Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Open Foundation West Africa Annual Plan 2023/Final Report

Final Learning Report

Report Status: Under review

Due date: 2024-01-31T00:00:00Z

Funding program: Wikimedia Community Fund

Report type: Final

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General information edit

This form is for organizations, groups, or individuals receiving Wikimedia Community Funds or Wikimedia Alliances Funds to report on their final results.

Name of Organization: Open Foundation West Africa
Title of Proposal: Open Foundation West Africa Annual Plan 2023
Amount awarded: 156697.16 USD, 1060709.96 GHS
Amount spent: 155989.6 USD

Part 1 Understanding your work edit

1. Briefly describe how your proposed activities and strategies were implemented.

The team employed a range of strategies to execute diverse projects and programs, such as: Collaborating with organizations and institutions to broaden our programs. Notable partnerships encompass library institutions, the Teacher Training Association of Ghana, UNESCO Accra World Book Capital, UNESCO Ghana, Open Knowledge Foundation, Kiwix, Multi-Lingualism Conference Group, among others. These partnerships facilitated the extension of our programs to new audiences, enhancing our project impact.

Recognizing and motivating community members during our annual general meeting to foster and bolster their commitment.

Supporting hub leaders by providing training and resources for effective hub management.

Introducing hybrid training to accommodate individuals unable to attend in person or those from different regions and countries, ensuring accessibility and benefit for participants worldwide.

Enhancing event publicity through various social media and communication platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and mailing lists. Additionally, leveraging significant events like Africa Day to promote specific campaigns.

Empowering community volunteers to mentor their peers.

Despite our efforts, some objectives were not realized, including the inactivity of certain hubs due to leaders not being able to serve their entire term owing to other commitments. Hub leaders have been encouraged to have proteges who can take over from them. Our focus for ‘Train the Trainers’ now is not only on hub leaders but their proteges as well.

2. Were there any strategies or approaches that you felt were effective in achieving your goals?

Several strategies were instrumental in achieving our goal this year. Key strategies that contributed to our success include: Documentation of our work: We showcased the impact and lessons learned from our projects by publishing them on Wikimedia Diff and the Wikimedia education newsletter. This not only created awareness of our implemented programs but also attracted participation from fellow community members. Additionally, we regularly updated information on our OFWA meta page to accurately reflect the organization's current activities. Social Media: Leveraging social media played a crucial role in disseminating information about upcoming events and highlighting past activities to community members who follow our page. Newsletter via MailChimp: Our monthly newsletter, disseminated through MailChimp, provided visibility by showcasing our monthly achievements and activities. Mentoring Community Members: Capacity-building and mentorship of community volunteers, exemplified during the Kiwix Africa mentorship program, empowered leaders to mentor others, creating a ripple effect of knowledge transfer. Partnerships and Collaborations: Strategic partnerships and collaborations played a pivotal role in extending our impact to newer audiences. Volunteer Motivation: We established metrics to motivate and celebrate hub leaders for their contributions in their respective regions. The general award scheme during AGM also acknowledged key contributors to various projects and did not limit the awards to a few people. We realized that community members were particularly happy about this as many new faces received awards. Supporting Hubs: Financial and resource support provided to hubs facilitated their work, ensuring their effectiveness in implementing projects. WhatsApp Group Usage: Utilizing a WhatsApp group facilitated the enrollment of all our community members, enhancing communication and engagement. We have learned not to underestimate the power of whatsapp in community engagement as it makes the community feel closer to one another and the core team. Hosting Virtual and Hybrid Trainings: Conducting virtual and hybrid training sessions widened the reach of our opportunities, allowing community members from various regions, including beyond Ghana, to benefit from our training initiatives. Frequent Townhall meetings: This allowed us to receive concerns of the community and provide timely feedback and solutions. This helped us to tailor our projects according to community needs.

3. Would you say that your project had any innovations? Are there things that you did very differently than you have seen them done by others?

Yes. Given the dispersed nature of our community, the team has introduced the following innovations to better cater to our community:

Launch of Learn a Wiki Skills (LAWS): Learn a Wiki Skill is an e-learning series comprising concise tutorial lessons on various Wikimedia tools and projects. Lesson videos are regularly uploaded on YouTube and are accessible to the general public. This series aims to empower individuals with knowledge about different Wikimedia tools and projects.

Adopting an E-Learning Strategy for Kiwix4schools Volunteers: While we have traditionally trained volunteers through platforms like Zoom and Google Meets, we recognized the need for a more sustainable approach to enhance volunteer understanding of the Kiwix4schools project. Utilizing the Coursify platform has allowed us to pre-record sessions and make them available on the platform for convenient access.

