Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Rapid Fund/Wiki Media Literacy & Fact-checking in South Sudan (ID: 22797871)
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Applicant Details
[edit]- Main Wikimedia username. (required)
MakurProTyler
- 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.
Wiki Media Literacy & Fact-checking in South Sudan
- 2. and 3. Proposed start and end dates for the proposal.
2025-01-31 - 2025-03-31
- 4. Where will this proposal be implemented? (required)
South Sudan
- 5. Are your activities part of a Wikimedia movement campaign, project, or event? If so, please select the relevant project or campaign. (required)
Other (please specify) Wiki Media Literacy & Fact-checking in South Sudan
- 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)
My part in the project is to counter this by making Wikimedia projects, especially Wikipedia, more known in South Sudan and enable as many people on the ground as possible to contribute content that mirrors the country's dignity — not just civil wars. At present, little is known written on South Sudan fair and unbiased and extensively by those who hail from the region as much of what we get to hear are data mostly magnified to show that there is a war in which destruction of lives and properties, gossip and all negativity. It results in partial and prejudiced narratives, limiting the perception of the country as a poor ground for peacebuilding and informed decision-making. One of the biggest issues I want to solve is the spread of false news and a substantial void of reliable, wholesome information about South Sudan on many platforms including Wikipedia. Most are not even aware of it and the few who do, lack Wikimedia literacy; very very few South Sudanese know how to edit articles, upload media or ensure that the information shared is accurate. To overcome this, the strategy aims at building capacity for the masses. This would involve organizing workshops for bloggers, journalists and Wikipedia enthusiasts, training them importantly on how to edit a Wikipedia article; create new articles on the website; and upload images to Wikimedia Commons among other basic but crucial aspects. The project will give individuals these skills, and they will produce content about the history, culture and geography of South Sudan and its links to the rest of the world, which should correct some of Wikipedia's biases. They are adopting this approach as promoting digital media literacy among the people is one of the most successful ways that any hoax and fake news can be avoided in future, with authentic information sharing. Experience from similar Wikimedia projects in other geographically under-represented regions has shown that locally-driven contributions can help redress this while building a sense of ownership over the media landscape. The main aim is to introduce the students, journalists and content creators of South Sudan to the Wikimedia movement, and its projects. We want to collaborate for a mutual understanding of the importance of free knowledge and approaches to learning through editing. So stay tuned for the content that we will be putting out concerning South Sudan, our communities there as well all of you the participants. To accomplish this, we have planned an array of activities: presentations, and training sessions. This proposal is important in the sense that it attempts to look at representation — and by so doing, how information on South Sudan is represented globally within the digital sphere. This project can help to shift the global narrative that defines South Sudan by engaging South Sudanese content creators, journalists, and citizens to contribute well-referenced, local knowledge material about this war-torn nation to Wikipedia and related projects that document human civilization. This is at least one of the changes that I hope to bring, for South Sudan might be a nation with an oft-broken voice, however, it does have a past and minor victories that if not celebrated sooner or later minimize in magnitude until none else ever hears about them. Some other benefits to the people of South Sudan: Nationwide representation improvement: The content that forms a part of Wikipedia will give accurate information, so such real data will make people comprehend South Sudan much better. This will curb stereotyping and expand the image that reaches foreign viewers. Using Local Voice: the project makes individuals more proactive as information producers than as passive consumers. This helps foster digital literacy skills and a greater ownership of their country's digital reputation. Misinformation Mitigation: As more people in South Sudan are educated on how to edit and verify information related to Wikimedia, there will be less misinformation or absence of information available about South Sudan which will lead to a better source of online references for the country globally and domestically. Approaches or Strategies: Building Capacity through Workshops:- This is a major approach of empowering the Participants by giving them hands-on skills and practice in editing and contributing to Wikimedia projects. The format of the workshop-based model has been chosen because it provides physical learning opportunities, which have proven to be valuable in other community-led projects. Activity: Hosting a concurrent series of in-person and online workshops on how to write and edit Wikipedia articles, and Wikimedia Commons uploads with media files citations from reliable sources. Community Engagement: This will include community leaders and influencers to adapt the initiative for long-term engagement with Wikimedia projects. More articulately, the project has the potential for enduring impacts if community support is woven through the fabric of prison programs. Activity: Community discussions on the importance of local