload Documents and Files
- Here is an additional field to type in URLs.
https://outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org/courses/FKA/Explore_Nigeria_Campaign_2024_(January_2024)
https://outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org/courses/FKA/Africa_Open_Biodiversity_Project_2023
Part 4: Organizational capacities & partnerships
[edit]17. Organizational Capacity
| A. Financial capacity and management | This capacity has grown but it should be further developed |
| B. Conflict management or transformation | This capacity has grown but it should be further developed |
| C. Leadership (i.e growing in potential leaders, leadership that fit organizational needs and values) | This capacity has grown but it should be further developed |
| D. Partnership building | This has grown over the last year, the capacity is high |
| E. Strategic planning | This has grown over the last year, the capacity is high |
| F. Program design, implementation, and management | This has grown over the last year, the capacity is high |
| G. Scoping and testing new approaches, innovation | This capacity has grown but it should be further developed |
| H. Recruiting new contributors (volunteer) | This capacity has grown but it should be further developed |
| I. Support and growth path for different types of contributors (volunteers) | This capacity has grown but it should be further developed |
| J. Governance | This capacity has grown but it should be further developed |
| K. Communications, marketing, and social media | This has grown over the last year, the capacity is high |
| L. Staffing - hiring, monitoring, supporting in the areas needed for program implementation and sustainability | This has grown over the last year, the capacity is high |
| M. On-wiki technical skills | This capacity has grown but it should be further developed |
| N. Accessing and using data | This capacity has grown but it should be further developed |
| O. Evaluating and learning from our work | This capacity has grown but it should be further developed |
| P. Communicating and sharing what we learn with our peers and other stakeholders | This capacity has grown but it should be further developed |
| N/A | |
| N/A |
17a. Which of the following factors most helped you to build capacities? Please pick a MAXIMUM of the three most relevant factors.
Formal training provided by the Wikimedia Foundation, Peer to peer learning with other community members in conferences/events, Using capacity building/training resources online from sources WITHIN the Wikimedia Movement
17b. Which of the following factors hindered your ability to build capacities? Please pick a MAXIMUM of the three most relevant factors.
Lack of knowledge of available capacity building opportunities, Lack of training that fits contextual needs and interests, Lack of financial resources
18. Is there anything else you would like to share about how your organizational capacity has grown, and areas where you require support?
Our organizational capacity has significantly grown over the past four years. We have established crucial partnerships and spearheaded campaigns that resulted in the creation of over 10,000 articles in five languages on Wikipedia and the upload of more than 1,000 media files on Wikimedia Commons. Additionally, we have undertaken a pioneering project in GLAM digitization in Nigeria, which has strengthened our role in cultural preservation and accessibility. Looking forward, we aim to explore public policy advocacy to further our impact. To achieve this, we need support in areas such as policy analysis, strategic advocacy planning, and stakeholder engagement. Expanding our capacity in these areas will help us effectively influence policy and ensure that knowledge equity remains a priority.
19. Partnerships over the funding period.
| A. We built strategic partnerships with other institutions or groups that will help us grow in the medium term (3 year time frame) | Strongly agree |
| B. The partnerships we built with other institutions or groups helped to bring in more contributors from underrepresented groups | Agree |
| C. The partnerships we built with other institutions or groups helped to build out more content on underrepresented topics/groups | Agree |
19a. Which of the following factors most helped you to build partnerships? Please pick a MAXIMUM of the three most relevant factors.
Board members’ outreach, Institutional support from the Wikimedia Foundation, Volunteers from our communities
19b. Which of the following factors hindered your ability to build partnerships? Please pick a MAXIMUM of the three most relevant factors.
Lack of staff to conduct outreach to new strategic partners
20. Please share your learning about strategies to build partnerships with other institutions and groups and any other learning about working with partners?
Building partnerships with institutions like the Nigerian Copyright Commission and the Goethe-Institut has taught us the importance of having clear objectives and ensuring mutual benefits to maintain commitment and alignment on shared goals. Strong communication, including regular updates and transparent dialogue, helps prevent misunderstandings. Implementing systems for evaluation and feedback allows us to track success and make improvements. Flexibility and adaptation are also essential to manage unforeseen challenges and renegotiate terms as needed. These strategies enable us to achieve significant results through effective collaboration.
Part 5: Sense of belonging and collaboration
[edit]21. What would it mean for your organization to feel a sense of belonging to the Wikimedia or free knowledge movement?
The primary aim of Free Knowledge Africa as an organization is to increase open access to information about and concerning Africa. With this in mind,
22. How has your (for individual grantees) or your group/organization’s (for organizational grantees) sense of belonging to the Wikimedia or free knowledge movement changed over the fund period?
Somewhat increased
23. If you would like to, please share why it has changed in this way.
N/A
24. How has your group/organization’s sense of personal investment in the Wikimedia or free knowledge movement changed over the fund period?
Somewhat increased
25. If you would like to, please share why it has changed in this way.
N/A
26. Are there other movements besides the Wikimedia or free knowledge movement that play a central role in your motivation to contribute to Wikimedia projects? (for example, Black Lives Matter, Feminist movement, Climate Justice, or other activism spaces) If so, please describe it below.
No
Supporting Peer Learning and Collaboration
[edit]We are interested in better supporting peer learning and collaboration in the movement.
27. Have you shared these results with Wikimedia affiliates or community members?
Partially
27a. Please describe how you have already shared them. Would you like to do more sharing, and if so how?
We have shared the results of our work Diff, Let's Connect and conferences like the GLAM-Wiki Conference and Wiki Global Advocacy Meetup. We would be to share more and learn more at other peer to peer avenues available.
28. How often do you currently share what you have learned with other Wikimedia Foundation grantees, and learn from them?
We do this rarely (less than twice a year)
29. How does your organization currently share mutual learning with other grantees?
Once to twice a year at the peer learning session organized by the SSA Grants committee.
Part 6: Financial reporting and compliance
[edit]30. Please state the total amount spent in your local currency.
11519050
31. Local currency type
NGN
32. Please report the funds received and spending in the currency of your fund.
- Upload Documents, Templates, and Files.
- Report funds received and spent, if template not used.
- https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1yZhynT4RvDnKCQeDXjByhUESolXAkIit1QvDo_PJDsk/edit?usp=sharing
33. If you have not already done so in your budget report, please provide information on changes in the budget in relation to your original proposal.
Due to the severe instability in the foreign exchange rate, we received the grant at a rate of 1 USD to 460 NGN, but this changed within a few weeks to 1 USD to as high as 1550 NGN and coupled with the economic crisis in the country impacted the scale at which we executed the planned projects.
34. Do you have any unspent funds from the Fund?
34a. Please list the amount and currency you did not use and explain why.
N/A
34b. What are you planning to do with the underspent funds?
N/A
34c. Please provide details of hope to spend these funds.
N/A
35. Are you in compliance with the terms outlined in the fund agreement?
As required in the fund agreement, please report any deviations from your fund proposal here. Note that, among other things, any changes must be consistent with our WMF mission, must be for charitable purposes as defined in the grant agreement, and must otherwise comply with the grant agreement.
36. Are you in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations as outlined in the grant agreement?
Yes
37. Are you in compliance with provisions of the United States Internal Revenue Code (“Code”), and with relevant tax laws and regulations restricting the use of the Funds as outlined in the grant agreement? In summary, this is to confirm that the funds were used in alignment with the WMF mission and for charitable/nonprofit/educational purposes.
Yes
38. If you have additional recommendations or reflections that don’t fit into the above sections, please write them here.