4. Please describe how different communities participated and/or were informed about your work.

Various communities actively engaged in our programs through regional campaigns, including the AKI Africa Day Campaign and the Kiwix4Schools Mentorship Program, drawing participants from diverse regions across Africa. These initiatives assisted selected communities in implementing projects within their respective countries. Through strategic utilization of social media engagement, Telegram, mailing lists, and community WhatsApp groups, we effectively disseminated invitations.

5. Documentation of your impact. Please use the two spaces below to share files and links that help tell your story and impact. This can be documentation that shows your results through testimonies, videos, sound files, images (photos and infographics, etc.) social media posts, dashboards, etc.

Upload Documents and Files

Here is an additional field to type in URLs.

Dashboard Links

Wikiskills For Librarians- Phase 1 https://outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org/courses/Open_Foundation_West_Africa/WikiSkills_for_Librarians_Workshop.._(March_-_December_2023)

Wikiskills For Librarians- Phase 2 https://outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org/courses/Open_Foundation_West_Africa/WikiSkills_for_Librarians_Workshop_Northern_Sector_(September-_December)

Africa Day Campaign https://outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org/campaigns/africa_day_campaign_2023/programs

Photos and Infographics https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Open_Foundation_West_Africa-_Array_of_Programs._(Wikimania_2023_Poster).pdf

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AWC_Poster.png

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kiwix_poster.pdf

Blogs https://ofwafrica.org/blog/safer-internet-day-2023-workshop-at-labone-senior-high-school https://ofwafrica.org/blog/open-foundation-west-africa-launches-the-ethiopian-user-wiki-group-through-the-africa-day-campaign

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ofwafrica_ofwa-midyear-highlights-the-initial-half-activity-7103740130963709952-1_8R?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

6. To what extent do you agree with the following statements regarding the work carried out with the support of this Fund? You can choose “not applicable” if your work does not relate to these goals.

Our efforts during the Fund period have helped to...
A. Bring in participants from underrepresented groups	Strongly agree
B. Create a more inclusive and connected culture in our community	Agree
C. Develop content about underrepresented topics/groups	Strongly agree
D. Develop content from underrepresented perspectives	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

7. Is there anything else you would like to share about how your efforts helped to bring in participants and/or build out content, particularly for underrepresented groups?

We have observed the ongoing persistence of the gender gap in community participation. To address this, we have undertaken efforts to create an inclusive space for women by organizing gender-related projects. Additionally, we provided support to hubs in organizing mini contests, ensuring that all participants feel valued and appreciated. This approach fosters inclusivity, recognizing that not all contributors may receive acknowledgment in larger contests, ultimately encouraging increased participation and involvement

Part 2: Your main learning edit

8. In your application, you outlined your learning priorities. What did you learn about these areas during this period?

In our work and assessing the impact of the Kiwix course, we learned that we needed to involve teachers in our Kiwix program. This will enable them to encourage the usage of the content made available on computers at the computer labs. We identified that some of the data presented in the newbie course are not up to date, we have worked to improve the data as well as refresh the visuals in the course. The course has proven to be impactful per the feedback we received. To achieve our goal of effectively organizing around topics of impact, 2 of our core team members took the organizers lab course to improve their knowledge and skills around these programs.

9. Did anything unexpected or surprising happen when implementing your activities?

While following up on schools where we had implemented the Kiwix project, we encountered a challenge: the head teachers, whose contacts we had initially taken, had moved to other schools and were unable to provide the required information. In response to this, we have implemented a new practice of collecting contacts for ICT teachers during project implementation. This ensures that we can follow up and assess how students are utilizing the provided content.

Furthermore, we received collaboration requests from other partners and user groups seeking financial support for their projects. For instance, after the launch of the Kiwix4schools Africa Mentorship Program, graduates sought funding assistance for their projects. In addition to project implementations in Ghana, we successfully piloted the project in four other countries with the support of a microfund

10. How do you hope to use this learning? For instance, do you have any new priorities, ideas for activities, or goals for the future?

Our goal for the future is to make the Kiwix4schools projects more impactful. We are working with the regional partnership coordinator to redesign and implement the project in a way that can improve teaching and learning in the classroom. Another new priority area is to support the technical community in Africa through the Africa Wikimedia Technical Community (AWMT) to support the activities and increase capacity building opportunities for the community.

11. If you were sitting with a friend to tell them one thing about your work during this fund, what would it be (think of inspiring or fascinating moments, tough challenges, interesting anecdotes, or anything that feels important to you)?

