Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Rapid Fund/ Africa Wiki Women — International Women Day 2024 (ID: 22458315)/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 African Wiki Women IWD Inspire Inclusion 2024 Campaign celebrated International Women’s Day 2024 in solidarity with the Wikimedia Foundation's efforts. The campaign pioneered the Celebrate Women initiative, aligning with the objectives of the ChangetheStats initiative. Our goal was to renew efforts to ensure the representation of women on Wikipedia and its sister projects by enhancing existing articles and items on African women. Additionally, we aimed to establish a community for African female Wikimedians by providing a platform for peer learning and connections within and outside the Wikimedia space. This aligns with the theme, "Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress." This campaign also focused on enhancing existing women-related articles on Wikipedia and items on Wikidata that were either missing or lacked adequate African narratives. Examples include the list of Women’s March in Africa 2023 and IWD activities, which, before the campaign, only identified activities carried out in Guinea-Bissau, Uganda, Zambia, Angola, Burkina Faso, and Cameroon out of the 54 existing African countries. We also created articles about women, women-led organizations, and women-focused topics in different African countries. In order to achieve this, we carried out a series of activities: We sensitized and recruited participants on the theme of International Women's Day (IWD) 2024, 'Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress,' using social media campaigns [1]. Additionally, we organized a Twitter Space to hold a conversation on the topic: "Inspiring Inclusion through Wikimedia Projects." You can check out the recording here: [2]. We collaborated with NGOs such as Women for Sustainability Africa in Ghana, the Women's Technology Empowerment Centre (W.TEC) in Nigeria, and Maestro Africa Solutions in Tanzania to enlighten and engage female Wikimedians on the significance of this year's IWD theme. This collaboration also provided opportunities for our partners to showcase their work and activities related to the theme of the campaign. This activity exposed participants to these organizations' efforts and helped them think beyond contributions to Wikipedia and its sister projects. It also allowed them to identify new initiatives they might be interested in volunteering for or implementing in their communities. This was a win-win for both our partners and us, the organizers. Through informative sessions and discussions led by experts and advocates, the project aims to foster a deeper understanding of women's roles in societal advancement. These efforts are intended to inspire female African Wikimedians to actively contribute to the narrative of women's empowerment and progress within their communities and beyond, utilizing the Wikimedia platform as a tool for change and advocacy. We increased our community membership (https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Africa_Wiki_Women) and sustained their momentum by collaborating with existing women-focused NGOs and recruiting their members to our community. We also identified African female Wikimedians who are leaders in their communities, such as in Ghana, Tanzania, and Nigeria, to coordinate the campaign efforts in their regions. We aimed to recruit 50 diverse participants from AU (African Union) member states, ensuring diverse representation and engagement, comprising both new and existing female Wikimedians from various African regions. However, we exceeded our target by recruiting 100 participants through social media and in-house awareness and publicity for the campaign. Our strategy involved organizing seven online sessions, including Partners Spotlights, virtual launch, online trainings, and office hours. These sessions served as platforms for sharing experiences, advancing editing skills, discussing the intersectionality of gender issues within Wikimedia movements, and strategizing more effective engagement and contributions by African women. We generated diverse content and prioritized localization of women-related issues/topics relevant to achieving gender equality (https://www.unwomen.org/en/news-stories/in-focus/2022/08/in-focus-sustainable-development-goal-5) by 2030. We centered our efforts around the theme of the IWD 2024 celebration in Africa through online Data-a-thons (Wikidata), Edit-a-thons for Women-centric Topics, and Write-a-thons for Quality Content Creation (Wikipedia).
