Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Rapid Fund/Gender equality in Benin (ID: 22492544)

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Applicant Details

Main Wikimedia username. (required)

Aimeabibis

Organization

Wikimedia Bénin

If you are a group or organization leader, board member, president, executive director, or staff member at any Wikimedia group, affiliate, or Wikimedia Foundation, you are required to self-identify and present all roles. (required)

I'm a group leader of a Wikimedia User Group (submitted to the Affiliation Committee).

Describe all relevant roles with the name of the group or organization and description of the role. (required)

Member of Wikimediens du Bénin User group (Board member)Treasurer volunteer for the association "les sans pagEs," but I live in Benin.

Main Proposal

1. Please state the title of your proposal. This will also be the Meta-Wiki page title.

Gender equality in Benin

2. and 3. Proposed start and end dates for the proposal.

2024-07-20 - 2024-08-24

4. Where will this proposal be implemented? (required)

Benin

5. Are your activities part of a Wikimedia movement campaign, project, or event? If so, please select the relevant project or campaign. (required)

Organizer Lab

6. What is the change you are trying to bring? What are the main challenges or problems you are trying to solve? Describe this change or challenges, as well as main approaches to achieve it. (required)

In 2020, only 15% of contributors were women, while only 1.5% of these contributors lived on the African continent, highlighting significant discrepancies. This observation also applies to Wikipedia's French-language edition, which is largely dominated by a male, French and graduate community. After less fruitful research into available sources on gender, it emerged that the role of women in society tops the list of impact topics. A study on Wikipedia reveals a significant under-representation of women in the movement as a whole, particularly in Africa and Benin. The low number of diverse profiles has consequences for the quality, comprehensiveness and representativeness of the topics covered by the encyclopedia, where white male narratives and Western knowledge predominate, resulting, for example, in only 18% of online biographies devoted to women in 2021crieur), Sihame Assbague (La Revue du (2022-12-23). "Wikipédia : enquête sur la fabrique quotidienne d’un géant encyclopédique". Mediapart (in French). Retrieved 2024-05-31. . In response to these challenges, Gender Equality in Benin aims to reduce the gender gap in representation and participation within the Wikimedia community. These changes include increasing the visibility of women and gender-related topics on Wikimedia platforms, recruiting new female contributors and improving the participation of existing women, as well as improving existing articles related to women and creating new articles on relevant topics.

However, several major challenges remain. The lack of content on women in Wikimedia projects, the low involvement of women in the Wikimedia community, the persistence of gender inequalities in society, reflected in Wikimedia content, as well as the difficulty of raising awareness and mobilizing women to participate in Wikimedia projects remain important obstacles to overcome.

Approaches to achieve this: Organize 4 training sessions on Wikimedia projects (Wikipedia fr, Wikidata, and Commons): These sessions will focus on raising awareness, training on Wikimedia editing, and content creation related to women in Africa. Targeting students and members of organizations on gender gaps: These groups are likely to already be interested in gender issues and can be valuable contributors to the Wikimedia community. In fact, some of them have already taken part in our training courses, and others are expressing interest. Audience and target : members of organizations working to reduce gender disparities, including Women in tech, Envol, and Blolab Link Gender Equality in Benin to global campaigns such as Art+Feminism, GLAM and Wiki LovesX: this will enable us to benefit from increased visibility and to learn from the experiences of other Wikimedia communities by reaching out to and learning from other contributors. Promote the project to women and feminist organizations: this will raise awareness of the project and interest among potential female contributors. Create a welcoming and inclusive environment for women within the Wikimedia community: This is essential to retain female contributors and encourage them to participate actively. That's why we're planning to award prizes to those who get most involved.

7. What are the planned activities? (required) Please provide a list of main activities. You can also add a link to the public page for your project where details about your project can be found. Alternatively, you can upload a timeline document. When the activities include partnerships, include details about your partners and planned partnerships.

Partnerships : We will start by launching a registration form to recruit students and members of organizations working to reduce gender disparities, including Women in tech, Envol, and Blolab.

Recruit and engage new contributors : We will recruit at least twenty new users to create articles and train them in the basics of Wikipedia until they can contribute qualitatively. Additionally, we will enhance the skills of ten former contributors from the community. We will launch and share by social media, blog post, and email to CSO a Google form that participants can fill. Welcoming Environment: We will create a welcoming and inclusive environment for new contributors. Because, it is very important to have positive first experiences that are crucial for retention by encouraging experienced editors to greet and assist newcomers, helping them feel valued.

Content driven : Creating articles from scratch is a laborious process, and writing a well-written article based on the list we've generated could take us longer than expected. However, some of the articles on the topics covered already exist in German, English and other languages. Using the content translation tool, as long as we remain faithful to the context of the article, would enable us to translate articles into French and local languages such as fon and Ewe. Thus, the project will attract new users while supporting existing community members.

Recognition and Appreciation : a prize will be awarded to the top three contributors at the end of the campaign to encourage them. Recognize and appreciate the contributions of new editors, whether through thank-you messages, badges, or other forms of acknowledgment. Showcase their work in community newsletters or on relevant noticeboards.

Retention and follow-up of new : Creating efficient feedback systems, promoting community involvement, and ensuring transparent communication channels are essential in keeping new members informed and connected. Consistent follow-up surveys and ongoing assessment help in adjusting and improving retention strategies based on feedback and changing community dynamics. Developing local communities and facilitating face-to-face networking also enriches the overall experience for new participants, encouraging long-term engagement in Wikimedia projects.

