Wiki In Africa (www.wikiinafrica.org) is a South African registered NPO whose work across the continent.
Its mission is to:
Facilitate global access for all to open knowledge that reflects and represents the diverse cultures, peoples, biodiversities, and histories of the African continent and other previously marginalized and disenfranchised communities with the same depth and breadth as other knowledges.
To achieve this mission, it combats the digital divide across Africa through layered, strategically-focused programs that progress skills acquisition, leadership development, and community building.
Collectively the programs result in representative visual and textual content under free licenses that reflect previously skewed, misunderstood, or invisible knowledges, realities, cultures, and histories. The organisation’s core activities are geared towards activating sustainable contribution of content that relates to Africa (and similarly disadvantaged communities and populations) whose value and worth are decided by those communities and individuals. This content contributes to decolonizing knowledge and the internet.
Wiki In Africa’s activities supports the strategic goals of the Wikimedia movement. We support free expression, a free and open Internet, and the use of open licenses, and the protection of the public domain.
Thousands of participants across our projects collate, curate, and contribute content that relates to the theme of Africa and ensuring gender equity. This content presents new narratives of what ‘Africa’ and ‘gender’ really represent to African and global audiences. Access to this content by a diverse readership is assured through the contents’ integration into global knowledge platforms, such as Wikipedia.
Wiki In Africa’s activities supports the aims of the Wikimedia movement across Africa. We support free expression, a free and open Internet, and the use of open licenses and the protection of the public domain. Its beneficiaries are Readers, Students and existing and potential Wikipedians. Its target groups or audiences are the individuals and collective knowledge in Civil Society partners (content and network and educational), Wikimedia and Open aligned volunteer groups and education organisations.
In light of the Theory of Change developed during 2021, the following overarching goals and objectives have been identified. The table below shows how Wiki In Africa’s goals, objectives and activities relate to its existing programmes, initiatives and actions.
Goal 1: To provide multiple ways and to reduce the barriers for individuals and groups to contribute their knowledge to the open movement and thereby reduce knowledge gaps and redress biases.
Run and promote competitions to the general public
Programs:
WLA annual contest
WLW annual SheSaid drive
ISA drives
Promotion:
Websites
Partner networks
Social media campaigns
Host special opportunities for Wiki-related groups
WLW Focus Group
WC WM liaisons
WLA professional photographers
WA Heritage
Partners:
WPWP
AfroCine
Layer activities to ensure individual and group pathways
WLW Focus Group training
WLW T3 Gender Gap crushing course
WLW Event toolkit
WLA Wide Angle / Nos Jardins
WA Heritage training
WC WM liaisons mentorship
WA Hour News alerts
Create technical tools to support participation
from individuals and groups
WikiFundi
ISA Tool
Offline OERs
Goal 2: building the capacity of a network of leaders across Africa, and developing communities, who are committed to boosting the open movement and reducing knowledge gaps, and redressing biases
Since 2016, the programs Wiki In Africa has created are designed for individuals to seize their own agency by developing the skills, creating the roles, and building the communities required to bridge the content and contribution gaps that accelerate the digital divide that plagues Africa.
To achieve the goals of the organization, the programs focus on our four key strategic objectives. These are:
Informing, making visible, and advocating to close knowledge gaps and redress biases
Providing multiple fun, engaging and accessible ways and formats for individuals to contribute.
Identifying and training leaders to activate open movement projects (individual)
Growing networks of communities that boost the open movement and reduce knowledge gaps and facilitate cross-pollination between these communities (group)
We are resolved to provide, through our programs, pathways for the silenced and ignored voices, experiences, and cultures of globally marginalized peoples to be available and accessed on global platforms. With a specific geographical focus on Africa to redress multiple imbalances and decolonise content and minds, we believe that understanding of, access to, and training in Open knowledge platforms will move the dial on the Digital Divide, for both geography and gender.
Through strategic layering that answers specific needs, Wiki In Africa has created programmes that bridge the gaping content gaps and digital skills divides. It initiates fun engaging programmes to create multiple pathways for people of varied ages, genders, backgrounds, cultures and access to resources. It has helped to build the Wikipedia communities in 23 countries across Africa by drawing people together around common goals and focusing on consistent regional in-person and online events.
