statusUnder review

Dagbani Wikimedians User Group 2026 Annual Programs

Fluxx IDR-GS-2602-22068

proposed start date2026-07-01

proposed end date2027-06-30

amount requested (local currency)927546 GHS

amount requested (USD)82551.59 USD ^{[note 1]}

grant typeWikimedia Affiliate (chapter, thematic org., or user group)

funding regionSSA

decision fiscal year2025-26

funding program roundRound 2

applicant and people related to proposal[[User:|]] ([[User talk:|talk]] • accounts • contributions • edit count)

organization (if applicable)Dagbani Wikimedians User Group

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Applicant information

Organization name or Wikimedia Username for individuals. (required): Dagbani Wikimedians User Group

Do you have any approved General Support Fund requests? (required): Yes, I have already applied and received a General Support Fund

You are applying as a(n). (required): Wikimedia Affiliate (chapter, thematic org., or user group)

Are your group or organization legally registered in your country? (required): Yes

Do you have a fiscal sponsor?: No

Fiscal organization name.: N/A

Please provide links to the following documents if they are available

These documentation can be provided in your local language(s), no translations required.

Organizational website
Detailed financial reporting and/or audits
Documentation of the governance structure, board list, governance processes
Documentation of the general assembly decision on your plan

Official Website: https://www.dagbaniwikimedia.org/

Annual financial audit report: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1n1jrZZo9Tp-ifpzQb5iAFFJe0RZM-Ao4/view?usp=sharing

Management report: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yLs3Rx_r9FQ_G7dj4CD_NSGKGNWqlaoV/view?usp=sharing

Governance Structure: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1I-OtV_jsbpil9nEdinRiBt7RPXJNp7EO93h5uxGEbF4/edit?usp=sharing

User Group's Policy and Code of Ethics: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1QTgeB4kLPgCqJolf0nvBBK29sWEvA334?usp=sharing

General assembly: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YsubnkVbmhj1rVn4pZwkINqz1Qug8lvl9EzlXIaBBWA/edit?usp=sharing

Main proposal

1. Please state the title of your proposal. This will also be a title for the Meta-Wiki page. (required): Dagbani Wikimedians User Group 2026 Annual Programs

2. Do you want to apply for the multi-year base funding for 3 years? (required) (only for returning applicants): No

2.1. Provide a brief overview of Year 2 and Year 3 of the proposed plan and how this relates to the current proposal and your strategic plan? (required)

N/A

3. Proposed start date. (required): 2026-07-01

4. Proposed end date. (required): 2027-06-30

5. Does your organization or group have an Affiliate or Organizational Annual Plan that can help us understand your proposal? If yes, please provide it. (required): Yes; Annual Plan: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nVZ1NX9sGyqmN_vahsEf2KZQquLMJPWiq4eGSuHNXXg/edit?usp=sharing

6. Does your affiliate, organization or group have a Strategic Plan that can help us understand your proposal? If yes, please provide it. (required): Yes; https://docs.google.com/document/d/17xfCgJCKhGeLvQsvH2w6rag-MAQjVjEeLyAEjaWo7ic/edit?tab=t.ookb5n97edk8#heading=h.lrbxc0vsjse0

7. Where will this proposal be implemented? (required): Ghana

8. What are your programs, approaches, and strategies? What are the challenges that you are trying to address and how will your strategies support you in addressing these challenges? (required)

The Dagbani Wikimedians User Group (DWUG) is a language affiliate dedicated to promoting and growing Wikimedia projects in Dagbani and other Gur/Mabia languages, including Gurene, Dagaare, Wali, and Kusaal. Our work focuses on content creation, language infrastructure, capacity building, and community sustainability, particularly in Northern Ghana and other underrepresented regions.

Despite the implementation of carefully and strategically designed programmes, the Dagabni Wikimedians User Group continues to face several gaps, including limited culturally related content, gender imbalance in content creation and female participation, challenges with volunteer retention, and the limited involvement of key stakeholders in advancing open knowledge and preserving the Mabia languages and culture on the internet.

While existing efforts have resulted in significant cultural content contributions and the development of digitally skilled language teachers, it remains essential to sustain and strengthen these gains. The user group therefore seeks to prioritize targeted programs that directly advance its mission and vision in a more inclusive and sustained manner.

During our 2025/26 end-of-year strategic meeting and awards ceremony, and at the team retreat and capacity-building workshop at Wa, community members collectively reviewed implemented programs, assessed challenges, and reflected on gaps caused by reduced funding during the previous fiscal year. Using a Mentimeter-based prioritisation process, we identified high-impact programs to retain, scale, or re-implement in the coming year. Owing to our discussion on the limited funding for our round, we have prioritised the following programs while introducing two new projects dubbed the Cultural Heritage & Oral Knowledge Documentation. This 12-month plan intentionally repeats or modifies some activities proposed for 2024/25 but not implemented due to funding constraints. Across our communities, we continue to face low readership of local-language Wikimedia content, persistent mistrust of Wikipedia among teachers, limited Dagbani educational resources for students, uneven digital skills, volunteer burnout, and the risk of language and cultural loss in primarily oral societies. Our combined program tackles these issues by focusing on education, involving communities in different ways, developing language resources, promoting fairness, providing small grants, and strengthening organizations, all in line with the Wikimedia Foundation's goals for 2025–2026 about fair access to knowledge, reliable information.

ANNUAL PROGRAMS

Program 1: Documenting Northern Indigenous Games(Cultural Heritage, Education, and Knowledge Equity)

The Mabia languages predominantly situated in the Northern part of Ghana, are characterized by indigenous games that make them outstanding among other languages. These games promote peace and unity among tribes since most of them are common among the various tribes, it is not only the languages that are mutually intelligible but most of the games also cuts across all the tribes. It is believed that the act of playing games by kids makes them smart and versatile in solving problems.

Challenge

Indigenous games from Northern Ghana, particularly those practiced within Dagbani, Gurene, Dagaare, Wali, and Kusaal communities, are rapidly disappearing due to urbanisation, changing lifestyles, and the absence of written or digital documentation. These games carry deep cultural knowledge, including social values, conflict resolution, teamwork, numeracy, physical education, and intergenerational learning. However, very little authoritative information exists online, and what does exist is often fragmented, poorly sourced, or completely absent from Wikimedia platforms.

