Movement Strategy in Africa Great Lakes
Thematic: Skills development and community engagement Prepared by: --RebeccaRwanda (talk) 23:12, 2 November 2023 (UTC)Jeannette Rebecca Nyinawumuntu who headed and worked on the on this research in details together with the the whole team from Wikimedia UG Rwanda August 2022
1. Content
2. Appreciation
3. Introduction and Background
4. Vision statement
5. Mission statement
6. Objectives:
7. Principles
8. Baseline and recommendations
9. Action plan
10. SWOT analysis
11. Conclusion
12. Annexes
2. Appreciation
This is an opportunity to appreciate the community’s members of Wikimedia movement from Rwanda, Burundi and Democratic Republic of Congo, who from the start were committed to promote the skills in their respective communities and are dedicated to regional integration in vital free and open movement; their contribution to this strategy is most invaluable. We appreciate the global movement strategy team especially Yop Rwang Pam for strong leadership and guidance and guidance , Nicki Zuenna for guidance in strategy drafting and Pablo Aragon for invaluable contributions they made to accomplish this work.
We appreciate the East African regional Wikimedia movement support we received through Katterega Geoffrey, Anthony Mtagamvu and the work they are doing to have a more regional integration in the movement activities through regional thematic hubs. This work is a result of the Wikimedia strategy implementation grant and we are grateful for this for financially enabling to put together our ambitions, our goals and our commitment to develop the individual skills and empower the communities in Africa Great lakes region.
3. Introduction and Background
- The first movement strategy we attended as Wikimedia Rwanda was organized in Kampala Uganda in September 2019, by attending these workshops we resolved to initiate the Wikimedia User community in Rwanda which is growing today with clear vision and promising 2030 Movement strategies. - The Wikimedia Burundi community started also in September 2019 and has been growing faster participating in various global movement activities - The Wikimedia community in DRC has been in existence since 2013. - Our three communities had been collaborating on a small scale and based on individual’s relationship, it’s after agreeing to conduct together this strategy that we are more than interlinked with various projects we conduct together. - This initiative started as a grant project as a part of movement strategy implementation grants : https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Project/MSIG/Nyinawumuntu/MSIG_in_Africa_great_lakes_region
- We are inspired by the global movement strategy recommendation 6; Invest in skills and leadership development which is also the priority theme for this strategy. - We will follow the Global approach for local skill development - gathering data, matching peers, mentorship, and recognition. Skill development as a priority for our communities. - We have responsibility to invest in individuals and regional communities’ empowerment in order to develop the technical and people skills crucial for growth. We will do this by combining local skill development with global coordination so that communities can learn from each other, build upon existing expertise, and increase local skills for online and offline activities. - We envision our communities to be built by committed, well-trained, socially- and technically-skilled individuals from different backgrounds that reflect the diversity of Africa great lakes region. Collaborating as The East Africans and with a wide African integration vision. - Invest in new or existing technological infrastructure which facilitates learning of skills through functional, collaborative, real-time tools and quality content with procedures to evaluate the quality of learning , all these will be part of our priorities - We are committed to the innovation in free and open knowledge concepts and we will achieve all these by doing regular evaluation, using iterative processes and adapting wherever and whenever it’s in our communities’ best interests.
This strategy is a result of the aforementioned various initiatives and is informed by results from figures, statistics, opinions collected from the Survey conducted in 2022 in the Great lakes region. The survey made assessment of detailed needs of great lakes communities in terms of skills gaps and organization and have been conducted contributing to the initiative: 31.Global approach for local skills development . This have been achieved through collaboration and networking from the regional communities.
As Wikimedia community in Rwanda , since we started in 2018 we have been characterized by a fast development as evidenced on our meta page Wikimedia_User_Group_Rwanda by the projects conducted so far (More than 20 projects) and members contributions which continue to rise, The community in Burundi have grown and have so far participated in more than 5 projects , the Community DRC as well have grown participating in various parts of the country to more than 20 projects. There was a gap at a regional collaboration and integration, we had not yet managed to comprehensively go beyond and make needs assessment frameworks on great lakes region.
The Community Capacity and Needs Survey in the African Great Lakes Region were conducted from June 16th to July 20th in 2022. Data collection was done by 12 field enumerators based in Goma and Bukavu in the Democratic Republic of Congo (5 people); across Rwanda (5 people) and across Burundi (2 people). In total, 433 completed responses were collected.
The results show evidence to suggest that there is a gap in skills for subject or domain knowledge, offline research, and communication. A regression analysis was conducted to determine the reasons that would most likely motivate a respondent to become a Wikimedia contributor, further studies are needed to determine with exactitude all these parameters.