We've learned the importance of not underestimating our capabilities. Initially, the team had concerns about achieving our program objectives, especially since many were expanded during the funding period. To our surprise, we not only met but exceeded expectations. A notable example is the Kiwix4Schools Mentorship Program, which successfully enrolled 100 participants out of 200 applicants on the Coursify platform, with 62 individuals graduating. This translates to an impressive 62% success rate – truly remarkable!

12. Please share resources that would be useful to share with other Wikimedia organizations so that they can learn from, adapt or build upon your work. For instance, guides, training material, presentations, work processes, or any other material the team has created to document and transfer knowledge about your work and can be useful for others. Please share any specific resources that you are creating, adapting/contextualizing in ways that are unique to your context (i.e. training material).

Upload Documents and Files

Here is an additional field to type in URLs.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1qDABySF0lxiJ6XFREdMQ7TVxW7OzaxIx/edit?usp=drive_link&ouid=108081515880020512457&rtpof=true&sd=true - Introduction to Wikipedia 101

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1RF7dmFDDG3Xl76_c24MRI162cbVGcEfO/edit?usp=drive_link&ouid=108081515880020512457&rtpof=true&sd=true - Introduction to Wikipedia 102 https://http-https-ofwafricaorgcoursifyme.coursify.me/courses/kiwix4schools-africa-mentorship-program - Kiwix4schools Mentorship Program Course on Coursify https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZptQ94bxoo - Learn A Wiki Skill https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1U8Hyc3b-Q_UAGtEN9VeKSdxK9u8smPge/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=108081515880020512457&rtpof=true&sd=true - Kiwix4Schols Presentation https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1QuCJgB5uRGDmtuzinBkCNsFhn5HZyUWV/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=108081515880020512457&rtpof=true&sd=true - Annual Report

Part 3: Metrics edit

13a. Open and additional metrics data

Open Metrics
Open Metrics	Description	Target	Results	Comments	Methodology
N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Additional Metrics
Additional Metrics	Description	Target	Results	Comments	Methodology
Number of editors that continue to participate/retained after activities	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Number of organizers that continue to participate/retained after activities	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Number of strategic partnerships that contribute to longer term growth, diversity and sustainability	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Feedback from participants on effective strategies for attracting and retaining contributors	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Diversity of participants brought in by grantees	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Number of people reached through social media publications	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Number of activities developed	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Number of volunteer hours	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

13b. Additional core metrics data.

Core Metrics Summary
Core metrics	Description	Target	Results	Comments	Methodology
Number of participants	Participants from all 10 regions in Ghana and via our online training/campaigns from across the continent will benefit from our activities. We target about 3000 participants throughout the year. 1500 new participants and 1500 returning participants.	3000	2084	293 from our OFWA event registration form, 842 from Africa Day Campaign In person and online events, 679 editors, 100 participants from Kiwix Mentorship program which includes 64 individuals graduating, 60 from Wikiskills for librarians and 30 from TTAG goes digital. 80 participants from Kiwix in Ghana	Google Forms and Outreach Dashboard
Number of editors	The number of editors in all activities; 400 particularly females and students from the various universities where we have clubs and other Africa countries who participate in international campaigns and programs.	400	679	The Africa Day Campaign alone generated 504 editors while OFWA dashboard recorded 175	Outreach Dashboard
Number of organizers	Our organizers include 5 core team members, 20 hub and club leaders across the region, 10 affiliate organizers across the continent, 15 community volunteers to implement Kiwix project.	50	70	This was achieved mainly through the Africa Day Campaign(54 organizers and facilitators ), volunteers and our hub leaders.	Outreach Dashboard, Google Forms

