Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/General Support Fund/GOIF 2026 Annual Grant
This is an automatically generated Meta-Wiki page. The page was copied from Fluxx, the web service of Wikimedia Foundation Funds, where the user has submitted their application. Please do not make any changes to this page because all changes will be removed after the next update. Use the discussion page for your feedback. The page was created by CR-FluxxBot.
Applicant information
[edit]- Organization name or Wikimedia Username for individuals. (required)
- Global-Open Initiative Foundation
- 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)
- Nonprofit organization with Wikimedia mission
- 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
Main proposal
[edit]- 1. Please state the title of your proposal. This will also be a title for the Meta-Wiki page. (required)
- GOIF 2026 Annual Grant
- 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)
- 2026-01-01
- 4. Proposed end date. (required)
- 2026-12-31
- 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
- https://gamma.app/docs/Global-Open-Initiative-Foundation-GOIF-Annual-Plan-2026-Strategic-1d7og4u0e6cxcwv?mode=doc
- 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/1rUcAdRp_bTzMe0N7mxHM52Yr8pRY1wkVTHE2vud0yGI/edit?tab=t.apwrahpvj27u
- 7. Where will this proposal be implemented? (required)
- Regional (more than one country in the same continent or region)
- We aim to expand our Supreme court web app to have items from at least two more countries from West Africa(Nigeria) and East Africa.
- 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)
Despite the growing global importance of open knowledge, Wikimedia projects still face gaps in African content, gender representation, and access to legal information, which limits inclusivity and public literacy. Challenges such as the loss of active volunteers and limited digital skills also affect the sustainability of Wikimedia communities in the region. In response, GOIF’s 2026 program builds on lessons from 2025 to expand impact, visibility, and engagement, in alignment with the Wikimedia Foundation’s 2025–2026 priorities of equity, diversity, and sustainable growth.
Goals and Objectives GOIF’s 2026 program aims to: Expand visibility and readership of Wikimedia content related to Ghana and Africa. Bridge knowledge and gender gaps through focused campaigns. Strengthen volunteer skills beyond editing to leadership and advocacy. Democratize legal information access across Africa using Wikimedia infrastructure. Promote African cultural heritage and preserve endangered languages. Build sustainable, inclusive Wikimedia communities in universities and local regions.
Programs 1. GOIF and Partners Workshop & Edit-a-thon Series Challenge: Wikimedia platforms lack sufficient coverage of African knowledge, gender representation, and culturally diverse content. Volunteer engagement and retention are limited without structured support.
Strategy: Conduct workshops and contests to address content gaps, build volunteer skills, and foster inclusion, particularly among women. Align with global campaigns like Art+Feminism and 1Lib1Ref to connect local action with international efforts.
Activities: Organize 25 workshops and 6 contests in collaboration with Nubuke, Ghana Library Authority, and CSIR. Create 1,000 new Wikidata items, improve 2,000 existing items, create 50 new Wikipedia articles, and enhance 800 more. Upload 750 files each to Wikimedia Commons and Wikisource. Provide structured training, mentorship, and leadership pathways for volunteers. Hold regular community calls to sustain engagement and develop resilience.
Impact: Increased availability of accurate, diverse content on Ghana and Africa. Greater representation of women and underrepresented groups among contributors. A strengthened, sustainable volunteer community with leadership and advocacy skills.
2. Democratizing Access to Legal Information
Challenge: Legal information is difficult to access for the general public across Africa, limiting transparency and civic engagement. Wikimedia platforms have minimal coverage of legal materials beyond Ghana.
Strategy: Expand the existing Ghana-focused Supreme Court Cases app(https://ghanasupremecases.toolforge.org/) into a pan-African Wikimedia initiative, engaging volunteers, legal institutions, and Wikimedia communities across the continent.