content creation; Peer-support systems for new contributors post-training workshops. Review and Curation of Content: They will not only develop new content but will also learn how to review, and edit existing information and ensure it is neutral as per the standards of Wikipedia. This results in the delivery of real, verified information about South Sudan. Action: Establish a verification CoP that is made up of experienced contributors to track and evaluate contributions for accuracy and compliance with Wikipedia policy. Why These Approaches? These approaches are chosen because they have worked in similar settings. Wikimedia already has shown some success in other underrepresented areas as Nigeria and Kenya with similar workshop-based models. Research on media literacy and capacity building confirms that to remember what you learned and to keep utilizing the acquired knowledge later on, successful learning happens when it is hands-on as opposed to passive, like webinars or lectures. Innovations: One of the innovations in this proposal is to consider content verification as part of the learning process. Participants will be asked to verify the articles, and not just for content creation. This guarantees not just quality but also cultivates more developed critical thinking and media literacy techniques that can be used beyond Wikipedia simply to battle fake news in all settings. Using the above approaches and activities, we anticipate a ripple effect—where individuals trained will act as Wikimedia advocates in their communities—that would over time increase both local content on Wikimedia projects and digital literacy in South Sudan. Additional Approach: Narrow all lower-level campaigns: The need of the hour for all lower-level values is now that most people who want to participate often need a basic idea of what Wikipedia is. Action: Run targeted campaigns to mobilise teachers, retired citizens, homemakers and students of colleges. Editing Tools Training: Conduct training on editing tools, especially editing Wikipedia with a mobile device. Activity: Ask users to make small edits in your product and watch them go live instantly Then get your participants to create regular editing user accounts. Follow-up (Sustained engagement ) — Spawn a new editor cohort group so that novice editors become friends and continue with further edits from there in real time through WikiProjects, edit-a-thons etc. New editors are invited to engage in corresponding Wiki projects to expand the articles available in Wikipedia about South Sudan, stressing local content.
- 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.
Planned Activities: The key activities of the project are focused on (i) enhancing Wikimedia literacy, (ii) strengthening content in Wikimedia projects by South Sudanese, and (iii) increasing access to quality content specific to South Sudan. These are the principal things we do: Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons October Workshops (in-person & online) Abstract: Workshops in Juba and other targeted areas for the local community to learn how to edit, create Wikipedia articles, upload media files to Wikimedia Commons and cite credible sources. Reasons: These hands-on workshops are a key mechanism for getting South Sudanese participants equipped to participate in Wikimedia. We delivered knowledge through in-person and online (Hybrid) sessions transforming the process from passive instruction to active learning and participation thus, more effectively. Intended Audience: Journalists and content creators, College students and professionals who want to give to Wikimedia projects. Organisation Partners: We aim to partner with local colleges, journalism schools, and creative digital media institutions to do participant outreach. Wikimedia Awareness at Juba, South Sudan Objective: The campaign will target communities and aims to raise awareness of the importance of local content contribution on these networks. Justification: Because you cannot implement what you do not know. There are many South Sudanese who may not know what Wikimedia is or even how to use it. The campaign will be conducted in both urban and rural settings resulting in larger outreach across the north-eastern region. We are going to use a mix of online and offline, including social media posts, radio, community meetings etc. Intended Audience: General audience and community leaders, educators, and resource production personnel. Collaborators: Local media, community organizations and social media personalities. How to edit (South Sudan articles) workshops Description: Workshop to create new Wikipedia articles on South Sudan, its history, culture, economy and prominent individuals. It is about getting South Sudan represented as accurately and fully as possible on Wikimedia Spaces. Motivation: Workshops on content creation will directly enable attendees to engage in completing these gaps on Wikipedia The project also helps maintain a balanced and diverse online representation of South Sudan by emphasizing local content, rich in South Sudanese culture, and history. Intended Audience: Journalists, historians, educators and students who have any passion for adding South Sudan content on Wikipedia. Key Partners: University of Juba, cultural & historical institutions Upload to Wiki Commons Media sessions Description: Hands-on learning to show you how to upload images or other media files to Wiki Commons using Creative Commons licenses. These will mostly be about landmarks, events, people and cultural artefacts from South Sudan. Why this post: Even the SEO image of South Sudan must be improved. This will allow Wikimedia Commons to host images that are not only relevant but also of high quality from South Sudan, which can be used for educational and informational purposes worldwide. Who is this for: photographers, journalists, content creators. Partners: Photography clubs, media houses, civil society organisations Extended Mentoring and Online Support Abstract: Workshops will be followed up by support that will help new contributors go through their editing and content creation. This will involve the establishment of online discussion groups, provision of resources, and engagement in edit-a-thons. Backward Reasoning: Subsequent mentorship towards a common goal keeps members connected and committed. It also creates a web of support for connecting, sharing, and maybe collaborating on future efforts. Sustaining the Momentum of the Journey — Long-term engagement is crucial for a project like this. Intended Audience: Those who attend workshops and are new to editing Wikipedia. Contributing to: Wikimedia Community User Group South Sudan Mentors who are experienced editors and mentoring from other Wikimedia communities in Africa Edit-a-thons and WikiProjects Open to the Public Short description: We will organise edit-a-thons and WikiProjects aimed at attracting new editors to start contributing to expanding South Sudan articles on Wikipedia. The events will centre on specific themes such as cultural heritage, education or prominent South Sudanese figures etc. Why Edit-a-thons: Because edit-a-thons are one of the best ways to engage participants and scale contributions in a short period. In doing so we will stimulate a wave of fresh high-quality content while guiding those participating to use and perfect the skills they learn in an encouraging format. Target Audience: Public, journalists, students and content creators. Affiliated entities: Wikimedia Community User Group South Sudan, local institutions and educational organisations. Even better content proof and quality control Description: Arranging for creation and implementation of a verification committee, to watch over new articles and contributions following Wikimedia policies about neutrality, reliability and notability. Reason: Quality work should be more important anthropologically than quantity. This step is key to making sure all contributions are up to the standards of Wikimedia and fostering a good reputation for South Sudan content in the global Wikimedia community. Intended Audience — An experienced editor and/or those of you budding volunteers stemming from the workshops. Collaboratory partners: Wikimedia Community User Group South Sudan Why It Works These Activities work for a few reasons. Hands-on: Workshops communities somewhere to immediately implement what they learn in indulging content, motility module of both humming arrangement and data-driven possibilities. This worked before in other Wikimedia community projects. Sustained engagement and community growth: ongoing mentorship & online support, FYI so that participants remain engaged, continue to grow as contributors and spread the knowledge to others in their communities. Wikipedia: Content creation 6: Free access and content with Wikipedia: A low-cost but effective manner to work on the disappearance of biodiversity extinction is mass communication which does functions like creating awareness, setting a balance between wrong use to right use, but so far we have seen it very few times it helping save the species. What I feel and learned till now from here is that there shouldn't be only translation going on this project(going in parallel)We need sane people filling these endangered sections of Wiki, People who currently know the significance of biodiversity. This could be enabled by #Onsite making more information available about the local ecosystem—it might just foster passion towards conservation at large. This could make us aware of where protectionism matters & how much. Then balancing wiki articles Interesting Articles Contents on sites Purpose impart vital information. Content can come from Biological seminars Habitat progression Animal & Plants Listing Pollution Tree felling Randomness for specific user Good Media Creation User Interest. Should there be a goal beyond #awareness creating #curiousity:# current need? Different point No. of edits similar data/stat purpose driven Thematic article writing Editors may focus Writing contents Strengthen Article sections Local content Sustainable Incentive structure Participants will ensure their content reservation same as existing update/language field space.
- 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 Team
1. Makur Majeng (Project Lead)
Wikimedia Username: MakurProTyler Role: As the Project Lead, I am responsible for organizing workshops and training sessions on contributing to Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons. I will also train participants on how to identify credible sources and teach fact-checking skills in collaboration with editors from the Wikimedia Community User Group South Sudan. Status: Volunteer
2. Editors from the Wikimedia Community User Group South Sudan
Roles: These experienced editors will assist in organizing training sessions and mentoring participants. They will provide guidance on best practices for contributing to Wikimedia projects and help ensure the quality of the content created. Status: Volunteers (individual identities are not disclosed per their request)
3. Community Volunteers
Role: A group of local volunteers who will help facilitate workshops, assist new editors during the training process, and encourage participation in ongoing editing activities such as WikiProjects and Editathons. Status: Volunteers
- 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)
Students, content creators, journalists and interested individuals. Social media campaign, I'll post on Facebook, WhatsApp. Design some flyers and banners for advertising for participants. I'll create a WhatsApp group chat and telegram channel for all the participants and keep track of our conversation easily.
