Template:2025 WikiForHumanRights Ghana Collab

Overview of Project

Ghana is undergoing a critical and long-term transformation of its energy sector, guided by the National Energy Transition Framework (2022–2070). This framework aims to transition the country from a fossil fuel-reliant system to a low-carbon, sustainable, and inclusive energy future. Central to this transition is a commitment to: Decarbonizing the energy and transportation sectors, which are major contributors to national emissions;

Integrating renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, hydro, and bioenergy;
Converting thermal plants to natural gas and incorporating nuclear energy;
Leveraging the country’s endowment of green minerals (e.g., lithium and graphite) for clean energy technologies;
Ensuring energy access, affordability, and security for all Ghanaians;
Achieving a Just Energy Transition that leaves no one behind and supports local jobs, community resilience, and social equity.

These national goals are well aligned with global climate action efforts and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy) and SDG 13 (Climate Action). However, despite Ghana’s robust planning and engagement in clean energy development, public knowledge about these efforts—particularly on global knowledge-sharing platforms such as Wikipedia, Wikidata, and Wikimedia Commons—remains sparse, uneven, or outdated. Problem Statement From our collaborative research on Wikipedia we discovered that there is a significant information gap on Wikimedia platforms concerning Ghana’s energy transition. While some policies and initiatives are mentioned in passing, many remain undocumented or underdeveloped in content and references. These include:

Energy policies and frameworks (e.g., the National Energy Transition Framework, Renewable Energy Master Plan);

Clean energy projects (e.g., mini-grid installations, solar PV systems, improved cookstove programs);
Emerging sectors (e.g., electric vehicles, energy efficiency measures, climate-smart transportation);
Key institutions, experts, and community-led innovations;
Critical minerals and their role in the global green economy.

This gap limits public access to accurate, verifiable, and localized knowledge about Ghana’s leadership in sustainable energy transitions. It also undermines efforts to promote environmental literacy, policy engagement, and the visibility of Ghana’s climate solutions—especially those emerging from the Global South. Attached is the research discovered and our goal is to focus on bridging this gap identified. Project Justification Wikipedia is one of the world’s most visited websites and a primary entry point for individuals seeking information about countries, technologies, and policies. Ensuring that content related to Ghana’s energy transition is comprehensive, reliable, and updated is not only a matter of information access—it is a form of global representation and digital inclusion.

By documenting Ghana’s energy transition on Wikimedia platforms, we aim to:

Bridge the gap between national energy and climate policies and public understanding;

Democratize access to energy and climate information, particularly for students, educators, researchers, and civil society actors;
Highlight local innovations, success stories, and community-level interventions that often go undocumented;
Support climate advocacy, education, and decision-making with freely accessible, referenced content;
Promote knowledge equity, ensuring that Ghana’s contributions are visible in global digital spaces.

Organizing Communities

kindly take note of this Important links for your reference

University Of Ghana
Walewale Wiki Hub
Tamale Wiki Hub

📌Key Activities

We plan to implement a 4-month program to document and raise awareness and content about Ghana’s just energy transition on Wikimedia platforms. The program will engage students from the Center for Climate Change and Sustainability Studies (C3SS) at the University of Ghana and experienced Wikimedians from Northern Ghana, particularly those skilled in editing in local languages such as Ghana Pidgin, Dagbani, Twi and Hausa. The project combines research, training, content creation, multimedia documentation, and public awareness campaigns.

1. Capacity Building for Contributors

Organize one general virtual launch event to create awareness about the campaign For both students and experienced Wikimedians in Northern Ghana Virtual launch will engage stakeholders and key people in the energy sector like Volta River Authority (VRA),Bui Power Authority, Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo), SEforALL – Sustainable Energy for All.

2. Organize 4 virtual training sessions and 4 in person training sessions for students and wikimedian in Tamale, Walewale and University of Ghana Center for climate change

3. 4 photowalk spread across the country both in northern and southern Ghana

4. One main online contest

Training topics will cover:

1. Wikipedia editing and translations (with a focus on energy and sustainability topics)

2. Sourcing and verifying reliable content

3. Wikimedia Commons uploads (photo and video)

4. Wikidata basics and item creation

The sessions will empower participants to contribute content in English, Twi, and Hausa.