Activities: Adapt the Supreme Court Cases app for multi-jurisdictional use. Document and share Supreme Court cases on Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons, and Wikisource. Upload, proofread, and publish full-text legal judgments linked to structured data. Conduct continental awareness campaigns and mentorship to grow volunteer networks.
Impact: Broader access to authoritative legal information across African countries. Hybrid access: structured case data on Wikidata with full-text rulings on Wikisource. At least 1,000 pageviews of uploaded cases in the first year. A sustainable, pan-African volunteer network advancing open knowledge and open justice.
3. AfroCuration Ghana 2026 – “WHO WE ARE: Showcasing Traditions in African Music and Aesthetics”
Challenge: Traditional African music, instruments, and aesthetics are underrepresented on Wikimedia platforms and are at risk of being lost. Many people are still unaware of the existence of Twi Wikipedia and other language-specific Wikimedia projects. Moreover, most content consumed and produced by the public is in English, limiting engagement with local language knowledge.(1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seFy_s_JbQI 2. https://thenorthjournals.com/newsbeat/art-life/5481/afrocuration-ghana-2025-celebrates-african-identity-with-wikipedia-drive-in-seven-indigenous-languages/)
Strategy: Mobilize youth, academics, and community members to document and share African cultural heritage through workshops, online training, and public events. Emphasize local language content creation and translation to strengthen visibility and accessibility of African knowledge.
Activities: Conduct seven online workshops across language groups (Twi, Dagbani, Ewe, Moore, Gurune, Dagaare, Kusaal). Create over 200 new Wikipedia articles Host a main AfroCuration event featuring musicians, historians, and cultural performers. Collaborate with KNUST, UEW, cultural centers, and Wikimedia language communities. Encourage participants to adopt a proactive approach to digitally documenting and sharing their languages, promoting sustainable knowledge preservation online.
Impact:
Expanded readership and engagement with African music, instruments, and cultural heritage, particularly in local languages.
Strengthened preservation of endangered knowledge and traditional practices through digital documentation.
Cultivated a renewed mindset among participants about the importance of language digitization and knowledge sharing.
Strengthened networks between academic institutions, cultural centers, and Wikimedia communities, fostering sustainable, local-language contributions.
4.Twi Community Editing Workshops Twi Wikipedia
Challenge: Twi-speaking communities currently have limited access to detailed educational content on African instruments, music, and cultural practices, including legal aspects such as copyright. This limits both knowledge preservation and local engagement with Wikimedia platforms.
Strategy: To address this, GOIF will organize workshops and conferences aimed at creating and improving Twi-language content across Wikipedia, Wikidata, and Wikimedia Commons. This approach will not only preserve cultural knowledge but also increase readership and participation within the Twi-speaking community.
Activities: Conduct eight in-person workshops focused on content creation, editing, and digital literacy.
Upload 150 Twi pronunciations and related images of musical instruments, musicians, and relevant legal terms to Wikimedia Commons. Create 250 new articles related to the Twi Heritage Translate 500 descriptions of Wikidata items from English to Twi to enhance discoverability and context for local readers.
Impact: Enriched educational resources tailored for Twi-speaking communities. Increased readership and global accessibility of African cultural content. Empowered volunteers with digital skills, cultural knowledge, and experience in open knowledge contribution.
5. University Wiki Clubs and Language-Specific Projects Challenge: Student and community engagement in Wikimedia contributions is inconsistent, with limited leadership pipelines and skills development.
Strategy: Strengthen existing Wiki Clubs and expand to new institutions, integrating mentorship, peer-to-peer support, and structured training.
Activities: Host 48 workshops across six universities. Train students in research, article creation, and Wikidata contributions. Use tools like OpenRefine to enhance data management skills. Support creation and improvement of 1,200 Wikipedia articles and 3000 Wikidata items.
Impact: Sustained student engagement with open knowledge and leadership development. Stronger representation of Ghanaian culture, history, and innovations online. Long-term, self-sustaining university Wiki Clubs contributing to Wikimedia projects.