The lack of documentation has broader implications. Schools increasingly rely on digital resources, yet educators and students cannot access credible material on indigenous games for cultural studies, physical education, or local history. Without intentional intervention, this knowledge risks being lost entirely, further marginalizing Northern Ghanaian cultures within global knowledge systems.

Strategy

The DWUG will treat indigenous games as both recreational activities and as intangible cultural heritage and educational knowledge systems. The plan includes gathering knowledge from the community, using multimedia to document it, and writing it in an organized way to make sure these games are kept in formats that can be checked, reused, and accessed In order to guarantee both cultural accuracy and technical sustainability, the program bases documentation on community knowledge holders, such as elders, players, and cultural practitioners, and publishes the results on Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons, and Wikidata.

Activities

The community contributors will receive targeted training on ethical documentation, sourcing oral knowledge, and multimedia licensing to ensure high-quality outputs.

DWUG will coordinate a focused documentation campaign that includes:

Identifying and prioritizing indigenous games across the five supported language communities
Conducting interviews and community consultations to document rules, history, cultural significance, and variations on the various games.
Creating and improving Wikipedia articles in Dagbani, Gurene, Dagaare, Waali and Kusaal (and English where appropriate) to ensure both local and global reach.
Capturing and uploading photographs, audio, and short video clips to Wikimedia Commons under free licenses.
Linking documented games to relevant Wikidata items to support discoverability, reuse, and future educational applications

Impact

This program will result in the first comprehensive, openly licensed digital record of Northern Ghanaian indigenous games on Wikimedia platforms. The impact includes:

Preservation of endangered cultural knowledge in durable, open formats
Increased representation of Northern Ghanaian culture within global knowledge space
New educational resources for schools, researchers, and cultural institutions
Increased community pride and intergenerational knowledge transfer
Reusable content that can support curriculum development, cultural exhibitions, and future research

Program 2: Documenting Dagbani Movies on Wikipedia and Wikidata

(Creative Industries, Structured Data, and Cultural Visibility)

Challenge

Online, the Dagbani film industry, a significant expression of contemporary culture, language use, and storytelling in Northern Ghana, remains largely undocumented and invisible. Information on Dagbani movies, actors, directors, production houses, and release histories is scattered across informal sources and social media or is entirely undocumented. Consequently, these films are excluded from global cultural records, academic research, and digital discovery platforms.

The absence of structured data further compounds the problem. Without Wikidata entries, Dagbani films cannot be easily searched, linked, analyzed, or reused across platforms. This limits not only cultural visibility but also the ability of filmmakers, researchers, and audiences to engage meaningfully with Dagbani cinema.

Strategy

DWUG will adopt a dual-platform documentation strategy that combines narrative encyclopedic coverage on Wikipedia with structured data modeling on Wikidata. This approach ensures that Dagbani films are described and also integrated into the wider ecosystem of global film data. We plan to conduct training workshops for contributors to work across both platforms simultaneously. The program will strengthen local capacity and ensure that Dagbani cinema becomes discoverable, referenceable, and reusable across Wikimedia projects and beyond.

Activities

The program will involve a workshop to emphasize sourcing standards, notability guidelines, and the ethical documentation of creative works, as well as a contest to:

Identify notable Dagbani, Gurene, Dagaare, Kusaal and Wali films, actors, directors, producers, and studios
Create and improve Wikipedia articles with verifiable sources, film synopses, and cultural context
Create and improve Wikidata items for films and related entities, including metadata such as release dates, genres, cast, language, and locations
Link Wikipedia articles to Wikidata entries to improve infoboxes, search visibility, and data reuse
Where available, upload freely licensed images (e.g. film posters, behind-the-scenes photos) to Wikimedia Commons

Impact.

This program will significantly increase the digital visibility and legitimacy of Dagbani cinema. Expected outcomes include:

A structured, searchable record of Dagbani films and film professionals
Increased global and local readership of Dagbani cultural content
Support for academic research, media studies, and cultural archiving
Empowerment of local filmmakers through representation and recognition
Stronger integration of Dagbani language content into Wikimedia’s structured data ecosystem

Program 3: Language Orthography for All Supported Languages

(Foundational Language Infrastructure and Content Quality)

Challenge

One of the most persistent barriers to sustainable content creation in Dagbani and other Gur/Mabia languages: Gurene, Dagaare, Wali, and Kusaal, is the lack of widely adopted and consistently applied orthographic standards in our Wikipedia contribution. Contributors often face uncertainty about spelling, word separation, tone marking, and grammatical conventions. This results in inconsistent articles, editing disputes, slowed contribution rates, and hesitation among new editors who fear “writing it wrong.” Adult experts of the language have consistently criticised the community of not following the standard in writing.

Without clear orthographic guidance, the growth of local-language Wikimedia projects is fragile. Content quality suffers, peer review becomes difficult, and long-term goals such as searchability, reuse, structured data alignment, and educational adoption are undermined. For languages that are still establishing a strong digital presence, orthography is not a peripheral issue,it is foundational infrastructure.

Strategy

DWUG approaches orthography as a community-led, enabling framework, not a rigid academic imposition. The strategy centers on facilitating shared understanding among native speakers, educators, experienced editors, and linguists, while grounding decisions in actual usage on Wikimedia platforms.

Rather than producing abstract language manuals, DWUG focuses on practical, editor-friendly guidance that directly supports writing, reviewing, and improving content on Wikipedia and related projects. Orthography workshops would be intentionally embedded into editing activities, ensuring immediate application and uptake.

