Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Rapid Fund/VisibleWikiWomen 2024 Ghana Campaign (ID: 22592284)
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Applicant Details edit
- Main Wikimedia username. (required)
Pambelle12
- Organization
N/A
- 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)
N/A
- Describe all relevant roles with the name of the group or organization and description of the role. (required)
Main Proposal edit
- 1. Please state the title of your proposal. This will also be the Meta-Wiki page title.
VisibleWikiWomen 2024 Ghana Campaign
- 2. and 3. Proposed start and end dates for the proposal.
2024-06-01 - 2024-07-31
- 4. Where will this proposal be implemented? (required)
Ghana
- 5. Are your activities part of a Wikimedia movement campaign, project, or event? If so, please select the relevant project or campaign. (required)
Other (please specify) VisibleWikiWomen
- 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)
Challenges and problems
- Wikipedia and related projects have had an ongoing challenge with gender representation since its inception. This is evident in both the content it features and the people who contribute to it. For example, only around 1 in 5 biographies on the platform are about women (Tripodi, 2022). This lack of balance significantly affects how information about women is presented on the world's largest online encyclopedia and in the real world. This gap is not limited to English Wikipedia alone but has seeped into other Wikipedia languages and projects. The foundation itself and the wider movement have admitted to this challenge and have since initiated several programs and initiatives in an attempt to close gender imbalances. Initiatives such as Wiki Women in Red, Women of the Wiki, and Wiki Project Women’s History among others have worked in various ways to produce wholesome content on women. However, research on all of Wikipedia's nearly 300 language editions consistently show a gender gap in editing and content (Ferran-Ferrer, Boté-Vericad, & Minguillón, 2023). Aside content, the faces of countless remarkable black and brown women are missing from Wikimedia Commons. For women’s articles with images, the quality is often subpar which has been framed as the visual gender bias. A study by Beytía et al., (2022) examining visual gender biases across Wikipedia in ten languages indicates that biographies of men typically include a wider variety of images across different language versions of Wikipedia as compared to women. This visual imbalance has far-reaching consequences in African countries specifically Ghana where Wikipedia and related projects were adopted late. Through the VisibleWikiWomen Campaign, we hope to make indigenous and impactful Ghanaian women visible online.
Solution
To Initiate the #VisibleWikiwomen 2024 campaign primarily in Ghana as an opportunity for awareness creation about the significant gender gap on Wikipedia and by extension on the broader internet. To Identify notable indigenous women with significant contributions to their communities who have been rendered relegated in history, visible to ensure these women are celebrated and their contribution to society isn’t erased. To educate and communicate the magnitude of gender imbalances, how it works to erase women’s efforts and influential contributions to the world, and how to reverse the trend through Wikimedia Commons.
To utilize the Visiblewikiwomen campaign as a tool to help establish a maiden team of women ambassadors committed to leading the charge of advocacy and contribution in improving content on influential, indigenous, and industrious black women who are invisible on Wikipedia.
At the end of this event, we hope that students and individuals will become aware of the visual gender imbalances on Wikipedia and by extension on the internet. Additionally, the project would contribute a significant number of high-quality authentic images of indigenous and influential women on Wikipedia to bridge the visual gender gap.
Approaches/Strategies
To Initiate the #VisibleWikiwomen 2024 campaign primarily in Ghana as an opportunity for awareness creation about the significant gender gap on Wikipedia and the broader internet. Amplify the visibility of Indigenous women leaders who have championed their communities but remain absent from Wikipedia. By documenting their stories and images, we ensure their invaluable contributions are celebrated and preserved, preventing them from being lost in history. To introduce Wikimedia Commons and build the capacity of students and individuals new to the Wiki community. To educate and communicate the magnitude of gender imbalances, how it works to erase women’s efforts and influential contributions to the world, and how to reverse the trend through the campaign.
- 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.
Activities To execute the approaches and strategies above, the following will be the main activities:
1. Organize a day’s online training session for about 20 college students and individuals which will primarily be dedicated to establishing foundational capacity-building training on Wikimedia Commons and the VisibleWikiWomen campaign. Additionally, the training will be used to create awareness about gender imbalances on Wikimedia projects and how they can contribute to reducing the dearth. This is based on my experience as the Africa lead for the VisibleWikiWomen Campaign in 2021 where we observed that most students have little or no knowledge about other Wikimedia projects (such as Wikimedia Commons) aside from contributing to Wikipedia. Others are completely unaware of the almost perpetual gender gap. In my experience as a long-term Wikimedia volunteer, one of the trusted ways to organize Wikimedia events and do so effectively is by providing a solid foundation by introducing new entrants to Wikimedia as a movement, Wikimedia Commons before the campaign itself. This approach provides a basic understanding of the community, the need for such a campaign, what others can do to help, and finally encourages participation. My mission statement has been, “Never assume everyone knows about contributing to Wikipedia or related projects.”
2. The second activity, which is the main one, is geared towards curating trips across the length and breadth of Ghana and in the three major regions of the country to capture authentic images and lives of indigenous women whose selfless contribution and resilience are shaping and serving the needs of their communities. As is the focus of the larger VisibleWikiWomen campaign, the contributions of these women who are often in the minority are overlooked and excluded from history. Images will be curated from the Greater Accra Region, Eastern Region, and Central Region of Ghana with a focus on local communities, festivals, and other events.