6. Nzema and Ewe Wikipedia Content Development
Challenge: Nzema and Ewe languages face underrepresentation online, risking loss of linguistic and cultural heritage.
Strategy: Organize workshops and content contests with local speakers, universities, and linguistic experts to develop accurate, culturally relevant content.
Activities (Nzema): Six workshops (3 online, 3 offline) and two content contests. Create 300 new articles.
Activities (Ewe): Six workshops (3 online, 3 offline) and one content contest. Create 100 new articles. Recruit, train, and engage at least 30 new volunteers.
Impact: Preservation and promotion of Nzema and Ewe languages and culture online. Development of a sustainable volunteer network for ongoing content creation. Increased awareness and use of African languages on Wikimedia platforms.
7. Oral History Documentation – Preserving Intangible Heritage Building on the successful documentation of beadmaking as part of our oral history initiative, the 2026 program will focus on amplifying the reach and impact of this cultural heritage content during Heritage Month through strategic partnerships with media houses, cultural institutions, and community stakeholders. The goal is to preserve and promote Ghanaian intangible heritage by combining Wikimedia content enrichment with widespread public engagement.
Key Activities: Media Collaboration for Heritage Month Broadcasts Partner with prominent media houses (TV, radio, and online outlets) to produce feature segments, interviews, and documentaries spotlighting beadmaking traditions and other oral histories. This collaboration will increase public awareness and appreciation of Ghanaian heritage while driving traffic to Wikimedia platforms hosting related articles and media.
Heritage Month Events and Community Showcases Organize live events, panel discussions, and cultural showcases involving artisans, historians, and community leaders to bring oral histories like beadmaking to life. These events will be covered by media partners and shared widely on Wikimedia platforms and social media channels.
Volunteer-Led Documentary Initiative Support three volunteers with training, mentorship, and resources to produce short documentaries on intangible heritage themes. These documentaries will be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons under free Creative Commons licenses, ensuring they are openly accessible, reusable, and integrated into related Wikipedia articles. This initiative will also build volunteer capacity in digital storytelling while diversifying the forms of oral heritage available on Wikimedia projects.
Impact Increased public awareness and appreciation of Ghanaian intangible heritage through national media engagement. Enriched Wikimedia platforms with openly licensed multimedia content (articles, audio, video, and photographs) that preserve beadmaking and other traditions for future generations. Strengthened the culture of Creative Commons licensing, helping volunteers, artisans, and media partners understand the importance of free licenses for knowledge-sharing. Empowered volunteers with hands-on experience in digital storytelling, filmmaking, and Wikimedia Commons contribution. Fostered community pride and a sense of ownership of Ghanaian heritage through Heritage Month activities.
8. Publicity, Outreach, and Readership Campaigns
Challenge: While Wikimedia hosts valuable content on Ghana and Africa, many communities remain unaware of it. This limits readership, engagement, and participation in content creation.
Strategy: Increase awareness and engagement by leveraging media partnerships, social campaigns, wiki birthdays, national events(Ghana Heritage Month), and digital channels, ensuring that local audiences discover, use, and contribute to Wikimedia content.
Activities: Coordinate campaigns around key events such as Software Freedom Day and Wikimedia thematic campaigns. Run targeted social media campaigns to achieve 1,000 engagements (likes, shares, comments) across platforms. Grow community channels and drive at least 30 new volunteer sign-ups. Use Eventbrite and analytics tools to track audience reach, engagement, and registrations for workshops and campaigns.
Impact: Increased readership and use of Ghanaian and African content on Wikipedia, Wikidata, and Wikimedia Commons. Expanded volunteer base and strengthened community engagement. Greater visibility and influence of Wikimedia content locally and globally, supporting knowledge equity and inclusion.
Addressing Key Challenges Across Programs:
Content and Gender Gaps: Targeted campaigns and programs promote inclusivity and equitable representation.