Activities

DWUG will organize language-specific orthography workshops for each supported language community. These sessions will:

Facilitate discussions on commonly disputed or inconsistent writing practices
Document agreed conventions for spelling, capitalization, loanwords, and tone usage where relevant
Produce short, accessible orthography reference notes and videos for editors
Integrate orthography guidance into training sessions, editathons, and article cleanup activities

Impact

This program will significantly improve content quality, contributor confidence, and editing efficiency across all supported languages. New contributors will feel more secure about participating, experienced editors will spend less time resolving disputes and making repetitive corrections, and articles will become more consistent and readable. In the long term, strengthened orthography will:

Support educational use of Wikimedia content
Improve searchability and reuse
Lay groundwork for future language technologies and structured data work
Strengthen the digital sustainability of Gur/Mabia languages

Priority Program 4: Public Awareness and Readership Growth

(Radio, TV, Social Media, YouTube, and Public Workshops)

Challenge

A major challenge facing DWUG is that content creation often outpaces content consumption. Many people in Northern Ghana and beyond are unaware that Wikipedia exists in their languages or that they can actively contribute to it. Consequently, the underutilization of high-quality content limits its real-world impact and undermines the feedback loop that inspires contributors. Low public awareness also reinforces mistrust, particularly among educators and older community members who associate Wikipedia with unreliability or foreign knowledge systems. Without deliberate outreach, Wikimedia risks remaining a contributor-only space rather than a public knowledge commons.

Strategy

DWUG adopts a readership-first awareness strategy, recognizing that sustainable content creation depends on visible use and community relevance. The strategy combines mass media, digital engagement, and face-to-face outreach to reach diverse audiences at selected senior high schools and colleges where these languages are studied and a targeted community durbar for rural listeners and urban youth. Awareness activities are designed to inform, activate, encourage reading more content, and eventually encourage contributing. The messaging will emphasize that Wikimedia is free, local, participatory, and trustworthy when used correctly.

Activities

DWUG will implement a coordinated outreach campaign that includes: YouTube Live Wikimedia awareness sessions with demonstrations and Q&A Social media advocacy highlighting local content, contributors, and success stories Radio and TV-hosted programs discussing Wikimedia, digital literacy, and local-language knowledge Introductory Wikimedia workshops for new audiences.

Impact

This program will drive increased readership, improved public trust, and broader community participation. As more people read and reference local-language content, contributors will see clearer impact from their work, strengthening motivation and retention. Over time, increased awareness will:

Normalize Wikimedia use in daily life and education
Expand the contributor pipeline
Ensure that content creation efforts translate into meaningful knowledge use

Program 5: Community Engagement through Hub Activities and Editathons

(Volunteer Sustainability and Decentralized Participation)

Challenge

DWUG supports multiple language communities spread across wide geographic areas. Without intentional decentralization, participation becomes uneven and over-reliant on a small group of highly active volunteers. This creates burnout, leadership bottlenecks, and fragile program delivery.

Additionally, contributors in smaller towns or rural areas often feel disconnected from central activities, reducing their sense of ownership and long-term engagement.

Strategy

DWUG’s community engagement strategy focuses on bringing Wikimedia activities closer to contributors through hubs, while maintaining strong coordination and mentorship at the network level. The approach emphasizes regular engagement, shared responsibility, and recognition. Rather than one-off events, DWUG prioritizes sustained engagement cycles that combine learning, contribution, and follow-up support.

Activities

The activities are created to align with broader campaigns and thematic priorities to maintain coherence across our current hubs at Tamale College of Education, Bagabaga College of Education, Bimbila College of Education, Ho College of Education, University of Education Winneba, and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and technology. Key activities include:

Organizing specific hub-based edit-a-thons across supported language communities
Providing mentorship and post-event follow-up to sustain editing habits
Rotating facilitation and leadership roles to distribute responsibility
Coordinating collaborative article improvement efforts across hubs

Impact

This program will result in healthier volunteer participation patterns, reduced burnout, and more consistent contributions across regions. Contributors will feel more connected, valued, and capable of leadership. In the long term, hub-based engagement will:

Strengthen regional ownership of Wikimedia projects
Create resilient local contributor networks
Support scalable growth across multiple languages

Program 6: Reading Wikipedia in the Classroom (Teachers)

(Education, Trust, and Digital Literacy)

Challenge

Teachers play a critical gatekeeping role in how students access information. However, many teachers, particularly in rural areas, lack formal training in digital and information literacy and therefore discourage the use of Wikipedia. Studies indicate that only 53% of teachers have received any form of ICT training, while just 22% of students possess basic ICT skills, making it difficult to integrate online learning tools. This mistrust limits student readership, weakens research skills, and reinforces dependence on outdated or inaccessible materials. The situation is further made worse by the limited availability of educational content in Dagbani that is consistent with school curricula.

Strategy

DWUG addresses this challenge by engaging the teachers from our partners such as the Dagbani Teachers Association and others. Through the Reading Wikipedia in the Classroom approach, the program reframes Wikipedia as a tool for teaching critical thinking, not a shortcut for answers.

The strategy teaches how teachers can guide students to read, evaluate, verify, and improve content, aligning closely with global Media and Information Literacy principles.

Activities

Teacher networks and schools will be engaged to support replication and peer learning. DWUG will:

Train 50 Dagbani language teachers and pilot with 20 Dagaare and 20 Wali language teachers
Deliver a 3-week structured training covering information access, evaluation, and creation
Develop and use localized training materials in Dagbani and Gurene
Collaborate with the Dagbani Teachers Association (DTA) and Literacy for Development through Partnership (LDP)
Engage senior high schools and academic institutions to support classroom integration

Impact

Teachers will gain confidence in using Wikipedia responsibly, leading to increased classroom adoption and student readership. Their students will develop stronger research, verification, and writing skills while benefiting from more locally relevant content. In the long term, this program will:

Embed Wikimedia use within formal education practices
Strengthen trust between educators and open knowledge platforms
Create a new generation of informed readers and contributors

Reference:

Program 7: Arts and Feminism Article Contributions

(Gender Equity, Representation, and Community Leadership)

Challenge

Despite steady growth, the Dagbani Wikipedia and its sister language projects face a persistent gender content and participation gap. Fewer than 20% of biographies on Dagbani Wikipedia are about women, and female contributors remain significantly underrepresented among active editors and organizers. This gap reflects broader structural barriers, including limited access to digital spaces, confidence gaps, and the historical marginalization of women’s achievements in public records. Without deliberate intervention, the imbalance risks becoming normalized, resulting in a knowledge ecosystem that fails to reflect the full social, cultural, and intellectual contributions of women in Northern Ghana and beyond.

Strategy

DWUG treats gender equity as a structural issue, not a one-off campaign. Through Arts and Feminism, the strategy combines content creation with organizer development and mentorship, to ensure that women are represented both as subjects and as leaders within the community. The program focuses on article numbers, capacity building, confidence, and sustained participation, particularly for women contributors.

