Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Rapid Fund/Wikidata’s 13th Birthday Celebration:Promoting Awareness and Knowledge Access in Crisis-Prone Communities of Northern Nigeria (ID: 23553058)/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 Wikidata’s 13th Birthday Celebration: Promoting Awareness and Knowledge Access in Crisis-Prone Communities of Northern Nigeria was successfully implemented between 15 November and 24 December 2025 in Adamawa and Nasarawa States, combining awareness, capacity building, data contribution, and community engagement activities.
Implemented Activities and Results
The project commenced with a Project Launch and Awareness Campaign on 15 November 2025, delivered both online and offline. This activity introduced participants and stakeholders to the project objectives and highlighted the importance of open data and Wikidata in supporting crisis resilience. Promotional outreach through flyers and local radio helped mobilize participants across both states and marked the local celebration of Wikidata’s 13th birthday.
Two physical training workshops were conducted:
Nasarawa State (20 November 2025)
Adamawa State (27 November 2025)
These workshops provided beginner-friendly, hands-on training on Wikidata editing, with a focus on documenting critical infrastructures such as hospitals, schools, markets, water points, and safe spaces. Participants were trained on adding new items, improving existing data, and translating labels and descriptions into English and Hausa. As a result, participants gained practical skills and confidence to contribute independently to Wikidata.
A Data Collection and Contribution Drive ran from 15 November to 15 December 2025, during which participants actively identified and documented infrastructure data from their communities. This phase resulted in sustained Wikidata contributions, including the creation and improvement of infrastructure items, with continous monitoring to ensure data quality.
The project also organized Community Discussions and Wikidata’s 13th Birthday Celebrations in both states:
Adamawa State (28 November 2025)
Nasarawa State (24 December 2025)
These events created dialogue spaces for participants, NGOs, universities, health workers, and community members to discuss the role of open data in crisis preparedness and response. The celebrations strengthened local ownership of Wikidata and fostered collaboration among stakeholders.
To encourage sustained participation, Outstanding Contributors were recognized on 24th December 2025 through certificates and public acknowledgment. This recognition motivated participants and reinforced the value of quality contributions and engagement.
Documentation and Reporting were completed on 26 January 2026, including the publication of a project wiki page and blog post summarizing activities was sent out for review, datasets created, outcomes achieved, and lessons learned. Results were shared with the wider Wikimedia community to promote transparency and knowledge sharing.
Our Most Effective Approaches Are:
Several approaches proved particularly effective in achieving the project results:
1. Bended engagement (offline + online): Combining physical workshops with online follow-up and contribution monitoring enabled broader participation and sustained momentum.
2. Hands-on, practical training: Direct editing sessions on Wikidata helped participants quickly translate theory into practice.
3. Community-centered discussions: Dialogue sessions with local stakeholders strengthened ownership and highlighted real-world use cases for crisis resilience.
4. Recognition and mentorship: Public acknowledgment and follow-up support motivated participants to continue contributing beyond the events.
The integrated approach of awareness, capacity building, active contribution, and community engagement enabled the project to successfully improve the visibility and accessibility of critical infrastructure data in crisis-prone communities of Northern Nigeria.
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
Project Event page on Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Promoting_Awareness_and_Knowledge_Access_in_Crisis-Prone_Communities_of_Northern_Nigeria Dashboards used: 1. for Adamawa State: https://outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org/courses/Umar2z/Wikidata_Awareness_and_Knowledge_Access_in_Crisis-Prone_in_Adamawa_State 2. For Nasarawa State: https://outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org/courses/Umar2z/Wikidata_Awareness_and_Knowledge_Access_in_Crisis-Prone_in_Nasarawa_State
Post Training Survey: Questions: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeftv_IhS5TPrVjhoSDHfWkX-65Z5P5VOiuDZtIw3M9_w8LWw/viewform?usp=sharing&ouid=100657584034709404108 Results: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1p9_blNK28KdW6cx9wEEXJOMuElCINhQ6OslTbtpUGjw/edit?usp=sharing
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 https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1-xPqfh_h0LZ5aYCb0qOwtqVkk3ouha9i/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=112138404461550242687&rtpof=true&sd=true Resources Used https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Promoting_Awareness_and_Knowledge_Access_in_Crisis-Prone_Communities_of_Northern_Nigeria/Resources
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 | Strongly agree |
| D. Develop content from underrepresented perspectives | Strongly agree |
| E. Encourage the retention of editors | Strongly 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: What we hope to learn from this project
Through this project, we aim to generate knowledge not only about infrastructures but also about how open data and Wikidata can support crisis resilience in Nigeria. The following learning questions will guide our evaluation:
Community Engagement and Participation
How effective are local institutions (universities, health centers, NGOs, community leaders) in mobilizing participants for Wikidata activities?