**Number of new content contributions per Wikimedia project**
Wikimedia Project	Description	Target	Results	Comments	Methodology
Wikipedia	Matrics description- our programs will seek to derive content surrounding gender, biographies of notable women, and increase information about the regions of Ghana as well as bridge thematic gaps like culture, history, geographic locations, Africa, etc.	4000	4329	It is difficult to track due to editing and deletion of some contributions, leading to fluctuations in edit count. However our OFWA main dashboard recorded 229 articles created while the Africa Day Campaign recorded 4100 articles created	Wikipedia, Outreach Dashboard
Wikimedia Commons	Matrics description-We seek to generate audiovisual content on Wikimedia Commons through our Wiki Loves campaigns and other related campaigns on WIkimedia through images, videos etc. We want to be able to generate over 1800 images 200video files on Wikimedia Commons for use on Wikipedia and other sister project.	4000	7965	4285 uploads from our OFWA main dashboard and 3680 uploads from Africa Day Campaign	Outreach Dashboard
Wikidata	Matrics description-We seek to generate wikidata items from existing articles, newly created articles and uploads on Wikimedia commons by encouraging members and participants about the importance of wikidata as well as build their capacity around it.	3000	18500	From the Africa Day Campaign Dashboard, editors generated 18.5k total revisions of Wikidata items which include, General 18.5K Total revisions 9, Merged, 952, Interwiki links added Items 426 Created 8 Cleared Claims 4.98K Created 2.88K Changed 127 Removed Labels 2.42K Added 95 Changed 3 Removed Descriptions 2.15K Added 167 Changed 0 Removed Aliases 1.5K Added 40 Changed 24 Removed Other 5 Qualifiers added 323 tooltip default logoReferences added This may only be a partial count of references added. It is based on Wikidata edit summaries, and some edits that add references are classified as a "Changed claim" or "Created claim" instead. 9 Redirects created, 0 Reverts performed, 0 Restorations performed, 2.4K Other updates	Outreach Dashboard
Incubator	Contribute to language incubator projects	100	N/A	N/A	N/A
Wikiquote	Build capacity and skills on this wiki	50	N/A	N/A	N/A

14. Were there any metrics in your proposal that you could not collect or that you had to change?

Yes

15. If you have any difficulties collecting data to measure your results, please describe and add any recommendations on how to address them in the future.

So far the event metrics dashboard has been one of the main tools we use for tracking contributions and data. There are limitations with it and thus is not able to track some kinds of contributions from other wikis like WikiQuotes.

16. Use this space to link or upload any additional documents that would be useful to understand your data collection (e.g., dashboards, surveys you have carried out, communications material, training material, etc).

Upload Documents and Files

Here is an additional field to type in URLs.

https://outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org/courses/Open_Foundation_West_Africa/OFWA_Cumulative_2023_(January_2023-_January_2024) - OFWA Cumulative 2023 Dashboard

https://outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org/campaigns/africa_day_campaign_2023/programs - Africa Day Campaign 2023 Dashboard

Part 4: Organizational capacities & partnerships edit

17. Organizational Capacity

Organizational capacity dimension
A. Financial capacity and management	This capacity has grown but it should be further developed
B. Conflict management or transformation	This has grown over the last year, the capacity is high
C. Leadership (i.e growing in potential leaders, leadership that fit organizational needs and values)	This capacity has grown but it should be further developed
D. Partnership building	This capacity has grown but it should be further developed
E. Strategic planning	This capacity has grown but it should be further developed
F. Program design, implementation, and management	This capacity has grown but it should be further developed
G. Scoping and testing new approaches, innovation	This capacity is low, and we should prioritise developing it
H. Recruiting new contributors (volunteer)	This has grown over the last year, the capacity is high
I. Support and growth path for different types of contributors (volunteers)	This has grown over the last year, the capacity is high
J. Governance	This capacity has grown but it should be further developed
K. Communications, marketing, and social media	This capacity has grown but it should be further developed
L. Staffing - hiring, monitoring, supporting in the areas needed for program implementation and sustainability	This has grown over the last year, the capacity is high
M. On-wiki technical skills	This capacity has grown but it should be further developed
N. Accessing and using data	This capacity has grown but it should be further developed
O. Evaluating and learning from our work	This has grown over the last year, the capacity is high
P. Communicating and sharing what we learn with our peers and other stakeholders	This capacity has grown but it should be further developed
N/A
N/A

17a. Which of the following factors most helped you to build capacities? Please pick a MAXIMUM of the three most relevant factors.

Formal training provided by the Wikimedia Foundation, Peer to peer learning with other community members in conferences/events, Using capacity building/training resources onlinee from sources OUTSIDE the Wikimedia Movement

17b. Which of the following factors hindered your ability to build capacities? Please pick a MAXIMUM of the three most relevant factors.

Lack of knowledge of available capacity building opportunities, Lack of training that fits contextual needs and interests

18. Is there anything else you would like to share about how your organizational capacity has grown, and areas where you require support?

The inclusion of an Administrative Executive/ED in our team has greatly influenced our work, effectively distributing the workload based on staff capacity and capabilities. This addition has also granted us the opportunity to participate in various training sessions organized by the Foundation, thereby enriching our collective knowledge with diverse perspectives.

We have improved upon our annual team retreat by introducing sessions that seek to build the capacity of our team. In as much as the retreat was to reflect on activities scheduled for the year, we had sessions that were focused on leadership skills, communication skills and knowledge on the new updates of the Wikimedia ecosystem.

This sought to enhance staff capacity in the aforementioned areas.