Activities

DWUG will:

Organize Arts and Feminism editing workshops focused on biographies of notable women, artists, educators, activists, and cultural practitioners
Recruit and mentor new female editors and organizers, using peer support and community office hours
Improve and expand gender-related content across Dagbani and sister-language Wikipedias
Provide recognition and visibility for women contributors to reinforce participation

Impact

This program will significantly increase the representation of women on our Wikimedia platforms and strengthen women’s participation as contributors and organizers. Over time, it will:

Reduce the gender gap in local-language content
Build a pipeline of women leaders within DWUG
Increase readership of gender- and arts-related content
Contribute to a more balanced and inclusive knowledge ecosystem

Program 8: Wiki Loves Campaigns

(Cultural Visibility, Multimedia, and Global–Local Connection)

Challenge

Many cultural expressions in Northern Ghana, including daily life, rituals, festivals, cuisine, and religious practices, remain under-documented in free and reusable media formats. This limits the visual and multimedia richness of Wikipedia articles and weakens the global visibility of local cultures.

Strategy

DWUG leveragesthe global Wiki Loves campaigns to mobilize contributors around culturally rich and visually engaging themes. These campaigns provide structure, motivation, and international visibility while allowing contributors to document their own lived experiences. Wiki Loves Ramadan and Wiki Loves Africa were selected because of the demographics of our community members and as a way to bridge the knowledge gap.

Activities

DWUG will actively participate in:

Wiki Loves Africa to documenting cultural life through photography, audio, and video aligned with the annual theme.
Wiki Loves Ramadan in documenting Islamic heritage, traditions, and community life during Ramadan.

Activities include:

Training contributors on photography, audio/video recording, and Creative Commons licensing
Coordinating local documentation on our language Wikipedia and photo submission support
Encouraging reuse of uploaded media in Wikipedia articles

Impact

These campaigns will:

Significantly increase high-quality multimedia content on Wikimedia Commons
Improve the visual richness and credibility of Wikipedia articles
Strengthen cultural representation and global discoverability
Build contributor skills in free licensing and visual storytelling

Program 9: Microgrant Support (Community and Individual)

(Grassroots Innovation and Volunteer Retention)

Challenge

DWUG supports multiple language communities with diverse needs. Not all valuable ideas fit within centralized programming or large grants, and small logistical or financial barriers often prevent volunteers from acting on good ideas. These situations can lead to frustration, inactivity, or repeated rapid grant applications.

We are a diverse group of 5 language communities, and we understand that there may be specific projects each community wants to carry out that do not work for everyone. Hence, we have implemented the microgrant community support program to help our sister communities and individuals with specific project ideas that do not require many resources, as well as community-based, unique projects that were not originally captured in our grant application for the year. This initiative will help reduce the influx of rapid-grant applications from our geographic zone or from members of our community. This microgrant community support program has been divided into two.

Strategy

DWUG uses microgrants as a volunteer empowerment mechanism, enabling contributors to initiate small, high-impact projects while remaining aligned with the user group’s mission. The program balances flexibility with accountability, ensuring accessibility without administrative burden.

A. Mabia Community Microgrant

The Dagbani Wikimedians User Group internal grant is an intervention scheme that our sister language communities who are part of the Mabia Group of languages to carry out projects that support Wikimedia visions and missions. Some of the projects supported include Wikidata, Wikimedia commons, Wikipedia, and any other mission aligned open source project that could be beneficial to the WMF.

B. Individual Microgrants

The individual microgrant program has been added to enable volunteers who want to conduct research, organize meetups, or create content and need resources to support them in achieving that goal independently. This way, volunteers are able to test they ideas and implement projects even if they can not access the WMF rapid fund.

Activities

The microgrant program includes:

Community microgrants to support hub-based or language-specific initiatives. This is to provide small grants to community members to support Wikimedia-related projects and encourage local initiatives to promote knowledge sharing and diversity.
Individual microgrants for research, meetups, content drives, article clean-ups or documentation projects, light-touch application, selection, and reporting processes
Mentorship support where needed.

Impact

Microgrants will:

Unlock grassroots innovation and creativity
Increase volunteer motivation and ownership
Reduce dependency on external rapid grants
Strengthen retention by making contributors feel supported and recognized

Program 10: Ghanaian Language Wikimedia Communities Meetup

(National Collaboration and Shared Learning)

Challenge

Language communities in Ghana face similar technical, organizational, and sustainability challenges but often work in isolation. This fragmentation slows learning, duplicates effort, and limits collective impact.

Strategy

The DWUG has helped organise a national convening model in the last three years that brings language communities together to share experiences, tools, and strategies. Collaboration with other affiliates ensures broader reach and sustainability. This is done to learn from Ghana's various communities. Every community has its strengths and weaknesses, and bringing all Wikimedia language communities together will provide fertile ground for brainstorming how to understand the various Wikimedia language technical tools and platforms. Also, every community has unique skills and experience, so bringing these communities together would help us share skills in community development, volunteer retention, leadership development, and more.

Activities

DWUG will co-support the Ghanaian Language Wikimedia Communities Meetup, which will:

Bring together contributors from multiple Ghanaian language communities
Host workshops on tools, content strategies, leadership, and volunteer retention
Facilitate peer learning and cross-community collaboration
Support both returning contributors and new volunteers
Target Participation

Total Participants: 80 (an increase from 60 in the previous edition due to additional affiliate support).

Participant Categories:

Returning Wikimedians from previous meetups.
New volunteers who are interested in language preservation.
Representatives from Twi, Ga, Dagbani, Kusaal, Gurene, Dagaare, and other language communities in Ghana.

Budget and Resource Planning

Past Meetups

Proposed Budget: GHS 88,000.00 / $8,268.67 (to be split between the Dagbani Wikimedians user group and Wikimedia Ghana).

Breakdown:

Venue and logistics
Participant support (transport, accommodation, and meals)
Workshop materials and resources
Ghanaian Language Meetup Budget 2026
Funding: Contributions from both affiliates’ general support grants.