What motivates students, health workers, and community members to participate, and what factors influence their continued involvement after the event?
Content Quality and Representation
What strategies are most effective in ensuring that critical infrastructure data (schools, hospitals, water points, markets, shelters) is accurate, well-labeled, and properly translated into local languages (Hausa, Fulfulde)?
How can peer-review and mentorship improve the quality and reliability of contributions during short-term campaigns?
Impact and Practical Relevance
To what extent does documenting and translating infrastructure data on Wikidata increase local awareness and visibility of crisis resources?
How do participants and local partners (universities, NGOs, health workers) perceive the usefulness of Wikidata in addressing crisis-related information gaps?
Sustainability and Long-Term Engagement
What follow-up mechanisms (WhatsApp groups, mentorship, institutional partnerships) are most effective in sustaining contributions after the event ends?
How can this model be replicated in other crisis-prone communities in Nigeria or the wider region?
Why This Matters These learning questions will help us understand both the practical impact (quality and visibility of infrastructure data) and the community dimension (sustained engagement, partnerships, inclusivity). The answers will guide future projects aimed at using Wikidata to strengthen resilience in underrepresented and crisis-prone regions.
The learning questions outlined in the proposal guided reflection on both community engagement approaches and the practical role of Wikidata in supporting crisis resilience. Project implementation generated the following key learnings, which will directly inform future Wikimedia Community Fund–supported activities. Community Engagement and Participation The project demonstrated that partnerships with local institutions (universities, health facilities, NGOs, and community leaders) are effective for outreach and mobilisation. However, participation levels were strongly influenced by external contextual factors. The project period coincided with academic examination periods, which limited students’ physical attendance, and a nationwide indefinite health workers’ strike, which reduced in-person participation from health professionals. Motivation varied across participant groups. Students were primarily motivated by skills development and digital literacy, while health workers and community members engaged more when Wikidata’s relevance to local infrastructure visibility and crisis response was clearly demonstrated. Continued engagement was highest where participants received hands-on support and post-event communication. Application: Future projects will prioritise hybrid engagement models, align implementation timelines with academic and sectoral calendars, and identify community focal persons early to support sustained participation. Content Quality and Representation The project confirmed that content quality improves when contributors focus on locally relevant infrastructure data, including health facilities, schools, and community services. Real-time mentorship and peer review during editing sessions improved accuracy, completeness, and consistency of Wikidata items. Multilingual contributions in Hausa very poor due to lack of time for collaborative review. Application: Future projects will integrate peer review and mentorship workflows into activity design and allocate dedicated time for multilingual contributions to strengthen inclusive representation on Wikidata. Also, the exterblished community will be engaged to help improved their translation skills Impact and Practical Relevance Documenting and translating infrastructure data increased awareness of how open, structured data can improve access to crisis-related information. Participants and local partners increasingly viewed Wikidata as a practical tool for improving data visibility and reuse, particularly in health and community service contexts. Application: Subsequent projects will continue to frame Wikidata and other Wikimedia activities around clear, locally relevant use cases, particularly health, education, climate, and emergency response. Sustainability and Long-Term Engagement The project highlighted the importance of post-activity follow-up mechanisms. WhatsApp groups and informal mentorship supported short-term retention, while limited structured follow-up contributed to participant drop-off. The hybrid awareness–training–mentorship model proved adaptable and suitable for replication. Application: Future initiatives will include defined post-project engagement plans, such as mentorship cycles, periodic community check-ins, and institutional collaboration, to support contributor retention and long-term community growth. Summary The project demonstrated that effective use of Wikidata for crisis resilience depends on context-aware engagement, structured mentorship, multilingual support, and intentional sustainability planning. These learnings will guide the design and implementation of future Wikimedia community projects in crisis-prone and underrepresented communities.
