Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Rapid Fund/Expanding Queer Wikimedia Participation Across Northern Nigeria (ID: 23759207)/Final Report
Application type: Standard application
Part 1: Project and impact
1. Describe the implemented activities and results achieved. Additionally, share which approaches were most effective in supporting you to achieve the results. (required)
The project was quite successful with good results and provided a quick dive into the northern Wiki LGBT+ community.
As a result of these activities, the project:
- We successfully onboarded new contributors from Northern Nigeria into our diverse Wikimedia LGBT+ community, increasing regional representation within the Wikimedia movement.
- Led to the creation and improvement of multiple LGBTQ+ related articles across Wikimedia platforms on Wikipedia, Wikidata, and Wikimedia Commons.
- Supported participant retention beyond initial trainings, with several editors continuing to engage in subsequent campaigns and editing activities.
- Fostered a safe and supportive micro-community for queer contributors and allies in a high-risk environment.
The most effective approaches were:
- Trust-based and community-led recruitment using the partnered LGBTQ+ organization in Northern Nigeria which ensured participant safety and built credibility.
- Integration of digital security into training, which addressed participants’ concerns and enabled more confident participation.
2. Documentation of your impact. Please use space below to share links that help tell your story, impact, and evaluation. (required)
Share links to:
- Project page on Meta-Wiki or any other Wikimedia project
- Dashboards and tools that you used to track contributions
- Some photos or videos from your event. Remember to share access.
You can also share links to:
- Important social media posts
- Surveys and their results
- Infographics and sound files
- Examples of content edited on Wikimedia projects
The diff for the event here: https://diff.wikimedia.org/2026/05/22/strengthening-queer-participation-in-northern-nigeria-wiki-for-human-rights-lgbtiq-april-training/
The dashboard for the event: https://outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org/courses/W4HR_Nigeria/WikiForHumanRights_on_LGBT_at_Kaduna_(April_2026)/home
Some photos from the event; cant share all per privacy (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Wiki_for_Human_Rights,_LGBTIQ%2B_training_at_Kaduna_2026)
Additionally, share the materials and resources that you used in the implementation of your project. (required)
For example:
- Training materials and guides
- Presentations and slides
- Work processes and plans
- Any other materials your team has created or adapted and can be shared with others
Presentation slides that was used during the training (https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1dLPoia4VXdi7rg_Opsyl3fJ4G5cUNc7M/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=102342149188913408245&rtpof=true&sd=true)
3. To what extent do you agree with the following statements regarding the work carried out with this Rapid Fund? You can choose “not applicable” if your work does not relate to these goals. Required. Select one option per question. (required)
| A. Bring in participants from underrepresented groups | Strongly agree |
| B. Create a more inclusive and connected culture in our community | Strongly agree |
| C. Develop content about underrepresented topics/groups | Agree |
| D. Develop content from underrepresented perspectives | Agree |
| E. Encourage the retention of editors | Agree |
| F. Encourage the retention of organizers | Agree |
| G. Increased participants' feelings of belonging and connection to the movement | Agree |
| F. Other (optional) |
Part 2: Learning
4. In your application, you outlined some learning questions. What did you learn from these learning questions when you implemented your project? How do you hope to use this learnings in the future? You can recall these learning questions below. (required)
You can recall these learning questions below: Through this project, we hope to learn how regional, partnership-driven approaches can improve access, safety, and retention for LGBT+ contributors in underrepresented and higher-risk contexts. Specifically, we aim to understand which training formats and support structures are most effective for engaging queer participants in the Northern regions of Nigeria.
Yes, i understand better how better to structure training in northern Nigeria and the gap that exists.
5. Did anything unexpected or surprising happen when implementing your activities? This can include both positive and negative situations. What did you learn from those experiences? (required)
Positives: One of the major positives of the project was the strong level of interest we received from queer individuals in Northern Nigeria. This was especially significant because the region is often perceived as conservative, so we initially had modest expectations regarding participation. However, the turnout and enthusiasm exceeded what we anticipated. A key factor that contributed to this success was our partnership with a local queer organization, which helped build trust, mobilize participants, and strengthen community engagement.