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 page on Meta-Wiki or any other Wikimedia project: [3]
Dashboards and tools that you used to track contributions: [OutreachDashBoard:https://outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org/courses/Africa_Wiki_Women/African_Wiki_Women_IWD-_Inspire_Inclusion_2024_(26th_March_-_31st_May)?enroll=]
List of articles/ items created, expanded, and translated by participants during the campaign: [4]
List of Articles and items created by participants: [5]
All photos can be found under this category; [6]
Virtual Launch and Partners Spotlight
IWD AWW Launch Slide;[7]
Introduction to Wikipedia Slide [8]
Virtual Launch Recording; [9]
Performing major edits on Wikipedia [10]
Performing major edits on Wikipedia Session photos [11]
1st English Wikipedia training [12]
1st French Wikipedia Training [13]
Performing major edits on Wikipedia Training Slides [14]
Partners Spotlight and Introduction to Wikidata minor & Major edits
Editing Wikidata Training Slide [15]
2nd English Wikidata Training [16]
2nd French Wikidata Training [17]
Office Hours for Wikipedia
English IWD Office Hour for Wikipedia [18]
French IWD Office Hour for Wikipedia [19]
Partners Spotlights, Office Hours for Wikidata
English session recording for Office Hour with Women's Technology Empowerment Centre W.TEC [20]
French session recording for Office Hour with Women's Technology Empowerment Centre W.TEC [21]
Office Hours for Wikidata & Wikipedia
English session recording for Office Hour on Wikipedia and Wikidata [22]
Session Photos [23]
Final office hour
IWD Session Photos [24]
English session recording for Final Office Hour [25]
Important social media posts Facebook
https://web.facebook.com/share/p/NFd7XFRfUTysDoCf/ https://web.facebook.com/share/p/Yv1cmtP5FSwhM74U/
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/posts/africa-wiki-women-7ba062297_inspireinclusion-africanwikiwomen-iwd2024-activity-7183269593254137856-Oo6Z?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop https://www.linkedin.com/posts/africa-wiki-women-7ba062297_join-us-for-the-iwd-inspire-inclusion-2024-activity-7184066849683218432-oveH?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop https://www.linkedin.com/posts/africa-wiki-women-7ba062297_join-us-for-the-iwd-inspire-inclusion-2024-activity-7186342272374894593-HAOW?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop https://www.linkedin.com/posts/africa-wiki-women-7ba062297_africawikiwomen-wikigap-wikidata-activity-7188780240108699649-goQE?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop https://www.linkedin.com/posts/africa-wiki-women-7ba062297_africawikiwomen-aww-officehour-activity-7191808164013522945-WSTH?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop https://www.linkedin.com/posts/africa-wiki-women-7ba062297_africawikiwomen-aww-awwinspireinclusion-activity-7193977144958455808-2Iey?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop https://www.linkedin.com/posts/africa-wiki-women-7ba062297_dear-community-we-are-pleased-to-invite-activity-7199033416296591360-yy_Z?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop https://www.linkedin.com/posts/africa-wiki-women-7ba062297_dear-community-we-are-pleased-to-invite-activity-7199033625772724224-ZlEp?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop Surveys and their results Attendance Feedback form;https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScezDQV1noOuFqLClmj4dySNBLMxKbD24eTryg2n3nVSKwZrQ/viewform
Attendance Feedback form sheet; https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1qzVlz58TN63jnYpLPknG6cyW-eBQ-RbJxJxXIve4gG4/edit?gid=268753246#gid=268753246
Campaign Evaluation form; https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfnMZp-8ARWNOtXsqgqSxbOS-9V699T8S_M8ZSzXqSNP_dZCw/viewform
Campaign Evaluation form sheet; https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1d5fWUDU-77FBKEo_0hfXMdFy_6PjpaiqvTGt4rb79ao/edit?gid=171630182#gid=171630182
Campaign Evaluation Report: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KD2Gcaj_QRW8BiO4YaR5m2B7rdHYlF8zDz6Uk37nlEs/edit#heading=h.r6hcveezbufk
Examples of content edited on Wikimedia projects https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Z1fWcZ9r1AvvI7GayVddF62h7IltU8abAWhvF5VVAoo/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
Training materials and guides IWD_Inspire Inclusion Campaign Overview :https://w.wiki/AQ3K IWD_Inspire Inclusion Campaign Timelines and activities:https://w.wiki/9zke IWD_Inspire Inclusion Campaign Partners and Implementation team:https://w.wiki/AQ3N IWD_Inspire Inclusion Campaign Resources and suggested articles:https://w.wiki/9zki
Presentations and slides
Launch IWD_Inspire Inclusion Campaign - Inspire Inclusion [26]
Introduction to Wikipedia (Africa Wiki women) [27]
AWW - Inspire Inclusion for Wikipedia Training [28]
AWW Wikidata - Inspire Inclusion
Work processes and plans IWD_Inspire Inclusion Campaign Road Map https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uIYILif10VeL32ye8KqbFxJLFR7pHJ_wemyLYCiWP28/edit Online platform for meetings, office hours and trainings held (Zoom)
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 | Strongly agree |
| G. Increased participants' feelings of belonging and connection to the movement | Strongly 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: Understanding Impact: What is the tangible impact of our initiatives on the participation and contributions of female African Wikimedians within the Wikimedia community?
Community Dynamics: How does the collaborative approach, involving both new and existing contributors, influence the dynamics and growth of the African Wiki Women community?
Engagement Strategies: Which communication and engagement strategies prove most effective in attracting and retaining participants throughout the various project activities?