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)
We had unexpected situations, both positive and challenging that emerged during the implementation of this project, providing important learning opportunities. On the challenging side, physical participation was lower than initially anticipated. The implementation period coincided with academic examination periods across many higher institutions in Nigeria, which significantly limited students’ ability to attend in-person sessions. In addition, the nationwide indefinite strike by health workers during the project period reduced physical participation from this group, as many health professionals travelled to observe the end-of-year break. These factors were largely outside the project’s control but had a direct impact on physical attendance. An additional unexpected outcome was the variation in participant performance across locations. Engagements scheduled toward the end-of-year period coincided with increased travel and reduced availability among participants in Nasarawa State, resulting in comparatively lower participation levels and outputs when compared with participants from Adamawa State. This highlighted how seasonal and location-specific factors can influence engagement and performance, even within the same project. From these challenges, we learned the importance of context-aware scheduling, including closer alignment with academic calendars, professional cycles, and seasonal patterns. The experience reinforced the need for location-specific flexibility, rather than assuming uniform participation across different regions. On the positive side, the project recorded higher-than-expected engagement during virtual sessions, particularly after academic examinations concluded. Participants who could not attend physical sessions remained actively involved online, demonstrating strong interest once scheduling barriers were reduced. This confirmed the effectiveness of hybrid and virtual engagement models in expanding reach and ensuring inclusion. Another positive outcome was the strong participant response to practical, locally relevant use cases of Wikidata. When contributors worked on infrastructure data connected to their immediate environment, both engagement and content quality improved. Peer support and collaborative editing also emerged organically, even within a short project timeframe. All, these experiences underscored that effective implementation in crisis-prone contexts requires flexible delivery models, adaptive facilitation, and intentional follow-up mechanisms. The lessons learned will inform future projects by encouraging earlier risk assessment, hybrid-first design, staggered engagement timelines, and stronger post-activity support, ensuring more balanced participation and equitable outcomes across locations.
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)
Sharing the learnings and outcomes of this project is an important part of ensuring its impact extends beyond the immediate participants. During project implementation, learnings were shared through live training sessions, group discussions, and practical demonstrations, enabling participants to apply insights immediately. WhatsApp coordination groups also served as informal channels for sharing resources, addressing challenges, and reinforcing key lessons throughout the project. A Diff blog post (https://diff.wikimedia.org/?p=186736) documenting the project activities, outcomes, challenges, lessons learned, and recommendations has been completed and is currently under review. Once published, the post will be shared across local, national, and global Wikimedia communities through social media and community communication channels to ensure broad visibility and knowledge sharing. In addition, key insights from the project are being shared through community networks and social platforms, and will be incorporated into future trainings, meetups, and mentorship activities, particularly within Northern Nigeria.
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 | 60 | 62 | Wikimedia event tool was used for event registration, two were created for the two States |
| Number of editors | 60 | 62 | Wikimedia event tool and outreach dashboard |
| Number of organizers | 5 | 5 |
| Wikimedia project | Target | Result - Number of created pages | Result - Number of improved pages |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia | |||
| Wikimedia Commons | |||
| Wikidata | 600 | 520 | 821 |
| 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)
2930300
11. Please state the total amount spent in US dollars. (required)
2000
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/1kZKLO3fDVSr5hxRMfgENiLtJynJhV-Tq/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=112138404461550242687&rtpof=true&sd=true
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)
Information on changes is reflected in the revised budget
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)