19. Partnerships over the funding period.

Over the fund period...
A. We built strategic partnerships with other institutions or groups that will help us grow in the medium term (3 year time frame)	Agree
B. The partnerships we built with other institutions or groups helped to bring in more contributors from underrepresented groups	Strongly agree
C. The partnerships we built with other institutions or groups helped to build out more content on underrepresented topics/groups	Strongly agree

19a. Which of the following factors most helped you to build partnerships? Please pick a MAXIMUM of the three most relevant factors.

Permanent staff outreach

19b. Which of the following factors hindered your ability to build partnerships? Please pick a MAXIMUM of the three most relevant factors.

Difficulties specific to our context that hindered partnerships, Local policies or other legal factors, Limited funding period

20. Please share your learning about strategies to build partnerships with other institutions and groups and any other learning about working with partners?

We have learned that partners do not want to waste their time on things that do not align with their interest. We tailor specific projects to specific partners in a way that aligns with their interest. Some partnerships take longer than expected, we have learned to be flexible as much as possible when working with partners and also ensuring we are working within a reasonable time frame.

Additionally you need to be proactive when working with partners to keep the conversation going. It can sometimes take the effort on your part to make the partnership or collaboration be fruitful.

Part 5: Sense of belonging and collaboration edit

21. What would it mean for your organization to feel a sense of belonging to the Wikimedia or free knowledge movement?

Involving us in relevant discussions Providing support and giving feedback Collaborating and partnering with other affiliates on projects

22. How has your (for individual grantees) or your group/organization’s (for organizational grantees) sense of belonging to the Wikimedia or free knowledge movement changed over the fund period?

Increased significantly

23. If you would like to, please share why it has changed in this way.

We have received significant support from grantees, skill sharing, mid-point conversation, have all provided a sense of belonging in the community.

24. How has your group/organization’s sense of personal investment in the Wikimedia or free knowledge movement changed over the fund period?

Stayed the same

25. If you would like to, please share why it has changed in this way.

N/A

26. Are there other movements besides the Wikimedia or free knowledge movement that play a central role in your motivation to contribute to Wikimedia projects? (for example, Black Lives Matter, Feminist movement, Climate Justice, or other activism spaces) If so, please describe it below.

Creative Commons, Mozila, Black Speculative Arts

Supporting Peer Learning and Collaboration edit

We are interested in better supporting peer learning and collaboration in the movement.

27. Have you shared these results with Wikimedia affiliates or community members?

Yes

27a. Please describe how you have already shared them. Would you like to do more sharing, and if so how?

As mentioned earlier, the collaboration with Creative Commons Ghana was shared to community members and the Wikimedia community through Diff and our social media platforms.

28. How often do you currently share what you have learned with other Wikimedia Foundation grantees, and learn from them?

We do this regularly (at least once a month)

29. How does your organization currently share mutual learning with other grantees?

Every month we send out monthly newsletters of activities that happened in the previous month. At least twice a week we share activities we do on our social media handles. We also make publications on diff for major projects and in our grantee portal.

However, the most significant form of sharing mutual learning over the period has been the mid-point learning conversation and participating in other conversations like Let's connect and Afrika Baraza

Part 6: Financial reporting and compliance edit

30. Please state the total amount spent in your local currency.

155989.6

31. Local currency type

USD

32. Please report the funds received and spending in the currency of your fund.

Upload Documents, Templates, and Files.

Report funds received and spent, if template not used.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1G-BcMl-x29d4-OrgjuWLnW1D6aSD_IcJz3IZ1g0zW3Y/edit?usp=sharing

33. If you have not already done so in your budget report, please provide information on changes in the budget in relation to your original proposal.

N/A

34. Do you have any unspent funds from the Fund?

34a. Please list the amount and currency you did not use and explain why.

USD 297 Some projects could not be implemented due to challenges with partnerships and volunteer capacity. However, some new event items were added and implemented based community needs and capacity.

34b. What are you planning to do with the underspent funds?

A. Propose to use the underspent funds within this Fund period with PO approval

34c. Please provide details of hope to spend these funds.

Since this year's grant was sent in GHS expenditure made in USD will be hugely affected due to exchange rate fluctuation. This amount could be used to support situations

35. Are you in compliance with the terms outlined in the fund agreement?

As required in the fund agreement, please report any deviations from your fund proposal here. Note that, among other things, any changes must be consistent with our WMF mission, must be for charitable purposes as defined in the grant agreement, and must otherwise comply with the grant agreement.

36. Are you in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations as outlined in the grant agreement?

Yes

37. 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

38. If you have additional recommendations or reflections that don’t fit into the above sections, please write them here.