Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Rapid Fund/Ensuring Quality Knowledge:Improving Hausa Wikipedia Articles and Wikidata Items (ID: 23073818)
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Applicant Details
[edit]- Main Wikimedia username. (required)
Sirjat
- Organization
N/A
- If you are a group or organization leader, board member, president, executive director, or staff member at any Wikimedia group, affiliate, or Wikimedia Foundation, you are required to self-identify and present all roles. (required)
N/A
- Describe all relevant roles with the name of the group or organization and description of the role. (required)
Main Proposal
[edit]- 1. Please state the title of your proposal. This will also be the Meta-Wiki page title.
Ensuring Quality Knowledge: Improving Hausa Wikipedia Articles and Wikidata Items
- 2. and 3. Proposed start and end dates for the proposal.
2025-06-27 - 2025-07-31
- 4. Where will this proposal be implemented? (required)
Nigeria
- 5. Are your activities part of a Wikimedia movement campaign, project, or event? If so, please select the relevant project or campaign. (required)
Not applicable
- 6. What is the change you are trying to bring? What are the main challenges or problems you are trying to solve? Describe this change or challenges, as well as main approaches to achieve it. (required)
The problem we are trying to solve The Hausa Wikipedia still has many challenges that make it hard for readers to find complete and reliable information. Here are some of the main issues:
- Many important articles are either missing or too short – see short pages.
- A lot of existing articles don’t have reliable sources, and some contain dead or broken links – see unsourced articles.
- Most articles are not connected to Wikidata – see articles without interwiki, see unconnected pages.
What will this project do? This project will help fix these problems by training editors and improving content. We will:
- Add missing information on important topics in Hausa.
- Improve references by adding reliable sources and removing dead links.
- Connect more Hausa articles to their correct Wikidata items.
Why is this important? Many Hausa readers depend on Wikipedia for knowledge, but they often find incomplete or poorly written articles. By working on this project, we will:
- Help editors learn how to write better articles using good sources.
- Train them to link articles to Wikidata for better visibility and structure.
- Encourage both male and female editors to contribute and work together, making the community stronger.
How will we do it? We plan to carry out the project through hands-on training and community participation:
- Host online workshops to teach how to fix citations and connect articles to Wikidata.
- Run a one-month editing campaign with small rewards to encourage active participation.
- Create simple Hausa-language tutorials that will be used during and after the project.
Why this method works
- Similar projects have shown that focused training leads to better article quality.
- When male and female editors work together, it builds a more active and balanced community.
- Adding Wikidata links makes Hausa articles more discoverable and easier to maintain in the long term.
- 7. What are the planned activities? (required) Please provide a list of main activities. You can also add a link to the public page for your project where details about your project can be found. Alternatively, you can upload a timeline document. When the activities include partnerships, include details about your partners and planned partnerships.
This project aims to boost contributions to Hausa Wikipedia through five exciting activities, including a writing contest!
1. Online Training Sessions We will begin with two live Zoom workshops. These sessions will teach participants how to:
- Find reliable sources,
- Fix broken or outdated links using archiving tools,
- Connect Wikipedia articles to Wikidata.
Live demonstrations will be used, as they have proven more effective than text-only instructions in past Hausa edit-a-thons.
2. In-Person Workshop We will organize a two-day physical training session, where participants will receive hands-on guidance and editing support.
3. One-Month Editing and Writing Contest We will run a one-month writing contest and editing campaign. Participants will:
- Create or improve important articles,
- Fix citations in existing pages,
- Add Wikidata links to relevant articles.
This group activity will help maintain motivation and allow newer editors to learn from experienced contributors. Prizes will be awarded to top participants.
4. Video Tutorials in Hausa We will produce short and simple video tutorials in the Hausa language. Topics will include:
- How to fix references and citations,
- Introduction to Wikidata,
- How to use the Wikipedia Content Translation tool.
These videos will be available online after the project ends to support future editors.
5. Community Support and Final Event Throughout the project, we will keep the community active and engaged through:
- Weekly check-ins on WhatsApp or Telegram,
- Open channels for questions and peer support,
- A final online showcase to highlight the impact of the project and celebrate participants' achievements.
- 8. Describe your team. Please provide their roles, Wikimedia Usernames and other details. (required) Include more details of the team, including their roles, usernames, Wikimedia group, and whether they are salaried, volunteers, consultants/contractors, etc. Team members involved in the grant application need to be aware of their involvement in the project.
Our project team is made up of experienced and committed Wikimedians who have organized and facilitated several Wikimedia events in the past. Everyone in the team is a volunteer. They are all aware of their roles and contributions to this project.
- Sirjat, Project Lead
Sirjat is the project lead. She has been a Wikimedian for years and has organized many edit-a-thons, trainings, and campaigns. She will coordinate all project activities, manage communication, and ensure successful implementation of the project.
- Gwanki, Lead Facilitator (Physical and Online Training)
Gwanki is an experienced Wikimedian and a Hausa Wikipedia administrator. He has led many Wikimedia projects across Northern Nigeria. He will lead both physical and online training, and provide guidance to participants during the project.
- M Bash Ne, Facilitator and Jury Lead
M Bash Ne is an active Wikimedia contributor who has participated in many projects. He will serve as a facilitator during all events and also lead the jury to evaluate participants’ contributions during the contest.
- Hamza DK, Facilitator and Technical Support Lead
Hamza DK is a dedicated Wikimedian who will assist with both facilitation and technical support. He will handle online tools, set up virtual sessions, and provide help to participants during the events.
- Usmanmaifada, Facilitator and Online Promoter
Usmanmaifada is an experienced Wikimedian who will help facilitate the training sessions and promote the project online. He will support awareness creation on social media and encourage participation from the wider community.