Challenges / Negatives: One challenge we encountered was the different learning pace of participants compared to similar trainings we have held in Southern Nigeria. This affected the speed of the sessions and required more time for participants to fully grasp the editing process. Another challenge was that we did not place enough emphasis on translation work as many participants would have been more comfortable contributing through English-to-Hausa translations. This limited our ability to fully align the training with the linguistic strengths of the participants.
Key Learnings: A major lesson from this project is the importance of allocating more training days when working in regions such as Northern Nigeria, where additional time may be needed for onboarding and practical support. We also learned that future interventions in the region should place stronger focus on translation activities, as this would make participation more accessible and meaningful for many participants. In addition, it would be valuable to engage a facilitator who is experienced in Hausa-language Wikimedia contributions to better support participants during the training.
6. What is your plan to share your project learnings and results with other community members? If you have already done it, describe how. (required)
We have done that through diff here:https://diff.wikimedia.org/2026/05/22/strengthening-queer-participation-in-northern-nigeria-wiki-for-human-rights-lgbtiq-april-training/
Part 3: Metrics
7. Wikimedia Metrics results. (required)
In your application, you set some Wikimedia targets in numbers (Wikimedia metrics). In this section, you will describe the achieved results and provide links to the tools used.
| Target | Results | Comments and tools used | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of participants | 20 | 23 | We had a total of 23 partipants in total which exceeded our target |
| Number of editors | 15 | 10 | These 10 edited ad others couldnt due to the differnt learnig pace |
| Number of organizers | 5 | 7 | We had total number opf 7 orgaizers from the partners and W4HR Nigeria team |
| Wikimedia project | Target | Result - Number of created pages | Result - Number of improved pages |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia | 150 | 2 | 357 |
| Wikimedia Commons | 70 | 50 | 19 |
| Wikidata | 200 | 13 | 221 |
| Wiktionary | |||
| Wikisource | |||
| Wikimedia Incubator | |||
| Translatewiki | |||
| MediaWiki | |||
| Wikiquote | |||
| Wikivoyage | |||
| Wikibooks | |||
| Wikiversity | |||
| Wikinews | |||
| Wikispecies | |||
| Wikifunctions or Abstract Wikipedia |
8. Other Metrics results.
In your proposal, you could also set Other Metrics targets. Please describe the achieved results and provide links to the tools used if you set Other Metrics in your application.
| Other Metrics name | Metrics Description | Target | Result | Tools and comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
9. Did you have any difficulties collecting data to measure your results? (required)
No
9.1. Please state what difficulties you had. How do you hope to overcome these challenges in the future? Do you have any recommendations for the Foundation to support you in addressing these challenges? (required)
Part 4: Financial reporting
[edit]10. Please state the total amount spent in your local currency. (required)
2080000
11. Please state the total amount spent in US dollars. (required)
1501.92
12. Report the funds spent in the currency of your fund. (required)
Provide the link to the financial report https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/12S89LI2NeQCE_kDJx1YBzIiLkwiK82waIh8Np74DLXg/edit?usp=sharing
12.2. If you have not already done so in your financial spending report, please provide information on changes in the budget in relation to your original proposal. (optional)
13. Do you have any unspent funds from the Fund?
No
13.1. Please list the amount and currency you did not use and explain why.
N/A
13.2. What are you planning to do with the underspent funds?
N/A
13.3. Please provide details of hope to spend these funds.
N/A
14.1. Are you in compliance with the terms outlined in the fund agreement?
Yes
14.2. Are you in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations as outlined in the grant agreement?
Yes
14.3. Are you in compliance with provisions of the United States Internal Revenue Code (“Code”), and with relevant tax laws and regulations restricting the use of the Funds as outlined in the grant agreement? In summary, this is to confirm that the funds were used in alignment with the WMF mission and for charitable/nonprofit/educational purposes.
Yes
15. If you have additional recommendations or reflections that don’t fit into the above sections, please write them here. (optional)