8. Describe your team. Please provide their roles, Wikimedia Usernames and other details. (required) Include more details of the team, including their roles, usernames, Wikimedia group, and whether they are salaried, volunteers, consultants/contractors, etc. Team members involved in the grant application need to be aware of their involvement in the project.

User: Aimeabibis: Project Lead

User: Jadidine : (Volunteer Assistant) : She has been contributing for 2 years and is a member of Women in Tech. She will provide her support voluntarily in this project.

User: Adoscam : Trainer and volunteer assistant

User: Saliousoft : Trainer and volunteer assistant

9. Who are the target participants and from which community? How will you engage participants before and during the activities? How will you follow up with participants after the activities? (required)

Creation of an application form and promotion within our target community. Selection of participants with the help of one or two members of the user group. We will create a working list, which will serve as a reference for participants to ensure that their contributions help bridge the gender gap. Training: Train new participants during the first two workshops on how the movement works and how to contribute to the various Wikimedia projects. Edit-a-thons: Organize an editathon aimed at writing, editing and translating articles. Then plan another session, create Wikidata elements. The last workshop will be used to recap events and award prizes to the best contributors. We'll continue to interact with them by involving them in other community activities.

10. Does your project involve work with children or youth? (required)

No

10.1. Please provide a link to your Youth Safety Policy. (required) If the proposal indicates direct contact with children or youth, you are required to outline compliance with international and local laws for working with children and youth, and provide a youth safety policy aligned with these laws. Read more here.

N/A

11. How did you discuss the idea of your project with your community members and/or any relevant groups? Please describe steps taken and provide links to any on-wiki community discussion(s) about the proposal. (required) You need to inform the community and/or group, discuss the project with them, and involve them in planning this proposal. You also need to align the activities with other projects happening in the planned area of implementation to ensure collaboration within the community.

We will keep group members informed through the mailing list of Beninese groups and associations. We will also share this information with their friends and through the media. Links to our social media and the user group's discussion page are accessible on [1].

12. Does your proposal aim to work to bridge any of the content knowledge gaps (Knowledge Inequity)? Select one option that most apply to your work. (required)

Content Gender gap

13. Does your proposal include any of these areas or thematic focus? Select one option that most applies to your work. (required)

Gender and diversity

14. Will your work focus on involving participants from any underrepresented communities? Select one option that most apply to your work. (required)

Gender Identity

15. In what ways do you think your proposal most contributes to the Movement Strategy 2030 recommendations. Select one that most applies. (required)

Increase the Sustainability of Our Movement

Learning and metrics

17. What do you hope to learn from your work in this project or proposal? (required)

We are looking forward to seeing active engagement and inclusion of women in the Wikimedia movement. What major impact has participation in this project had on our community? How can we recruit, maintain and involve more women in the Wikimedia movement? How do we produce content to address the various gender gaps challenges we face? What motivates editors to continue to edit after activities?

18. What are your Wikimedia project targets in numbers (metrics)? (required)

Number of participants, editors, and organizers
Other Metrics	Target	Optional description
Number of participants	30	New participant: 20 Returning participant: 10
Number of editors	20
Number of organizers	3

Number of content contributions to Wikimedia projects
Wikimedia project	Number of content created or improved
Wikipedia	50
Wikimedia Commons	50
Wikidata	50
Wiktionary
Wikisource
Wikimedia Incubator
Translatewiki	10
MediaWiki
Wikiquote
Wikivoyage
Wikibooks
Wikiversity
Wikinews
Wikispecies
Wikifunctions or Abstract Wikipedia

Optional description for content contributions.

N/A

19. Do you have any other project targets in numbers (metrics)? (optional)

No

Main Open Metrics Data
Main Open Metrics	Description	Target
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

20. What tools would you use to measure each metrics? Please refer to the guide for a list of tools. You can also write that you are not sure and need support. (required)

Dashboard on https://outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org/ Event page

Financial proposal

21. Please upload your budget for this proposal or indicate the link to it. (required)

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Zk2hdFc94jc1D-dlHa_xendJyubx47Vr9K0Ew9r37Fk/edit?usp=sharing

22. and 22.1. What is the amount you are requesting for this proposal? Please provide the amount in your local currency. (required)

2374500 XOF

22.2. Convert the amount requested into USD using the Oanda converter. This is done only to help you assess the USD equivalent of the requested amount. Your request should be between 500 - 5,000 USD.

3890.27 USD

We/I have read the Application Privacy Statement, WMF Friendly Space Policy and Universal Code of Conduct.

Yes

Endorsements and Feedback

Please add endorsements and feedback to the grant discussion page only. Endorsements added here will be removed automatically.

Community members are invited to share meaningful feedback on the proposal and include reasons why they endorse the proposal. Consider the following:

Stating why the proposal is important for the communities involved and why they think the strategies chosen will achieve the results that are expected.
Highlighting any aspects they think are particularly well developed: for instance, the strategies and activities proposed, the levels of community engagement, outreach to underrepresented groups, addressing knowledge gaps, partnerships, the overall budget and learning and evaluation section of the proposal, etc.
Highlighting if the proposal focuses on any interesting research, learning or innovation, etc. Also if it builds on learning from past proposals developed by the individual or organization, or other Wikimedia communities.
Analyzing if the proposal is going to contribute in any way to important developments around specific Wikimedia projects or Movement Strategy.
Analysing if the proposal is coherent in terms of the objectives, strategies, budget, and expected results (metrics).

Endorse