Volunteer Retention and Capacity: Structured curricula, mentorship, and leadership pathways strengthen engagement and reduce attrition.
Technological Barriers: Mobile-friendly tools and simplified processes enhance accessibility for contributors across remote locations.
Sustainability: Partnerships with cultural institutions, universities, media, and legal sectors ensure long-term, scalable impact.
Readership & Visibility: Publicity, outreach, and engagement strategies ensure that created content reaches target audiences and drives meaningful usage.
- 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 |
| Other | No |
Education
- 9.1.1. Select all your programs and activities for Education. (required)
- Wiki Club, Editing Wikipedia Training, Translation, Wikidata programs
- Other programs and activities if any: N/A
- 9.1.2. Select all relevant audience groups for Education. (required)
- Secondary school students, Vocational, tertiary, or higher education, Teachers or professors
- 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
- Other programs and activities if any: N/A
Participation in campaigns and contests
- 9.5. Select all campaigns that apply. (required)
- 1Lib1Ref, Art+Feminism, 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)
- https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1keaG3w_elmm7VdtGwZtPZf9d2xMwgSoDnPfDmTstLMU/edit?usp=sharing
- 11. Describe your team. (required)
User:Mwintirew - Executive Director, In charge of Finance and Logistics User:Sunkanmi12- Project manager - Vacant User: User:Jemima2019 - Project Lead for Twi Community/Jury (Paid) User:Amoaniwaa - Communications, Graphic Designer/build pages, other maintenance, Twi Professional(Paid) User:Naa2Darkoa - Trainer, workshop facilitator and other Maintenance User:Elkay20 - Project lead for Wiki Clubs and technical support (Paid) User:Amuzujoe - Ewe Community Lead and Photographer for commons related events. User:Valentine Badu - Nzema lead and Outreach support, facilitate workshops and meet ups. User:Warmglow - Administrative, Outreach Support and partnership development as well as trainer. User: MohammedT10 - Social media and community engagement User:Nimot123 - Facilitation/Logistics for Wiki clubs events
Support User:Douglas Tabariyeng User:Swayam_Agrahari User: FatawuY1
Advisors Gereon Kalkuhl Greg McVerry Maha Bali Nate Angell
Co-founders User:Masssly User:Celestinesuccess Sadik Shahadu
- 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)
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) - Language and Communication Sciences Department: This partnership involves collaboration with the GOIF twi team and the KNUST Language and Communication Sciences Department in creating content in the twi language on Wikipedia and Wikidata. In fact the pro vice chancellor played a key role in the previous Afro curation event and also reviewed the proposal.
University of Education, Winneba - Akan and Nzema Department: Collaboration with this department will involve the creation and contribution of content in the Twi Wikipedia and Nzema Incubator. We have received the approval of the heads of department to engage with students and suggestions for projects.
Knutsford University, West End University, Islamic University College, Presbyterian University College, Heritage Christian University College: These partnerships could involve various forms of collaboration, including student engagement, and training on how to create high quality Wikipedia pages and how these trainings can help improve the writing and research skills of students. They can help GOIF enhance the educational landscape in Ghana through our open initiatives.
2. Cultural and Artistic Collaborations: Centre for National Cultural, Ashanti Region: This partnership will focus on cultural preservation, heritage promotion, and art-related initiatives. GOIF will collaborate with the Center for National Cultural, Ashanti Region to promote and to ensure that weaving traditions are represented and understood accurately. This will help GOIF support and promote Ghana's rich cultural heritage through this initiative.
Nubuke: Nubuke is a prominent art and cultural centre in Ghana. Through our collaboration with them we had access to space for events and also resources for improving content on artists in Ghana. In fact in one our collaboration they provided images that tells the livelihood of people in the Upper West Region Of Ghana Collaborating with them will involve art adding content to Wikipedia on Ghanaian arts. This will also involve utilising the resources in the Nubuke library.