Activities include:

Creating new Wikipedia articles and updating existing ones

Translating content into Twi, Dagbani, Hausa and Ghana Pidgen

Creating and improving Wikidata items related to energy policies, actors, technologies, and initiatives in Ghana

A mini content improvement contest will be held to encourage diverse and high-quality contributions.

Photowalk and Multimedia Documentation

Collaborate with Experienced Wikimedians photographers in the north and southern Ghana and the general community to donate images related to the theme. This will include:

Organize 4 photowalk in various localities capturing images and videos of clean energy installations, traditional and improved cookstoves, Ev cars and power stations, community energy initiatives, Nighttime shots of unelectrified settlements.

Focus on documenting the impact of clean energy at the grassroots, especially among women and rural communities.

Media from Last Year's Campaign

IMAGES FROM WEBINAR

Organized a webinar titled "Using Wikipedia as a Tool for Climate Action," featuring speakers Ruby D-Brown and Stephen Dakyi. The webinar focused on the impact of climate change, the importance of adding African content to Wikipedia, and tips for improving entries. It attracted participants from multiple countries and highlighted the role of Wikipedia in climate documentation.

using wikipedia as a tool for climate action
using wikipedia as a tool for climate action
using wikipedia as a tool for climate action
using wikipedia as a tool for climate action
Wikipedia as atool for Climate action
Wikipedia as atool for Climate action

IMAGES FROM IN-PERSON TRAININGS

Wikiforhumanright walewale wikihub edit-a-thon 2024
Wikiforhumanright walewale wikihub edit-a-thon 2024
Wikiforhumanright walewale wikihub edit-a-thon 2024
Wikiforhumanright walewale wikihub edit-a-thon 2024
Wikiforhumanright walewale wikihub edit-a-thon 2024
Wikiforhumanright walewale wikihub edit-a-thon 2024
Wikiforhumanright walewale wikihub edit-a-thon 2024
Wikiforhumanrights 2024 Ghana _W4Safrica
Wikiforhumanrights 2024 Ghana _W4Safrica
Wikiforhumanrights2024 campaign Ghana_Day 2_ Women for Sustainability Africa
Wikiforhumanrights2024 campaign Ghana_Day 2_ Women for Sustainability Africa
Wikiforhumanrights2024 campaign Ghana_Day 2_ Women for Sustainability Africa

A training session as part of the activities of the 2024 wiki for human rights campaign in the Northern Region of Ghana
A training session for an Edith a thon for wiki for human rights at Tamale Wiki hub, Northern Region of Ghana
Member of Tamale wiki hub after 2024 wiki for human rights edit a thon
A training session as part of the activities of the 2024 wiki for human rights campaign in Ghana
An edit session as part of the 2023 Wiki for Human Rights campaign by Tamale Wiki Hub

PHOTOWALK INSIGHTS

In an effort to advocate for and educate people on environmental and ocean pollution in Ghana, we visited locations where the problem exists and curate a video to sensitize citizens about the dangers of environmental pollution in Ghana as part of WikiForHumanRights campaign.

This we did through a video and photo walk project.

The video documentary highlights the problems of pollution accompanied by a narration emphasizing its dangers to the planet and the people living in it. We also participated in a beach cleanup exercise organized by a non-profit organization “Plastic Punch,” where we produced a second video interviewing volunteers. They shared their perspectives on the dangers of plastic pollution in the ocean and its impact on marine mammals.

The final part of our project involved collating photos depicting how human actions have polluted the environment and the ocean due to irresponsible acts. The videos and images were uploaded to Wikimedia Commons under the “WikiForHumanRights 2024 in Ghana” category. We shared the video on our Wikimedia Community platform and social media channels, encouraging members to distribute it across their networks for broader coverage.

All media will be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons under a dedicated campaign category