Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Rapid Fund/Expanding Kurdish Wikipedia Content (ID: 23816608)
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Applicant Details
[edit]- Main Wikimedia username. (required)
Shaween (talk • accounts • contributions • edit count)
- Organization
Kurdish Wikimedians User Group
- 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.
Expanding Kurdish Wikipedia Content
- 2. and 3. Proposed start and end dates for the proposal.
2026-06-01 - 2026-08-31
- 4. Where will this proposal be implemented? (required)
Iraq
- 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 change this project aims to bring is the expansion and improvement of Kurdish Wikipedia content, while building a more active community of contributors. Kurdish Wikipedia faces multiple challenges, including limited content coverage across essential knowledge areas, a relatively small and inactive contributor base, plus a shortage of well-referenced, high-quality articles in the Kurdish language, which affects the platform’s reliability and usability.
To address these challenges, the project will focus on training new editors, organizing workshops, and facilitating edit-a-thons to encourage practical content creation. It will also prioritize developing and improving content related to Kurdish knowledge and underrepresented topics.
Through these efforts, the project seeks to contribute to the long-term sustainability of Kurdish Wikipedia by increasing both the volume and quality of content, while empowering individuals to actively participate in preserving and sharing knowledge in their native language.
- 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.
To achieve the goal of expanding and improving Kurdish Wikipedia content while building a sustainable contributor community, the project will implement the following key activities:
1. Countries and Flags Edit-a-thon: This activity will bring participants together to create and improve articles related to countries and their flags. Contributors will focus on translating content into Kurdish, adding reliable references, and ensuring articles meet Wikipedia standards.
Why this activity? Countries and flags are essential, high-demand topics that form the foundation of general knowledge. Focusing on these topics ensures immediate impact by filling critical content gaps while providing a structured and beginner-friendly entry point for new editors.
2. Cities Edit-a-thon: This Edit-a-thon will focus on creating, developing and enhancing articles about cities worldwide. Participants will learn how to structure articles, include infoboxes, and use reliable sources while contributing meaningful content.
Why this activity? City-related content is widely searched and often underdeveloped in Kurdish Wikipedia. This activity builds participants’ editing skills while significantly increasing the depth and usability of geographic content.
3. Podcast for Raising Awareness of Kurdish Wikipedia (It might be a Webinar): This activity will include organizing a podcast or online webinar aimed at introducing Kurdish Wikipedia to a broader audience. It will cover the importance of free knowledge, how to contribute, and the impact of community participation.
Why this activity? One of the main challenges is the lack of awareness and limited number of contributors. This activity helps attract new participants, including those who may not have prior experience, and encourages them to join future Edit-a-thons and continue contributing.
- 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.
Shaween Othman Faraj : Organizer Wikimedia Username: Shaween Volunteers at: Kurdish Wikimedians User Group as Coordinator Iraqi Wikimedians User Group as Memeber Arabic wikimedians User Group as Memeber Editor at Kurdish, Arabic & English Wikipedia
Mohammed Sardar Noori: Technical Expert Wikipedia User: Kushared Volunteer at: Kurdish Wikimedians User Group as Founder Editor at Kurdish & English Wikipedia
Sarmad Said Yaseen: Coordinator Wikipedia User: Sarmad Yaseen Volunteer at: Kurdish Wikimedians User Group: Member Iraqi Wikimedians User Group: Member Arabic Wikimedians User Group: Founder Editor at Kurdish, Arabic & English Wikipedia
Jury: to be identified
The Team members are familiar with Wikipedia editing guidelines, sourcing, and content development. They have experience in editing, content creation, and participating in Wikimedia activities, and are committed to supporting new contributors throughout the project.Their combined experience and commitment will help create a supportive and productive environment for both new and existing editors.
- 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)
The main participants in this project will be volunteer editors from the Kurdish Wikipedia community, especially contributors who are interested in topics such as geography, countries, and global culture. The project will also welcome new volunteers who speak Kurdish and would like to start contributing to Wikipedia by writing or improving articles about countries, cities and national flags. Students, language enthusiasts, and Kurdish speakers who care about expanding knowledge in Kurdish may also be interested in participating. Since the topic is global and educational, it can attract contributors who want to help make reliable information about the world available in Kurdish.