4. Vision statement:
Towards a skilled and integrated community in Wikimedia communities in Africa great lakes region 5. Mission statement: Skills development and community engagement in Wikimedia communities in Africa great lakes region
6. Objectives: The main objectives are the skills development and community engagement as inspired by the global movement strategy recommendation six to invest in skills development The following key points are the priorities: - Skills development, Community development plan, Community empowerment plan, - Strategic organizational setup, - Collaboration and partnerships
7. Principles This strategy has followed the global Movement Strategy principles and will have an emphasis on the following: - Open and participatory process where more than 20 wikimedians and collaborators participated for a period of around six months in the preparation of this strategy, the diverse perspectives and collaborative spirit each person brought with them helped to surface innovative ideas and future-oriented solutions. - The thematic area of skills development and community engagement was deliberately chosen to be strategic focus in our communities in great lakes region in order to have a scope of activities related only to these theme without forgetting other areas of equally importance
- The strategy will be people-centered to address the needs of all communities in the region. Anyone who shares our vision will be able to join us as we offer engaging, adaptable, and flexible experiences of the Wikimedia ecosystem. Wikimedia reminds us that the ‘greatest thing we will ever build is the thing that we build together’
- Our aims and activities will strive to be innovative, inclusive and participatory, following equity and Women
empowerment, collaboration and cooperation as well as transparency and accountability as values.
8. Baseline and recommendations
The Situation analysis is based on mainly on the results of the survey and recommendations of the survey. The following are recommendation based on situation analysis as it was reported in the survey
1. A continued and sustained research on community skills and community engagement Action: Continue the survey annually to establish a benchmark.
2. A more inclusive community in all regions with equity on vulnerable communities Action: Focus on challenges of those in rural areas.
3. Bridge the Gender gap, although there were less female respondents in the survey , the level of participation was still higher than expected Action: Initiate the 30 Percent rule in affirmative action in all movement initiatives
4. More sustained community engagement and involvement based on cultural values , volunteering as respondents stated that’ money is not the main motivating factor to contribute but more important to respondents was the opportunity to improve their skills’ and Many people believe in open, accessible information.
5. There is a gap in awareness of different movement initiatives an example as it was highlighted in the survey Commons and Wiki Data was not as well-known as Wikipedia
6. Needs for special skills development: while there are regional differences, support contributors in the following area: Offline research, communications, and helping them realize their subject/domain knowledge
7. More public campaigns to be introduced: Many people want to contribute but they just don't know how to get started
8. Decentralized training approach as a strategy: community of trainers and trainees, many people who are contributing and are open to training others
9. Reach out to the 300+ people who have expressed interest to learn more and shared their contact information as a short term goal More community engagement initiatives More skills development initiatives Inclusiveness and equity Short term initiatives Reach out to the 300+ people who have expressed interest to learn more and shared their contact info.
Action: Reach out and make more engagement with those who have expressed interest A continued and sustained research on community skills and community engagement
Action: Continue the survey annually to establish a benchmark. A more inclusive community in all regions with equity on vulnerable communities
Action: Focus on challenges of those in rural areas.
Medium term initiatives More public campaigns to be introduced: Many people want to contribute but they just don't know how to get started.
Action: Organize dedicated campaigns. There is a gap in awareness of different movement initiatives an example as it was highlighted in the survey Commons and Wiki Data was not as well-known as Wikipedia
Action: Engage more the communities in multimedia data Bridge the Gender gap, although there were less female respondents in the survey , the level of participation was still higher than expected Action : Initiate the 30 Percent rule in affirmative action in all movement initiatives
Long term initiatives More sustained community engagement and involvement based on cultural values , volunteering as respondents
Action : Prepare long term project with intention to respond to specific cultural values and needs Needs for special skills development: while there are regional differences, support contributors in the following area: Offline research, communications, and helping them realize their subject/domain knowledge
Action: Decentralized training approach as a strategy: community of trainers and trainees, Strong institutional set up in order to respond to equity challenges expressed
Action : Prepare long terms projects and plans to sustain the inclusiveness journey
10. SWOT analysis
Strength, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threat analysis Helpful Harmful Internal to community Strength A more engaged community The culture and languages are common A supportive Global movement
Weakness
Coordination gaps based on organization setup External to community Opportunities: -Skills development -Various integration initiatives initiated -A supportive global Wikimedia movement - Need for reliable sources of information and knowledge
Threats:
-Uncertainty in the region
-Hazards and pandemics
11. Conclusion
The Africa great lakes Wikimedia communities have resolved to collaborate and engage the members for a common goal to contribute to skills development and community engagement across the region as inspired by the global movement strategy recommendation six to invest in skills development. This strategy is a result of the various initiatives and is informed by results from figures, statistics, opinions collected from the Survey conducted in 2022 in the Great lakes region under the Movement strategy implementation grant. The vision, mission, objectives and principles which will guide the implementation of this strategy have been elaborated and the action plan to achieve these objectives by 2030 are detailed in this strategy action logic model communication plan and their indicators
12. Annexes
1. Action logic model 2. Staircase logic model 3. Indicators 4. Evaluation communication plan