Barriers to Participation: What are the key challenges faced by female Wikimedians in Africa, and how can these barriers be addressed to foster greater inclusivity and sustained involvement?
Long-term Community Building: What measures contribute to building a sustainable Wiki Women community in Africa, and how can these insights inform future community-building initiatives?
Effectiveness of Training Programs: How do different training formats, such as webinars, edit-a-thons, and data-a-thons, impact participants' skill development and active contributions to gender-related content on Wikimedia platforms?
Content Relevance: To what extent does the generated content align with the overarching goal of addressing gender-related issues in Africa and contributing to the achievement of gender equality by 2030?
Collaboration with External Partners: How does collaboration with external entities, such as women's organizations and government ministries, enhance the project's reach and impact?
Post-Activity Engagement: What strategies effectively maintain participant engagement after the conclusion of specific activities, and how can sustained involvement be encouraged?
Recognition and Motivation: How does public recognition and acknowledgment impact the motivation of participants, and how can this be leveraged to encourage continued contributions?
1. What is the tangible impact of our initiatives on the participation and contributions of female African Wikimedians within the Wikimedia community?
The campaign effectively engaged participants, particularly female Wikimedians, who expressed increased confidence and enthusiasm for contributing to Wikimedia projects. Many participants highlighted their passion for gender equality and belief in inclusivity as their primary motivations. The campaign also saw a significant increase in the number of active contributors, surpassing the target of 50 by reaching 100 participants.
2. How does the collaborative approach, involving both new and existing contributors, influence the dynamics and growth of the African Wiki Women community;
Collaboration with NGOs and existing community leaders from different countries helped in coordinating efforts and expanding reach. Participants valued the support and recognition, which fostered a sense of community and belonging. The involvement of experienced and new contributors facilitated peer learning and mutual support, enhancing community cohesion.
3. Engagement Strategies: Which communication and engagement strategies prove most effective in attracting and retaining participants throughout the various project activities?
Effective strategies included the use of social media campaigns, virtual training sessions, office hours, and engaging participants through direct communication channels like WhatsApp and email. Participants appreciated frequent updates, engaging activities, and recognition of their contributions. The diverse content and localized issues also resonated well with participants, making them feel more connected to the campaign's goals.
4. Barriers to Participation: What are the key challenges faced by female Wikimedians in Africa, and how can these barriers be addressed to foster greater inclusivity and sustained involvement?
Challenges included difficulty in accessing reliable sources, language barriers, technical issues with dashboards, and the time-bound nature of participation. Addressing these challenges involves providing more localized content, offering technical support, and ensuring flexible participation options. Participants suggested more training on navigating Wikimedia interfaces and continuous support through regular office hours and follow-ups.
5. Long-term Community Building: What measures contribute to building a sustainable Wiki Women community in Africa, and how can these insights inform future community-building initiatives?
Sustained community building requires continuous engagement through regular events, training sessions, and recognition of contributions. Participants emphasized the need for ongoing motivation, updates, and opportunities for collaboration. Establishing more regional coordinators and maintaining active communication channels are crucial for long-term sustainability.
6. Effectiveness of Training Programs: How do different training formats, such as webinars, edit-a-thons, and data-a-thons, impact participants' skill development and active contributions to gender-related content on Wikimedia platforms?
Training sessions, including spotlights, edit-a-thons, data-a-thons, and office hours were highly effective in building participants' skills and confidence. Most participants felt very confident about contributing after attending these sessions and because the trainings were weekly till the end of the campaign they had a lot of opportunity to ask questions, relearn and ask questions at every session whilst contributing to the campaign. Hence, continuous training and feedback loops were recommended to ensure that participants stay engaged and their skills are constantly updated.
7. Content Relevance: To what extent does the generated content align with the overarching goal of addressing gender-related issues in Africa and contributing to the achievement of gender equality by 2030?
The campaign focused on creating and improving content related to African women, aligning well with the goal of addressing gender-related issues. Participants contributed to articles and items that were previously underrepresented, thereby helping to bridge the gender gap on Wikimedia platforms. Continuous efforts to localize content and highlight women's contributions were seen as essential to achieving these goals.
8. Collaboration with External Partners: How does collaboration with external entities, such as women's organizations and government ministries, enhance the project's reach and impact?
Collaborating with external partners such as NGOs significantly enhanced the campaign's reach and impact. These partnerships provided additional resources, expertise, and visibility for the campaign. Participants gained exposure to new opportunities and initiatives, which motivated them to contribute more actively and consider broader social impacts beyond Wikimedia projects.