3. Our final project activity will be an edit-a-thon to sort out images and upload them with appropriate and searchable descriptions and captions. This is an important section of the campaign, in that sorting images and properly labeling them enable easy access and use. The goal is not limited to producing the images but also that people can easily and openly access them.
- 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.
• Pamela Ofori- Boateng (Pambelle12) has been a Wikipedia editor/volunteer over the last six years with a portfolio of community leadership and activities within the movement- Project Lead
- Jesse Akrofi (Jwale2) is an active Wikipedia editor, community leader, and host of the Podcast show, Wiki Update- Technical Support.
- Francis Quasie (Esthee2010) is an active contributor primarily on Wikimedia Commons and has won several awards for his contributions- Co-lead
- Nana Darkoa (Nandi D) A university student and community volunteer
- Event will also include speakers with expertise in the movement and gender-related issues from the movement.
- 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)
This proposal is designed to contribute to the annual #VisibleWikiWomen campaign by involving college students and individuals' contributions and building their capacities through Wikipedia resources. We hope to primarily include students from diverse and different socioeconomic backgrounds.
1. Content gap: This project seeks to primarily curate authentic images of indigenous African women who are strong pillars of community advancement and make them available online. 2. Disabilities- Students with learning disabilities will not be left out of this project because per my experience, these social groups when provided with assistance bring rich contributions to projects. 3. Gender identity: We seek to ensure that all students irrespective of their gender are involved and contribute to this project who will be trained to become leaders of future Wiki projects. 4. Since there isn’t an established community related to the gender gap in Ghana, no prior experience is required to participate.
Strategies for follow-up and engaging new participants.
- Connecting with student organizations: By collaborating with student organizations, we hope to benefit from their membership list by engaging in their events and aligning with similar events they may have.
- Visibility and impact: We will send out periodic emails to update participants on the progress of the campaign and the impact of their work such as featured images they contributed to and views/reach of their contribution globally.
- Exposure to other Wiki communities: We will introduce participants to other Wikimedia projects of interest and a pool of resources that will encourage them to develop skills useful to Wikimedia projects and to their personal growth as well thereby retaining them. This way, it becomes a win-win situation.
- New leaders: We hope to identify potential new leaders who will be able to lead initiatives and activities once a community is established. As mentioned, there is no gender gap-centered community in Ghana at the moment and as such the long-term goal is to establish a presence through this campaign
- 10. Does your project involve work with children or youth? (required)
Yes
- 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.
https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Policy:Friendly_space_policy#Youth_Safety
- 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.
• Added this initiative to the list of “Wikipedia needs more women” events dashboard (Link here: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Celebrate_Women/Events)
- A meta page with details of the event is under development to enable community members and prospective participants to have access to information about the event.
- Exchanged emails, WhatsApp conversations, and follow-up online meetings about the project with Whose Knowledge? the founders of the larger #VisibleWikiWomen campaign.
- I also engaged local Wikipedia volunteers and community members for suggestions and support to better execute the project.
- 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)
Socioeconomic status
- 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 edit
- 17. What do you hope to learn from your work in this project or proposal? (required)
Learning questions
- How have participants’ perceptions about Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons changed after contributing to the campaign?
- What inspired them to contribute or participate?
- What challenges manifested during the campaign?
- Were we effective with the Friendly Space Policy?
- Did we effectively ensure inclusivity and ensure that all were treated and supported fairly?
- Did we ensure respect for all irrespective of their backgrounds?
- Did participants have enough training to effectively contribute?
Possible outcomes
- Students/participants have come to understand the makeup of Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons, and its mission of promoting free knowledge.
- They have become aware of the gender imbalances in the community and are committed to bridge the gap.
- Participants learned about the Friendly Space policy and conducted themselves ethically during the events
- 18. What are your Wikimedia project targets in numbers (metrics)? (required)
| Other Metrics | Target | Optional description |
|---|---|---|
| Number of participants | 20 | |
| Number of editors | 10 | |
| Number of organizers | 5 |
| Wikimedia project | Number of content created or improved |
|---|---|
| Wikipedia | |
| Wikimedia Commons | 500 |
| Wikidata | |
| Wiktionary | |
| Wikisource | |
| Wikimedia Incubator | |
| Translatewiki | |
| MediaWiki | |
| Wikiquote | |
| Wikivoyage | |
| Wikibooks | |
| Wikiversity | |
| Wikinews | |
| Wikispecies | |
| Wikifunctions or Abstract Wikipedia |
- Optional description for content contributions.
The campaign is primarily about curating images of indigenous women across three main regions in Ghana and we hope to upload 500 quality images at the end of this campaign to Wikimedia Commons.
- 19. Do you have any other project targets in numbers (metrics)? (optional)
No
| 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)
We would use the community Dashboard and the campaign category to measure progress.
Financial proposal edit
- 21. Please upload your budget for this proposal or indicate the link to it. (required)
- 22. and 22.1. What is the amount you are requesting for this proposal? Please provide the amount in your local currency. (required)
65150 GHS
- 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.
5000 USD
- We/I have read the Application Privacy Statement, WMF Friendly Space Policy and Universal Code of Conduct.
Yes
Endorsements and Feedback edit
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).