Wiki In Africa exists as part of an international movement of organizations and volunteers that aims to increase the world's knowledge. This work takes place in four parts:
Establishing, through research, the gaps in knowledge that exists on Wikipedia about each country and community in Africa and find innovative and unexpected ways of drawing this information onto Wikipedia;
Activate, train and support a self-sustaining new generation of dedicated and proactive Wikipedian editors from across the continent that are able to generate new articles and subjects relevant to contemporary Africa by changing online behaviour and offline attitudes to knowledge,
Activate, train and support the growth of new User Groups and Wikimedia Chapters across Africa to effectively organise, deploy and reward these new editors through national and continental activities, and
Assist and support the upload and expansion of content that already resides in heritage, culture, news-gathering and academic institutions across Africa.
Wiki In Africa programmes address the following key areas:
Gender-equity (contribution and content gap) in leadership training and content focuses
Representation Gaps (Multimedia) through the activation of visual content reflecting contemporary society and cultural heritage
Youth activation as part of a long term strategy to empower youth and ensure that open practices become normative, not the unusual or alternative practices
Access to skills acquisition through technological solutions to Africa’s challenges.
Community development and cohesion to ensure sustainable growth
Innovation, Training and education, Community activation and building, Partnerships
Wiki Loves Women answers the following priorities for Wiki In Africa:
Increasing visibility
Addressing knowledge gaps and biases
Active focus on diversity, inclusion, and empowerment
Developing emerging communities through capacity and skills transfer
Leveraging the mutual benefit of partnerships
Our Gender Equity focused projects and campaigns pose Wikimedia-based solutions that address the following gaps as identified in the Knowledge Gap Index Taxonomy:
Contributors: Interaction: Tech Skill + Roles
Contributors: Representation: Gender + Geography
Content: Representation Gaps: Gender + Cultural Background + Important Topics
With in the 2030 Wikimedia Strategy, the Wiki Loves Women project works towards resolving the following recommendations:
UN’s SDGs 4 : Quality Education by providing educational solutions that foster better digital skills transfer, a greater understanding of the open movement, and knowledge creation and dissemination through fun practical applications.
Direct interventions and training with schools, Foundation Orange and educational organisations.
Creation and curation of Open Education Resources
Research project into usefulness and usability of Wikipedia in Africa's schools.
Innovation, Training and education, Individual empowerment, Partnerships
Research, individual empowerment, partnerships
The youth-focused projects answer the Wiki In Africa’s priorities:
Lowering barriers to contribution
Addressing knowledge gaps and biases
Active focus on diversity, inclusion and empowerment
Developing emerging communities through capacity and skills transfer
Leveraging the mutual benefit of partnerships
Our Education focused projects and campaigns pose Wikimedia-based solutions that address the following gaps as identified in the Knowledge Gap Index Taxonomy:
Readers: Interaction: Tech skills + information depth + familiarity
Readers: Representation: Cultural background + age
Contributors: Interaction: Tech skills + Role + Motivation
Contributors: Representation: Socioeconomic status + Language + Age
Within the 2030 Wikimedia Strategy, the Educations project works towards resolving the following recommendations:
UN’s SDG 10 : Reducing Inequalities: Reduce inequality within and among countries. The SDG focus also depends on each year’s theme, for example in 2020, the Transport theme answered SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure: Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and foster innovation.
Training and education, Individual empowerment, Partnerships
Cultural partnerships, Community activation and building
Wiki Loves Africa answers the Wiki In Africa’s priorities:
Increasing visibility
Lowering barriers to contribution
Addressing knowledge gaps and biases
Active focus on diversity, inclusion and empowerment
Developing emerging communities through capacity and skills transfer
Wiki Loves Africa contributes towards the UN’s SDG 10
Multimedia : African visual narrative focused focused projects and campaigns pose Wikimedia-based solutions that address the following gaps as identified in the Knowledge Gap Index Taxonomy:
Content: Interaction Gaps + Multimedia
Contributors: Representation Gaps: Cultural background + Socioeconomic status
Within the 2030 Wikimedia Strategy, the Wiki Loves Africa project works towards resolving the following recommendations:
With regards to organising the contest, there has been a concerted effort from its onset to Ensure Equity in Decision-making and a consistent effort with regards to Managing Internal Knowledge so that the process is transparent, and that all participating communities are fully supported in their actions.