- 10. Does your project involve work with children or youth? (required)
Yes
- 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.
- 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 meaningfully talk to community members and stakeholders about the Wikimedia Literacy Project, we took the following steps : Onboarding the Community: We convened our community administrators and members meeting at the start of September 2024 to communicate our intentions and brainstorm ideas for the project, this included probably collaborations with the Wikimedia Literacy Project. The purpose of this meeting was to assess interest, and gather input. Feedback Session: We "opened the floor" and asked all those present to express their opinion on the project proposal. This involved asking the community members questions and listening to their responses on how would they benefit from the project, and their views on the same as well as about human granite. Local Organizations: We dialogued with local organizations and community leaders at the forefront of educational and digital literacy initiatives. We wanted to talk about our project in hopes that we could collaborate and make a larger impact. Internal Planning Sessions: After those initial discussions, we had some internal planning sessions to work out more details on what the project should be, and how it should be structured and implemented. During this planning phase, input was sought from community members to ensure the proposal reflected the needs and interests of the communities. Summary of Convo: We took notes and compiled this document of feedback & suggestions gathered from our conversations This documentation will be available on applicable platforms to ensure the transparency and open lifetime of community participation. Grant Writing: I helped my team write grants to fund the project, which we decided to pursue since our community supported the program initiative. We shared this plan with the community, asking for additional input and partnerships on our approach to grant application.
- 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)
Education
- 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)
Invest in Skills and Leadership Development
Learning and metrics
[edit]- 17. What do you hope to learn from your work in this project or proposal? (required)
1. What are the challenges involved in organizing events of this scale, and how can these inform our planning for future programs? 2. How do knowledge-related interests vary across different demographics, including age groups, gender, occupation, and education levels? 3. What effective approaches can be employed to engage individuals from various backgrounds with the Wikipedia concept? 4. What entry barriers do potential contributors face when attempting to engage with Wikipedia? 5. What specific challenges do new editors encounter on Wikipedia, and how can we improve Help documentation to address these issues?
- 18. What are your Wikimedia project targets in numbers (metrics)? (required)
| Other Metrics | Target | Optional description |
|---|---|---|
| Number of participants | 100 | This includes individuals attending workshops, training sessions, and community discussions, both in-person and online. |
| Number of editors | 30 | This encompasses individuals who will edit Wikimedia projects as a direct result of participating in our activities, contributing new content or improving existing entries. |
| Number of organizers | 10 | This includes individuals responsible for planning and implementing the project activities, such as trainers, coordinators, and outreach leaders. They can be either volunteers or paid. |
| Wikimedia project | Number of content created or improved |
|---|---|
| Wikipedia | 40 |
| Wikimedia Commons | 30 |
| Wikidata | 20 |
| Wiktionary | |
| Wikisource | |
| Wikimedia Incubator | |
| Translatewiki | |
| MediaWiki | |
| Wikiquote | |
| Wikivoyage | |
| Wikibooks | |
| Wikiversity | |
| Wikinews | |
| Wikispecies | |
| Wikifunctions or Abstract Wikipedia |
- Optional description for content contributions.
The contributions aim to enhance the quality and quantity of content related to South Sudan, focusing on important topics identified during the project.
- 19. Do you have any other project targets in numbers (metrics)? (optional)
Yes
| Main Open Metrics | Description | Target |
|---|---|---|
| 25% Increase | Increase the number of active editors in the South Sudan Wikimedia community by 25% by the end of the project. | 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)
Participant Tracking: Google Forms for registration and attendance tracking. Organizer Documentation: Internal spreadsheets or project management tools like Trello to manage organizer contributions and roles. Content Contributions: Wikimedia’s content contribution statistics, accessible via the respective project pages (Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons, etc.), to track articles created/improved and files uploaded. Survey Tools: Google Forms for feedback and impact assessment after project completion.
Financial proposal
[edit]- 21. Please upload your budget for this proposal or indicate the link to it. (required)
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13q_6kJhUQi94bYxmMuysP7g3BDJKo1c_S3IZ7nuNPtU/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)
21824000 SSP
- 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.
4960 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).