8. Post-Activity Engagement: What strategies effectively maintain participant engagement after the conclusion of specific activities, and how can sustained involvement be encouraged?
Effective post-activity engagement strategies included continuous communication through WhatsApp groups, emails, and regular updates on future campaigns related to creating visibility for women within the Wikimedia community . Recognizing and appreciating contributors, providing follow-up training, and organizing recurring events were also crucial for maintaining engagement. Participants expressed the need for ongoing motivation and support to sustain their involvement.
9. Recognition and Motivation: How does public recognition and acknowledgment impact the motivation of participants, and how can this be leveraged to encourage continued contributions?
Public recognition, individual data scholarships and acknowledgments of contributors during the campaign significantly boosted participants' motivation. Participants suggested that more structured recognition programs could further enhance motivation and engagement. They highlighted that contributors' should be, offered awards, and that their efforts should be publicly recognized to encourage continued contributions.
Based on these insights, the campaign can implement the following recommendations for future initiatives: a. Enhance technical support and provide more localized content. b. Maintain continuous communication and regular updates through various channels not just WhatsApp and social media channels alone. c. Offer flexible participation options and recognize contributors' efforts beyond data scholarships. d. Collaborate with more external partners to expand reach and resources. f. Organize recurring training sessions and follow-up activities to sustain engagement. g. Update trainers resources to improve skills of editors
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)
During the Africa Wiki Women IWD - Inspire Inclusion 2024 campaign, we encountered challenges with technical platforms like the Outreach Dashboard, which unexpectedly crashed, prompting us to resort to manual data tracking. Despite efforts to overcome these obstacles, we fell short of our goal to create and improve 200 Wikidata items, achieving only 89 new items created and 11 improved items. This shortfall was compounded by the difficulty in sourcing reliable information for women-centric topics, highlighting gaps in accessible data despite significant contributions by women in their respective fields. These experiences reinforced the importance of robust backup systems and enhanced technical support to mitigate such challenges in future projects, ensuring smoother execution and greater impact in advancing gender equality on Wikimedia platforms across Africa.
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 been invited to present our campaign report during the WMF Celebrate Women debriefing call. See more details here: https://w.wiki/AQ44. We have also submitted a lightning talk proposal for Wikimania 2024 and WikiIndaba 2024 to share our campaign experience with the global community. Additionally, we published a series of posts on Diff to report our virtual launch, each training session, and office hours conducted as part of this campaign's deliverables. You can find all the published blogs here: https://w.wiki/AQ3r.
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 | 50 | 102 | Event registration tool:https://w.wiki/9fK6 |
| Number of editors | 50 | 100 | outreachdashboard: https://outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org/courses/Africa_Wiki_Women/African_Wiki_Women_IWD-_Inspire_Inclusion_2024_(26th_March_-_31st_May)/students/overview |
| Number of organizers | 9 | 9 | Event registration tool;https://w.wiki/AQ4H
Event implementation team metapage:https://w.wiki/AQ3N |
| Wikimedia project | Target | Result - Number of created pages | Result - Number of improved pages |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia | 50 | 64 | 46 |
| Wikimedia Commons | |||
| Wikidata | 200 | 89 | 11 |
| 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)
Yes
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)
Despite using the article scooped program dashboard to track only related articles and items relevant to our campaign focus, we discovered that the Outreach Dashboard did not track specific topics that were categorized and queried. As a result, we resorted to using Google Docs to collect a list of articles and items edited by participants during the campaign. Additionally, it was brought to our attention that the dashboard crashed during our campaign, and the Wiki Education Admin responsible for maintaining the dashboard was away, so it was not rectified in time. Consequently, we devised a means of listing all articles and items created and translated on the event page.
To overcome these challenges in the future, we plan to:
Develop a backup system for data collection to ensure continuity even if the primary dashboard fails. Create a more detailed manual tracking system that can operate independently of the Outreach Dashboard. Regularly check the status of the dashboard and maintain closer communication with the Wiki Education Admin team to address issues promptly.
Recommendations for the Foundation: Improve the robustness and reliability of the Outreach Dashboard to handle categorized and queried topic tracking more effectively.
Ensure that there is always a designated support team available to address technical issues with the dashboard promptly.
Provide additional training and resources on alternative data tracking methods that can be used when the primary system is down.
Part 4: Financial reporting
[edit]10. Please state the total amount spent in your local currency. (required)
3880000
11. Please state the total amount spent in US dollars. (required)
2500
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/1XNZ0bnysH_D79dFSBZtOm9WQwxKeMNS178Ie5mLs_2M/edit?gid=0#gid=0
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)