Impact

The meetup will:

Strengthen national coordination among language communities
Recruit new volunteers: The meetups will provide an avenue to raise awareness of Wikimedia volunteers, attracting the attention of the general public and leading to the recruitment of more volunteers.
Offer the opportunity to learn about the projects and strategies of other communities and can replicate it for their language communities to increase content, and retain volunteers
Lead to more language incubation and Wikipedia approval
Accelerate skill transfer and innovation
Increase volunteer confidence and retention
Build a shared vision for language preservation and digital inclusion

Program 12: Wikipedia and Wikidata Birthday

(Structured Data Literacy and Contributor Growth)

Challenge

While Wikidata underpins many Wikimedia projects, many contributors remain unfamiliar with how to edit it or use its tools to improve Wikipedia content. This limits structured data contributions and reuse. Sometimes communities lack moments to relax and meet organically to share a drink, network, and reflect on why they even started contributing to Wikimedia projects and the potential impact of their contributions over the years.

Strategy

DWUG uses Wikipedia and Wikidata Birthday celebrations as both a community-building and skills-development opportunity, combining learning with recognition.

Activities

DWUG will:

Organize Wikidata editing and training sessions
Demonstrate how Wikidata improves Wikipedia infoboxes and search visibility
Host breakout sessions for tools and workflows
Recognize top contributors to encourage continuity
Organize a Wikipedia party for the community

Impact

This program will:

Increase Wikipedia and Wikidata literacy and confidence
Grow the number of structured data contributors
Improve data quality and reuse across projects
Strengthen the technical capacity of the community

Program 13: Annual General Meeting (AGM) and Community Awards

Challenge

Sustaining a volunteer-led movement requires structured reflection, recognition, and collective planning. The AGM is a platform that brings together almost all the active community participants to discuss our projects for the year, what worked well, the challenges, and the new programs we should adopt for the coming year. It is also a moment of reconnection, networking, and social interactions among members. We also recognize active participants by giving them prizes and awards.

Strategy

Use the AGM as both a governance mechanism and a community-building platform.

Activities

Organize a formal AGM with keynote speakers and community leaders
Review annual performance and future priorities
Recognize outstanding contributors and projects

Impact

Improved accountability and transparency
Increased volunteer motivation and morale
Stronger sense of belonging and continuity

Program 14: Joint Team Capacity Building and Retreat (DWUG & Wikimedia Ghana UG)

Challenge

Affiliate sustainability depends on skilled leadership, strong governance, and inter-affiliate collaboration.

Strategy

We hope to conduct a joint retreat with Wikimedia User Group Ghana to share best practices and strengthen partnerships.

Activities

Strategic planning sessions
Governance, partnerships, and sustainability workshops
Team-building activities

Impact

Strengthened leadership and teamwork
Deeper collaboration between affiliates
Improved long-term organizational resilience

Program 15: Conference Participation

Challenge

Conference participation and collaboration in the movement are integral processes that give communities a sense of belonging and an avenue to meet, share, and connect with others for future collaboration. With this in mind, we will be glad to have our community represented at the regional and international levels (Wiki Indaba and Wikimania). We understand that the scholarship program is very limited and can not include volunteers from each language community. But sometimes, because of so many applicants and the need to balance based on sex/gender, community or user groups, as well as regional bases, we do not get represented in these important meetups. To help with this, we intend to support at least one representative who has been actively involved in the community's affairs in the last few years to represent the user group. The individual will be supported with flight bookings, accommodation, and stipends to facilitate travel.

Also, we are collaborating with Wikimedia UK, Language Diversity Hub and Wikitongues to host the first Wikimedia Language Diversity Conference in Ghana from October 2 - 4 2026. As the host affiliate, we will be supporting 2 volunteers from our community to attend this important conference since there is no dedicated scholarship for the user group.

Strategy

A call for applications will be publicly announced, inviting all volunteers to apply for selection. A review committee made up of representatives from all our language communities will be constituted to ensure transparency and inclusivity.

Impact

Skills and knowledge transfer back to the community
Stronger movement integration and collaboration

9. What categories are your main programs and related activities under? Please select all that apply. (required)


Category	Yes/No
Education	Yes
Culture, heritage or GLAM	Yes
Gender and diversity	Yes
Community support and engagement	Yes
Participation in campaigns and contests	Yes
Public policy advocacy	No
Technology (software development)	No
Other	No

Education

9.1.1. Select all your programs and activities for Education. (required): Wiki Club, Wiki Camp, Reading Wikipedia in the Classroom or other Reading/Evaluating Wikipedia Training, Editing Wikipedia Training, Translation, Wikidata programs, Wikimedia Commons programs, Other Wikimedia project programs; Other programs and activities if any: N/A
9.1.2. Select all relevant audience groups for Education. (required): Vocational, tertiary, or higher education, Teachers or professors, Senior citizens; Other groups if any: N/A

Culture, heritage or GLAM

9.2. Select all your programs and activities for Culture, heritage or GLAM. (required): Documenting or incubating languages on Wikimedia projects, Introducing new approaches to underrepresented culture and heritage, e.g. decolonising or reparative work; oral and visual knowledge; outreach to communities of origin, indigenous and first nations self-determination, Supporting institutions to open up their collections, data, metadata, and research, Supporting GLAM professionals to incorporate use of Wikimedia in their work, through documentation, training, or Wikimedian in Residence programs, Partnering with institutions, professional associations, and allied organizations to raise awareness of open culture, ethical sharing, and related issues; Other programs and activities if any: N/A

Gender and diversity

9.3. Select all your programs and activities for Gender and diversity.: Bringing in women and/or gender diverse participants and editors, Focusing on creating content about women and/or gender diverse groups, including biographies, intersectional topic areas and/or adding images, Focusing on creating content about marginalized (underrepresented) communities and their knowledge, Focusing on knowledge equity by bringing in contributors from underrepresented communities, Building organizer skills in women and diversity groups, Fomenting female leadership within the movement (either staff, members or boards), Sensitize and educate for gender perspective among Wikimedia projects stewards and editors; Other programs and activities if any: N/A

Community support and engagement

9.4. Select all your programs and activities for Community support and engagement.: On-wiki training of community members, Off-wiki training of community members, Organizing meetups, conferences, and community events, Supporting community members' participation in events and conferences, Offering micro-funding and other financial support to community members , Offering non financial support and services to community members (equipment, space, books, etc.); Other programs and activities if any: N/A