3. Media and Communication Partnerships: Multimedia Group Limited: These partnerships will focus on raising awareness about Wikimovement, open innovation and promoting GOIF's initiatives through their media channels. Collaborating with media groups can help GOIF reach a broader audience and engage with the public effectively. We collaborated with them last year where they gave us the platform to speak about our kente weaving project.
- 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, Innovate in Free Knowledge
Metrics
[edit]Wikimedia Metrics
[edit]- 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.
| Metrics name | Target | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Number of all participants | 500 | N/A |
| Number of all editors | 300 | N/A |
| Number of new editors | 250 | |
| Number of retained editors | 200 | |
| Number of all organizers | 40 | N/A |
| Number of new organizers | 5 |
- 14.2. Number of new content contributions to Wikimedia projects. (recommended)
| Wikimedia project | Created | Edited or improved |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia | 1400 | 1550 |
| Wikimedia Commons | 2001 | |
| Wikidata | 2000 | 4500 |
| Wiktionary | ||
| Wikisource | 1500 | |
| Wikimedia Incubator | ||
| Translatewiki | ||
| MediaWiki | ||
| Wikiquote | ||
| Wikivoyage | ||
| Wikibooks | ||
| Wikiversity | ||
| Wikinews | ||
| Wikispecies | ||
| Wikifunctions / Abstract Wikipedia |
- Description for Wikimedia projects contributions metrics. (optional)
Other Metrics
[edit]- 15. Do you have other quantitative and qualitative targets for your project (other metrics)? (required)
- Yes
| Other Metrics | Description | Target |
|---|---|---|
| Documenting supreme court cases in another African country | Documenting Supreme court cases in another African country | 2 |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
Budget
[edit]- 16. Will you have any other revenue sources when implementing this proposal (e.g. other funding, membership contributions, donations)? (required)
- No
- 16.1. List other revenue sources. (required)
N/A
- 16.2. Approximately how much revenue will you have from other sources in your local currency? (required)
- N/A
- 17. Your local currency. (required)
- GHS
- 18. What is the total requested amount in your local currency? (required)
- 1270780 GHS
| Year | Amount (local currency) |
|---|---|
| Year 1 | N/A GHS |
| Year 2 | N/A GHS |
| Year 3 | N/A GHS |
- Requested amount in USD
- 80567.45 USD [note 1]
| 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.
- Full-Time Paid Staff: 3 staff members
- 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.
- The total number of full-time equivalents (FTEs) covered with this General Support Fund is 3.0 FTEs (Project Manager – 1.0 FTE, Project Lead Wiki Clubs – 1.0 FTE, Project Lead Twi – 1.0 FTE).
- 19.3. Describe any staff or contractor changes compared to the current year / ongoing General Support Fund if any. (required only for returning grantees)
- N/A
- 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 | 371400 GHS |
| Operational costs | 142800 GHS |
| Programmatic costs | 756580 GHS |
- 21. Please upload your budget for this proposal or indicate the link to it. (required)
Additional information
[edit]- 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)
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.
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 Community Fund/Proposals
- Wikimedia Community Fund/Proposals/Funded
- Education - General Support Funds in FY 2025-26
- Culture, heritage or GLAM - General Support Funds in FY 2025-26
- Gender and diversity - General Support Funds in FY 2025-26
- Community support and engagement - General Support Funds in FY 2025-26
- Participation in campaigns and contests - General Support Funds in FY 2025-26
- Approved General Support Funds for SSA in FY 2025-26
- Approved General Support Funds for SSA in FY 2025-26 (Round 1)
- General Support Funds for SSA in FY 2025-26 (Round 1)
- General Support Funds in FY 2025-26 (Round 1)
- Approved General Support Funds in FY 2025-26 (Round 1)
- General Support Fund proposals by Global-Open Initiative Foundation
- Approved General Support Funds in FY 2025-26