Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Rapid Fund/Republic of Zambia Municipal, Town and City Councils on Wikipedia 2026 (ID: 23653873)
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Applicant Details
[edit]- Main Wikimedia username. (required)
Lightonphiri
- 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.
Republic of Zambia Municipal, Town and City Councils on Wikipedia 2026
- 2. and 3. Proposed start and end dates for the proposal.
2026-02-02 - 2025-05-30
- 4. Where will this proposal be implemented? (required)
Zambia
- 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)
There is a significant knowledge gap on Wikipedia regarding local governance in Zambia. Our most recent academic study (https://datalab.unza.zm/publications/72) highlighted this "profound representation gap," noting that articles on Zambian municipal councils are often "incomplete, outdated, or entirely absent." This is a critical issue because these 116 councils are the primary administrative bodies for implementing national development projects, such as the widely-used Constituency Development Fund (CDF). When citizens, journalists, and researchers lack accessible, high-quality information about their local councils, it hinders transparency and public engagement.
This project aims to solve this problem by ensuring that every one of the 116 municipal, town, and city councils in Zambia has a dedicated and informative Wikipedia page. The main approach is to empower a community of local editors through a structured, multi-phased project. By creating this foundational content, we will make information about local governance structures and development initiatives readily accessible, bridging a critical information gap for Zambia.
- 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.
Our activities are designed to systematically address the content gap identified in Question 6 by providing a clear structure and strong support for both new and existing editors. We have chosen a phased approach because it allows us to build a solid foundation before engaging the community, making the editing process more efficient and welcoming.
The main activities are as follows:
- Phase 1. Preparation and Content Scaffolding (February - March 2026)
- 1.1 Source Compilation
- Phase 1. Preparation and Content Scaffolding (February - March 2026)
We will identify and compile a set of authoritative reference materials for participants. These sources will include legislative documents, official administrative boundaries documents, government websites (such as the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development), official council Facebook pages for current events, and publications from the Local Government Association of Zambia.
This is a critical first step. Providing a pre-vetted package of reliable sources removes a major barrier for new editors, who often struggle to find appropriate citations. This ensures high-quality, verifiable content from the start and allows participants to focus on writing rather than searching.
- 1.2 Stub Page Creation
We will create basic "stub" articles for all 116 councils. This ensures a comprehensive structure is in place. A "gold standard" template will be developed to guide contributors on the essential sections for each council page (e.g., History, Demographics, Wards, Economic Activities, CDF Projects).
This approach provides essential structure. Creating the stubs ensures that no council is overlooked and gives participants a clear "to-do list." The template provides a consistent format, making it easy for editors to contribute meaningful content without worrying about technical formatting. This scaffolding lowers the entry barrier and channels participant energy directly into content creation.
- Phase 2. Community Edit-a-thons (April - May 2026)
We will conduct two focused edit-a-thons to expand the stub pages into well-referenced articles. Participants will be trained on Wikipedia editing standards, using the compiled sources and the page template. The edit-a-thons are divided into two regional waves:
- Wave 1 (April 2026)
Focusing on councils in the Central, Copperbelt, Eastern, Luapula, and Lusaka Provinces
- Wave 2 (May 2026)
Focusing on councils in the Muchinga, Northern, North-Western, Southern, and Western Provinces
- Phase 2 Justification
Edit-a-thons are a proven method for generating high volumes of content in a short, focused period. By holding two separate events, we can manage participant numbers effectively, provide more personalized support, and build momentum. Dividing the councils by province (Wave 1 and Wave 2) creates clear, manageable goals for each event, making the overall target of 116 articles less daunting and more achievable for the community.
- 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.
- Project Lead
Lighton Phiri (Wikimedia Username: Lightonphiri). As the project lead, I will be responsible for overall coordination, creation of the stub pages and templates, leading the training sessions, and managing the grant's reporting. My background in supervising the research that identified this content gap provides me with a strong understanding of the project's context and goals.
- Facilitators (2, Volunteers): We will recruit two experienced volunteer editors, who are postgraduate students, to assist with training, participant support during the edit-a-thons, and content quality review.
- 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 target participants are new and existing Wikipedia editors in Zambia. We will specifically target university students at The University of Zambia, with an interest in Zambian civics and history.
- Engagement
We will recruit participants through social media announcements, collaborations with university departments, and outreach to the local Wikimedia community.
- Follow-up
After the edit-a-thons, we will maintain engagement through a project page on Wikipedia to track progress and a mailing list to inform participants of future editing events, encouraging them to remain active contributors.
- 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 project idea is directly informed by academic research on Wikipedia content gaps related to Zambia. To ensure community alignment, a summary of this proposal will be posted on the talk page of the Wikimedia User Group Zambia for community feedback and to recruit volunteer facilitators.
- 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)
Geography
- 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)
Geographic
- 15. In what ways do you think your proposal most contributes to the Movement Strategy 2030 recommendations. Select one that most applies. (required)
Identify Topics for Impact
Learning and metrics
[edit]- 17. What do you hope to learn from your work in this project or proposal? (required)
We hope to answer the following learning question: "What are the most effective strategies and resources needed to mobilize new and existing editors in Zambia to create and sustain high-quality content about local civic institutions?"
- 18. What are your Wikimedia project targets in numbers (metrics)? (required)
| Other Metrics | Target | Optional description |
|---|---|---|
| Number of participants | 54 | |
| Number of editors | 50 | |
| Number of organizers | 4 |
| Wikimedia project | Number of content created or improved |
|---|---|
| Wikipedia | 116 |
| 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)
Event Metrics will be used to track the number of participants and editors involved in the project. Post-event surveys and feedback forms will be used to gather quantitative and qualitative input from participants.
Financial proposal
[edit]- 21. Please upload your budget for this proposal or indicate the link to it. (required)
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VxkeeSlJBSzYYW83Z8lLLJ0MFu8SAVNVvBvLtprWCCE/edit?usp=sharing
- 22. and 22.1. What is the amount you are requesting for this proposal? Please provide the amount in your local currency. (required)
105175 ZMW
- 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.
4761.44 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).