Participation in campaigns and contests

9.5. Select all campaigns that apply. (required): Art+Feminism, Feminism and Folklore, Wiki Loves Africa, Wiki for Sustainable Futures, Wikipedia Birthday or Anniversary; Other programs and activities if any: N/A
10. Please include a link to or upload a timeline (operational calendar) for your programs and activities. (required): Dagbani Wikimedians User Group - Timeline (Operational Calendar) 2026/2027: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1dGK6eriRuZKMgRHXuqIGBGvHWPgLmqWTrSS4-1JWcK4/edit?usp=sharing

11. Describe your team. (required)

Project Advisors

Iddrisu Alhassan Sibdow Board chairman-dean of students, Tamale College of Education

Abukari Mohammed Awal, Advisory member- A teacher and Secretary for the dagbani teachers association

Abdul-Mumeen Iddrisu, Advisory member and lecturer at University for Development Studies

Iddrisu Ziblim David, Advisory member, Marketing Manager, Sagani TV

Pumaaya Abdul-Latif, Advisory member and a teacher

Amir Aharoni, Observer and Translate wiki administrator

Team and Roles

Details about each role			Link
S/n	Name	Position	About	Role	User Name	Gender	Status
1	Sadik Shahadu	Executive Director	He is the Executive Director (ED) of the Dagbani Wikimedians User Group (DWUG). He has been a longstanding volunteer for the Wikimedia Foundation since 2016 who has served in different capacities both at community and committee levels including but not limited to the grants committee, Wikimedia Executive Directors group, Steering committee member of the Language Diversity Hub, among others. He co-founded the Dagbani Wikimedians User Group that has given birth to the Gurene Wikimedia Community, Moore Wikmedia Community, Dagaare Wikimedia Community and the Kusaal Wikimedia Community.	https://docs.google.com/document/d/1I-OtV_jsbpil9nEdinRiBt7RPXJNp7EO93h5uxGEbF4/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.u87rl218i650	Shahadusadik	Male	Paid Role
2	Yussif Abdul Rasheed	Finance Officer	He is the Project Manager (PM) for the DWUG and is a salaried staff member. He has been a volunteer contributor since 2015 with vast experience in project management.		Din-nani1	Male	Paid Role
3	Khadija Iddrisu	IT Director	She is the IT Manager for DWUG and is a volunteer staff member. She is a PHD candidate pursuing Artificial Intelligence at the Dublin City University and has a lot of experience with data analytics and Information technology.			Female	Volunteer
4	Fuseini Mugisu Suhuyini	Social media and Communication officer	He is a volunteer staff member in charge of communications and social media management. He has served in that capacity with other organizations in the past and has garnered a lot of experience with public relations and management.		User:Sir Amugi	Male	Volunteer
5	Fuseini Musah	Programs Coordinator	He is a volunteer staff member, a former facilitator for Dagbani Wikipedia Saha and a former co-lead for the Kusaal Wikimedia Community. He is a longstanding educationist with leadership and community management skills. He is an indigenous language activist and an open education resource (OER) enthusiast.		User:Musahfm	Male	Volunteer
6	Abdul-Rafiu Fuseini	Community Facilitator	He is a volunteer staff, formally co-lead for Moore Wikimedia Community. He's a community developer of longstanding experience in team management, community engagement skills and Vice President of Ghana School On Internet Governance (GhanaSIG) EC		Alhaj Darajaat	Male	Volunteer
7	Mohammed Kamal-Deen Fuseini	Grants Manager	He is an active Wikimedian and a member of the regional fund committee for SSA and community facilitator. He is a regional proxy for the Black Lunch table and a former co-lead for the Gurene Wikimedia Community, former Wikimedian in Residence for the Wikidata for Education		Dnshitobu	Male	Volunteer
8	Hamidu Rukaya	Logistics Officer	She is the logistics Manager for DWUG and a volunteer staff member. She organize and coordinates all the User Group events		Ruky Wunpini	Female	Volunteer
10	Daniel Abugre Anyorigya	Co-lead for Wali Community	Daniel Abugre Anyorigya is a jounrnalist and the project lead for the Gurene Wikimedia community with over 6 years in leading Wikimedia community projects. He was a jury member of the Wikimedia journalism awards.		Uprising Man		Volunteer
11	Bukari Zakaria Tunsung	Co-lead for Dagaare Community			Zakaria Tunsung		Volunteer
12	Mahamud Mohammed Nurudeen	Co-lead for Kusaal Community					Volunteer
13	Vacant	Administrative Assistant (Contract)				NIL	Contract
14	Alhassan Abdul-Wadudu	Hubs Coordinator			Achiri Bitamsimli	Male	Volunteer
15	Tonon Abdul Shafiu Mahamud	Graphic Designer			Father Shafiu	Male	Volunteer

12. Will you be working with any internal (Wikimedia) or external partners? Describe the characteristics of these partnerships and bring a few examples of the most significant partnerships. (required)

Academic Institutions Partnership

These academic institutions form the central pool for new members, and we are to recruit and engage community members through our community engagement activities.

University of Education, Ajumako
Tamale College of Education
Bagabaga College of Education
University for Development Studies (UDS)
EP College of Education-Bimbilla
St. John Bosco's College of Education

Wikimedia Affiliates and Hubs

Ghanaian Wikimedia Languages Meetup

For the third time in a row, the Dagbani Wikimedians User Group collaborated with the Wikimedia Ghana User Group and several Ghanaian Wikimedia Languages Communities to organize the 3rd edition of the Ghanaian Languages Meetup 2025 in Kumasi, which brought together all 13 language communities in Ghana to reflect on the challenges and how to promote indigenous languages in the online ecosystems.

References:

===Wikimedia User Group Ghana===

The Dagbani Wikimedians User Group has gone into partnership with the Wikimedia User Group Ghana to develop the southern-based languages. This relationship will lead to an exchange program of best practices and capacity building for the team members of both organizations.

===Wikimedia Language Diversity Hub===

Wikimedia Language Diversity Hub Since 2022, the Dagbani Wikimedians user group has been a key partner with the Language Diversity Hub, working to address some of the changes faced by minority languages and to develop language support tools for Wikimedia language communities. This year, the Dagbani Wikimedians User Group will co-organize the first-ever Wikimedia Language Diversity Conference in October in Ghana in collaboration with Wikitongues, Wikimedia UK and the Language Diversity Hub.