Participation and support to other group initiatives, such as #AfricaDestubathon, WPWP campaign, AfroCine or WikiGap
Provide monthly platform for information sharing
Community activation and building,
Facilitate training and education of volunteer groups beyond initial activation
Skills transfer for groups to activate
WikiAfrica Hour answers the Wiki In Africa’s priorities:
Active focus on diversity, inclusion and empowerment
Developing emerging communities through capacity and skills transfer
Leveraging the mutual benefit of partnerships
Our Community Development focused projects and broadcasts pose Wikimedia-based solutions to address the following gaps as identified in the Knowledge Gap Index Taxonomy:
Contributors: Representation: Cultural + Geography
Contributors: Interaction: Tech skills + Role + Motivation
Within the 2030 Wikimedia Strategy, the WikiAfrica Hour project works towards resolving the following recommendations:
Active focus on diversity, inclusion, and empowerment
Developing emerging communities through capacity and skills transfer
Addressing knowledge gaps and biases
Leveraging the mutual benefit of partnerships
Our Access focused technology solutions pose Wikimedia-based solutions that address the following gaps as identified in the Knowledge Gap Index Taxonomy:
Wiki in Africa envisions that fledgling and emerging communities are given as much encouragement, mentorship, support, and access to resources that are needed to become fully-fledged, contributing, and involved communities that support the Wikimedia vision within their own environment. It is determined to obliterate the term Emerging Communities by 2030 ;)
Approach used: research, community activation, and building, education, empowerment
Through the work of Wiki In Africa, the Wikimedia movement will have identified, collected, and its projects will reflect the knowledge and perspectives that encapsulate the full range of human and biological experience across the geographic and theoretical idea of Africa by embodying an open culture that celebrates, values, and actively incorporates diversity.
Within the theoretical and geographical framework of Africa, Wiki in Africa will assist the Wikimedia movement to become a proactive agent of change towards the subversion of systems of knowledge inequality, by embracing the values of diversity and inclusivity that empowers individuals and groups to contribute to global knowledge systems.
Drawing attention to the challenge, repercussions, and danger of the Single Story of Africa. To partner with organisations across Africa, and within the Diaspora to ensure that contributors seize their own agency to decolonize knowledge and the information that is accessible online.
Approach used: encouraging micro and macro contributions through exciting, fun and engagement-driven participatory events, drives and contests
Providing solutions and actions that are easy, fun, and engaging to participate in and contribute content through.
Approach used: encouraging micro contributions through creating exciting and fun events, drives and contests, with level-appropriate pathways, learning materials, and tools.
Encouraging, via various pathways, the contribution, and transfer of existing content from established knowledge custodians, cultural and memory organisations, creators, activists, individuals, and networks. In a similar way, within the Wikimedia movement, work synergistically with Wikimedia-focused projects, usergroups and chapters to collaborate, leverage and assist each other to further the mission of the movement across Africa and it's diaspora.
Approach used: inviting partners to be active collaborators and co-leads on participatory events, drives and contests
The 2022 annual plan retains the focuses of the 2021 Annual Plan and expects to extend and scale these impacts into the near future. In 2022 we will become more focused on nurturing engagement, through our programs (and other Wikimedia initiatives) at every stage of the participant’s journey. Always complex and multilayered, the overarching focuses across the projects for 2022 include:
inter-project community building,
leadership training, and mentorship,
training key skill groups, i.e. photographers to change the visual narrative of Africa
fostering contribution and digital skills in the next generation,
open movement advocacy through externally focused campaigns, and
expanding the circle of friends and allies within the open knowledge movement.
Over 2022 the activities are centered around
Access to projects and contribution
Ensuring projects are easy to access and engage with
Ensuring that pathways are tiered for skills development
Ensuring communications support the projects
Skills development:
Training-the-trainer/teacher programs
Leadership and organisational skills development
Photography skills and benefits of Open
Community development, cohesion, and networking
Releasing Inspiring Open podcast to increase understanding and motivate engagement
Consistent WM networking and sharing
Collaboration and Network scaling
Increased collaboration with WM Usergroups and Thematic groups
Collaboration and partnership with external cultural, education and gender-equity organisations to increase impact and expand its network
Additional elements to assist with the main strategic focus’ of the programmes as described below are:
Consultation with advisory groups
Research and development of proposed education programmes
Develop external funding and in-kind partnerships to expand and scale projects appropriately
Support the WM development across Africa through regularly hosting monthly catchup meetings of the African community around curated subjects of topics chosen from within the community.
Consistent programme assessment and reassessment for fit and impact
Ongoing visibility, communication and advocacy campaigns.
Organisational stability by supporting and mentoring one remote intern to support the organisation through additional tasks that include networking, communications, programme management, etc.