Engaging participants before and during the activities: Before the activities begin, the project will introduce the initiative on Kurdish Wikipedia through a dedicated project page. This page will explain the project goals, provide a list of articles that need to be created or improved, and invite editors to participate. During the project, contributors will be encouraged to collaborate by selecting countries or flag-related articles from the task list and improving them. Clear guidelines, article examples, and suggested sources will be shared to help participants contribute effectively. Communication among participants will take place through the project discussion page, where editors can ask questions, share ideas, and coordinate their work.
Following up with participants after the activities: After the main activities, contributors will be encouraged to continue improving and updating the articles created during the project through a dedicated telegram group and the main social media channels of Kurdish User group. A summary of the project’s progress such as the number of articles created or improved can be shared with the community to recognize the efforts of participants plus the number of new editors added to Kurdish Wikipedia.
Participants will also be invited to stay involved in future collaborative initiatives related to Kurdish Wikipedia. Maintaining communication with contributors and highlighting the impact of their work can help sustain their motivation and encourage long-term participation in expanding Kurdish-language knowledge online.
- 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.
The idea for this project was first developed by identifying a clear gap in articles related to cities, countries and national flags on Kurdish Wikipedia. Since these topics are widely searched and educationally important, improving them was seen as a practical way to expand Kurdish-language content and make global knowledge more accessible to Kurdish readers. To involve the community, the project proposal will be shared on Kurdish Wikipedia through the community discussion pages and the project page itself. This allows active editors to review the idea, provide feedback, and suggest improvements before and during the implementation of the project. Community members have been invited to comment on the proposal, discuss priorities (such as which country articles should be created or improved first), and share suggestions about sources, terminology, and article structure. These discussions help ensure that the project reflects the needs and views of the Kurdish Wikipedia editing community. In addition, editors interested in geography-related topics will be encouraged to participate in the discussion and contribute to the project. This open approach allows the project to benefit from the experience of existing contributors while also welcoming new participants.
- 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)
Culture, heritage or GLAM
- 14. Will your work focus on involving participants from any underrepresented communities? Select one option that most apply to your work. (required)
Linguistic / Language
- 15. In what ways do you think your proposal most contributes to the Movement Strategy 2030 recommendations. Select one that most applies. (required)
Increase the Sustainability of Our Movement
Learning and metrics
[edit]- 17. What do you hope to learn from your work in this project or proposal? (required)
Through this project, we aim to better understand what works most effectively in growing Kurdish Wikipedia, both in terms of content and community. we hope to better understand how collaborative efforts can improve Kurdish-language content about global topics. Beyond creating and improving articles, the project is also an opportunity to learn how the Kurdish Wikipedia community can work together more effectively to expand reliable knowledge in Kurdish.
In addition, the project will help us identify which topics are most suitable for beginners, such as countries, flags, and cities, and what challenges new editors may face while contributing in Kurdish, whether technical, linguistic, or related to Wikipedia guidelines. We also aim to learn how awareness activities influence participation and how to improve not only the number of articles but also their overall quality. These insights will help us design more effective future initiatives, strengthen the contributor community, and support the long-term development of Kurdish Wikipedia.
- 18. What are your Wikimedia project targets in numbers (metrics)? (required)
| Other Metrics | Target | Optional description |
|---|---|---|
| Number of participants | 15 | |
| Number of editors | 10 | |
| Number of organizers | 1 | This project contains 2 editathons, and planned to have one organizer, one coordinator and one technical expert. |
| Wikimedia project | Number of content created or improved |
|---|---|
| Wikipedia | 160 |
| Wikimedia Commons | |
| Wikidata | |
| 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)
Outreach Dashboard
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)
4227300 IQD
- 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.
2979.9 USD
- By submitting your proposal/funding request you confirm that you have read and agree to the Application Privacy Statement, WMF Friendly Space Policy, and the 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).