References:

Non-Governmental Organizations

An AI of our Own

An AI of Our Own is an initiative of Living Arts International (LAI), a 501(c)3 registered non-profit with the goal of creating a peaceful, sustainable future with the living arts as a catalyst for change. The Dagbani Wikimedians user group collaborated with "An AI of Our Own" to build a community-centered AI for the Dagbani and Khmer languages in Ghana using Mozilla Common Voice by collecting sentences using Dagbani Wikipedia and uploading, recording and validating sentences on Common Voice. Funded through the Mozilla Foundation Common Voice public API grant.

References:

https://diff.wikimedia.org/2026/02/09/community-centered-voice-ai-workshop-for-the-dagbani-language/

Mozilla Foundation

In 2025, the Dagbani Wikimedians user group collaborated with the Mozilla Foundation to develop an AI model for the Dagbani language using the Mozilla Common Voice data. The project, “Training Dagbani ASR and TTS Models with Mozilla Common Voice” was generously funded by the Mozilla Foundation to develop cutting-edge speech technologies for the Dagbani language.

References:

https://diff.wikimedia.org/2025/07/09/celebrating-the-successful-dagbani-speech-technology-training-workshop-by-the-dagbani-wikimedians-user-group/

Rising Voices

Rising Voices is a not-for-profit organization that helps bring new voices from new communities and speakers of endangered or Indigenous languages to the global conversation by facilitating the creation of peer learning networks to leverage the internet and digital media for their self-determined needs. We entered into a partnership to provide training for our community leaders on digital security and other relevant topics through the Rising Voices project: “Build Your Own Roadmap for Dagbani Language Digital Activism.”.

References:

https://diff.wikimedia.org/2025/06/05/dagbani-language-activists-trained-to-promote-and-protect-their-work-online/

Dagbani Language Teachers Association

Our partnership with the Dagbani Language Teachers Associations will help us implement ‘Reading Wikipedia in the Classroom’ by training 50 members on how to use Wikipedia as a teaching tool to facilitate teaching and learning. We will train the selected language teachers in digital and information literacy skills focused on contributing to Wikipedia to enhance their ability to retrieve and disseminate information effectively.

References:

Ghana NLP

We are pleased with our ongoing partnership with the Ghana Natural Language Processing Community (Ghana NLP). Through this collaboration, the user group has contributed over 15,000 audio recordings to Wikimedia Commons, which are being used to train Ghana NLP’s automatic speech recognition and language translation application for Dagbani and Gurene.

Although the mobile application remains under development and is powered by machine learning, it has demonstrated up to 80% greater translation accuracy in Dagbani and Gurene compared to many existing translation tools for African languages. The AI models are trained primarily on unbiased textual data sourced from Dagbani and Gurene Wikipedia articles. As content on these Wikipedia platforms continues to expand, additional high-quality data will further strengthen and refine the system’s algorithmic performance.

References:

Sopala

We are pleased that four members of our community Rukaya Hamidu, Khadija Alhassan, Sadik Shahadu, and Musah Fuseini are contributing to the Sopala initiative as Open Educational Resources (OER) developers. Their work focuses on expanding offline access to high-quality digital resources for rural schools across Africa.

Through this partnership, members of the Dagbani Wikimedia community co-authored a research paper published by the MIT Media Lab and secured 16 tablets for distribution to rural community schools in northern Ghana.

Sopala, meaning “innovations” in Dagbani is a collaborative effort among individuals and organizations dedicated to advancing innovative applications of OER. This partnership supports the distribution of digital learning materials, including tablets preloaded with Kiwix and MoodleBox content such as Wikipedia, to enhance educational access for students in underserved communities.

References:

Open Knowledge Foundation

Since 2004, the Open Knowledge Foundation has worked at the intersection of cutting-edge digital tools and a distributed network of communities and movements to serve the public interest with open knowledge. In 2025, the Dagbani Wikimedians user group collaborated with the OKF to participate in usability test research for the Open Data Editor toolkit. Both Sadik Shahadu and Mugisu Fuseini participated in the organizational user test on behalf of the Dagbani Wikimedians user group.

References:

https://okfn.org/en/

Clear Global

Clear Global is a nonprofit helping people get vital information and be heard, whatever language they speak. Clear Global, through their Translators Without Borders (TWB) user research project on voice data collection, collaborated with the Dagbani Wikimedians user group to participate in user research to share our experiences, insights, and feedback on challenges, needs, and opportunities related to voice data collection work. As part of the research, 3 Dagbani Wikimedians user group team members, Sadik Shahadu, Fruseini Abdul Rafiu and Alhassan Wadudu, were invited to participate in the CLEAR Global Voice Data Collection Co-Design Workshop.

References:

https://clearglobal.org/

Africa & Proud

A Wikimedia community-based organization based in Nigeria and working to increase content about Africa and Africans across Wikimedia projects.

For the second time in a row, we will be participating in their Culture Connect 2026 program. a global celebration of African identity, heritage, and shared stories. Culture Connect is designed to enlighten and engage our community on the importance of preserving and promoting our culture through meaningful platforms that shape narratives and strengthen identity.

Global Open Initiative Foundation

The Global Open Initiative is a young not-for-profit organization made up of a dedicated group of open advocates who are striving to solve social problems that confront our communities; such as challenges in public services delivery, transparency and democratic control, and availability of educational resources.

For the third time in a row, we will participation in their Afrocution project. Led by the Wikimedians of Twi Language Community and the Global Open Initiative Foundation, the prject seeks to train young Ghanaians to contribute to Wikipedia in seven indigenous languages: Twi, Dagbani, Gurene, Dagaare, Ewe, Moore, and Kusaal.

Media Partners

Sagani TV

To strengthen visibility and public engagement, the user group has partnered with Sagani TV, a prominent media outlet on the Multi TV digital platform. This collaboration enables the documentation and broadcast of our activities and projects to a wider audience.

The partnership has significantly enhanced community outreach, awareness creation, and volunteer recruitment. Increased media exposure has also contributed to a notable rise in article views, reflecting growing public interest in the content we produce. As a result, our work is being used to support student learning, promote cultural knowledge and awareness, and strengthen the digital documentation of local histories online.