- 9. Who are the target participants and from which community? How will you engage participants before and during the activities? How will you follow up with participants after the activities? (required)
This project is for anyone passionate about improving knowledge in Hausa especially our existing Wikipedia editors. We’re making special effort to include more women editors, as their voices help make Hausa Wikipedia more balanced.
To get people involved, we’ll start by spreading the word through channels editors already use Hausa Wikipedia Discussion page and our active WhatsApp groups. We’ll personally reach out to regular contributors too.
Once the project begins, we’ll keep energy high with daily check-ins on WhatsApp/Telegram, small data bonuses for consistent participants, and public shout-outs for top contributors. We understand people are busy, so there will always be flexible ways to participate.
After the main activities end, we’ll check in with participants to see what worked best, invite them to keep learning through mentorship, and continue sharing new editing opportunities. We’ll celebrate everyone’s contributions on community boards.
- 10. Does your project involve work with children or youth? (required)
No
- 10.1. Please provide a link to your Youth Safety Policy. (required) If the proposal indicates direct contact with children or youth, you are required to outline compliance with international and local laws for working with children and youth, and provide a youth safety policy aligned with these laws. Read more here.
N/A
- 11. How did you discuss the idea of your project with your community members and/or any relevant groups? Please describe steps taken and provide links to any on-wiki community discussion(s) about the proposal. (required) You need to inform the community and/or group, discuss the project with them, and involve them in planning this proposal. You also need to align the activities with other projects happening in the planned area of implementation to ensure collaboration within the community.
To ensure alignment with community needs and avoid duplication, I began by consulting Hausa Wikipedia facilitators and reviewing recent discussions on the Hausa Community Discussion Page, as well as active WhatsApp and Telegram editor groups. After confirming no similar projects were ongoing, I shared a draft proposal on the community page, inviting feedback on priority topics and training formats.
- 12. Does your proposal aim to work to bridge any of the content knowledge gaps (Knowledge Inequity)? Select one option that most apply to your work. (required)
Language
- 13. Does your proposal include any of these areas or thematic focus? Select one option that most applies to your work. (required)
Not applicable
- 14. Will your work focus on involving participants from any underrepresented communities? Select one option that most apply to your work. (required)
Gender Identity
- 15. In what ways do you think your proposal most contributes to the Movement Strategy 2030 recommendations. Select one that most applies. (required)
Improve User Experience
Learning and metrics
[edit]- 17. What do you hope to learn from your work in this project or proposal? (required)
From this project, I hope to learn better ways to improve the quality of Hausa Wikipedia articles and how to make sure they are well connected to Wikidata. I want to understand what kind of information is missing or poorly written, and how to fix it using reliable sources.
I also hope to learn how to encourage more people to join and stay active in editing especially those who are new or haven't contributed before. This will help me know what support they need and how to make training sessions more useful for them.
Another thing I want to learn is how to make local knowledge especially things we know through culture or oral history part of Wikipedia in a way that is accepted and useful.
Lastly, I want to improve my skills in using Wikidata and linking it properly to Hausa Wikipedia articles. All of this will help me and others in my community to grow as better contributors and make our work more meaningful and impactful.
- 18. What are your Wikimedia project targets in numbers (metrics)? (required)
| Other Metrics | Target | Optional description |
|---|---|---|
| Number of participants | 50 | Online and in-person participants |
| Number of editors | 30 | Contest participants |
| Number of organizers | 5 |
| Wikimedia project | Number of content created or improved |
|---|---|
| Wikipedia | 1000 |
| Wikimedia Commons | |
| Wikidata | 1000 |
| Wiktionary | |
| Wikisource | |
| Wikimedia Incubator | |
| Translatewiki | |
| MediaWiki | |
| Wikiquote | |
| Wikivoyage | |
| Wikibooks | |
| Wikiversity | |
| Wikinews | |
| Wikispecies | |
| Wikifunctions or Abstract Wikipedia |
- Optional description for content contributions.
N/A
- 19. Do you have any other project targets in numbers (metrics)? (optional)
No
| Main Open Metrics | Description | Target |
|---|---|---|
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
- 20. What tools would you use to measure each metrics? Please refer to the guide for a list of tools. You can also write that you are not sure and need support. (required)
I will use the Wikimedia Foundation's Dashboard tool
Financial proposal
[edit]- 21. Please upload your budget for this proposal or indicate the link to it. (required)
- 22. and 22.1. What is the amount you are requesting for this proposal? Please provide the amount in your local currency. (required)
2050000 NGN
- 22.2. Convert the amount requested into USD using the Oanda converter. This is done only to help you assess the USD equivalent of the requested amount. Your request should be between 500 - 5,000 USD.
1275.68 USD
- We/I have read the Application Privacy Statement, WMF Friendly Space Policy and Universal Code of Conduct.
Yes
Endorsements and Feedback
[edit]Please add endorsements and feedback to the grant discussion page only. Endorsements added here will be removed automatically.
Community members are invited to share meaningful feedback on the proposal and include reasons why they endorse the proposal. Consider the following:
- Stating why the proposal is important for the communities involved and why they think the strategies chosen will achieve the results that are expected.
- Highlighting any aspects they think are particularly well developed: for instance, the strategies and activities proposed, the levels of community engagement, outreach to underrepresented groups, addressing knowledge gaps, partnerships, the overall budget and learning and evaluation section of the proposal, etc.
- Highlighting if the proposal focuses on any interesting research, learning or innovation, etc. Also if it builds on learning from past proposals developed by the individual or organization, or other Wikimedia communities.
- Analyzing if the proposal is going to contribute in any way to important developments around specific Wikimedia projects or Movement Strategy.
- Analysing if the proposal is coherent in terms of the objectives, strategies, budget, and expected results (metrics).