References:

https://w.wiki/9LdP

13. In what ways do you think your proposal most contributes to the Movement Strategy 2030 recommendations. Select all that apply. (required): Increase the Sustainability of Our Movement, Improve User Experience, Provide for Safety and Inclusion, Ensure Equity in Decision-making, Coordinate Across Stakeholders, Invest in Skills and Leadership Development, Manage Internal Knowledge, Identify Topics for Impact, Innovate in Free Knowledge, Evaluate, Iterate, and Adapt

Metrics

Wikimedia Metrics

14. Please select and fill out Wikimedia Metrics for your proposal. (recommended)

14.1. Number of participants, editors, and organizers.

All metrics provided are optional, please fill them out if they are aligned with your programs and activities.

Participants, editors, and organizers
Metrics name	Target	Description
Number of all participants	400	This will be the total number of participants (new and old) to be engaged.
Number of all editors	400	This will include all editors who will contribute and/or attend events throughout the year.
Number of new editors	150
Number of retained editors	250
Number of all organizers	20	A total of 35 Wikimedia organizers will be engaged across 4 language communities and Wikipedia clubs. Up to 9 individual grant winners will be selected to organize Wikimedia events.
Number of new organizers	15

14.2. Number of new content contributions to Wikimedia projects. (recommended)

Contributions to Wikimedia projects
Wikimedia project	Created	Edited or improved
Wikipedia	3000	2000
Wikimedia Commons	1000	300
Wikidata	5000	3000
Wiktionary	200	100
Wikisource	100	50
Wikimedia Incubator	500	300
Translatewiki	600	500
MediaWiki	50	100
Wikiquote
Wikivoyage	1000	500
Wikibooks
Wikiversity
Wikinews
Wikispecies
Wikifunctions / Abstract Wikipedia	30	50

Description for Wikimedia projects contributions metrics. (optional)

Other Metrics

15. Do you have other quantitative and qualitative targets for your project (other metrics)? (required): Yes


Other Metrics	Description	Target
Number of certified teachers trained	The number of teachers trained as part of our Reading Wikipedia in the Classroom project.	60
Capacity building programs	The total number of capacity-building programs	4
Number of new projects implemented by volunteers	This will include the total number of new projects implemented by individuals and at the local community level.	10
New Wikimedia project	We will pilot a Wikivoyage project for 3 language communities.	3
New partnerships	We will collaborate with 2 new organizations/institutions.	2

Budget

16. Will you have any other revenue sources when implementing this proposal (e.g. other funding, membership contributions, donations)? (required): Yes

16.1. List other revenue sources. (required)

Our partnership with the Mozilla Foundation will help us raise funds to continue with the Common Voice data annotation project.

16.2. Approximately how much revenue will you have from other sources in your local currency? (required): 30000

17. Your local currency. (required): GHS

18. What is the total requested amount in your local currency? (required): 927546 GHS

Multi-year funding request summary
Year	Amount (local currency)
Year 1	N/A GHS
Year 2	N/A GHS
Year 3	N/A GHS

Requested amount in USD: 82551.59 USD ^{[note 1]}

Multi-year funding request summary in USD
Year	Amount USD ^{[note 1]}
Year 1	N/A USD
Year 2	N/A USD
Year 3	N/A USD

↑ ^a ^b ^c The following amount in US dollars was calculated by Wikimedia Foundation staff using the fixed currency rates. This amount is approximate and may not reflect the actual currency exchange rates on the day of submission or distribution. If the application is funded, the funding will be sent in the recipient’s local currency.

19. Does this proposal include compensation for staff or contractors? (required): Yes

19.1. How many paid staff members do you plan to have? (required)

Include the number of staff and contractors during the proposal period. If you have short-term contractors or staff, please include them separately and mention their terms.

The general support fund will cover 2 paid staff and 2 contractor staff:

Executive Director (Paid Staff) and Finance Officer (Paid Staff). Administrative Assistant (Contract) Programs Coordinator (Contract)

19.2. How many FTEs (full-time equivalents) in total? (required)

Include the total FTE of staff and contractors during the proposal period. If you have short-term contractors or staff, please include their FTEs with the terms separately.

Dagbani Wikimedians User Group
Detailed Staff Budget
Personnel	Hourly rate(USD)	Hours per month	Calculation	Total(USD)/Month	Total (GHS)	Total(USD)/Year	Total(USD)/Year
Executive Director (Paid Staff)	10	90	9 USD X 100hrs	900.00	118476.00	10800.00	10,800
Administrative Assistant (Contract)	4	30	4 USD X 40hrs	120.00	15796.80	1440.00	1,440
Project Coordinator (Contract)	4	30	4 USD X 50hrs	120.00	15796.80	1440.00	1,440
Finance Officer (Paid staff)	9	70	8 USD x 90hrs	630.00	82933.20	7560.00	7,560
Total				1770.00	233002.80	21240.00	21,240

19.3. Describe any staff or contractor changes compared to the current year / ongoing General Support Fund if any. (required only for returning grantees): We have significantly reduced the salary allocated to the Executive Director and restructured the management framework by consolidating the Project Manager role into a Programs Coordinator position.

Previously, the Project Manager oversaw both programmatic and financial responsibilities. Given the increasing scope and complexity of work in these areas, we have formalized a dedicated financial officer role to ensure stronger financial oversight and accountability. Concurrently, the project manager position has been redesigned as a program coordinator role, which will be supported by an experienced intern (Administrative Assistant).

The Programs Coordinator will work closely with the co-leads of our four sister communities to support effective coordination and timely delivery of project outcomes.

20. Please provide an overview of your overall budget categories in your local currency. The budget breakdown should include only the amount requested with this General Support Fund (required).


Budget category	Amount in local currency
Staff and contractor costs	233002.8 GHS
Operational costs	211150 GHS
Programmatic costs	483393.2 GHS

21. Please upload your budget for this proposal or indicate the link to it. (required)

2026 annual budget: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1mmde1fqycWQlDl3weX1nsVf4YgOrYFEIojhHBl6TO9M/edit?usp=sharing

Additional information

22. In this optional space you can add any other additional information about your proposal or organization that you think can help us when reviewing your proposal. (optional)