Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Simple Annual Plan Grants of the Wikimedians of United Arab Emirates User Group 2022
- Increase Participation - cultivating sustainable communities of Arabic content creators and researchers in the UAE to preserve information in Arabic.
- Increase awareness of the importance of freely accessible and reliable data across all subject matters in the Arabic Language, as a translation of Arabic content into English and other languages for global exposure.
Related: User:Serine Ben Brahim User:هاني_يكن
User:Ahlam BolookiThis is an automatically generated Meta-Wiki page. The page was copied from Fluxx, the grantmaking web service of Wikimedia Foundation where the user has submitted their application. Please do not make any changes to this page because all changes will be removed after the next update. Use the discussion page for your feedback. The page was created by CR-FluxxBot.
Applicant details
editWikimedia username(s):
- main: User:Reda Kerbouche
Related: User:Serine Ben Brahim User:هاني_يكن User:Ahlam Bolooki
Organization:
- Wikimedians of United Arab Emirates User Group
Have you received grants from the Wikimedia Foundation before?
- Applied previously and did not receive a grant
Have you received grants from any non-wiki organization before?
- No
Which organization(s) did you receive grants from?
- N/A
Organization details
editWhat is your organization or group's mission?
- Our mission is to aid and encourage all citizens and residents of the UAE, regardless of their social or other status to collect, develop, create and disseminate knowledge for free through stimulating public interest in the culture of volunteering and creating and editing content.
If you would like, please share any websites or social media accounts that your group or organization has. (optional)
Grant proposal
editPlease state the title of your proposal. This will also be a title for the Meta-Wiki page.
- Simple Annual Plan Grants of the Wikimedians of United Arab Emirates User Group 2022
Where will this proposal be implemented?
- United Arab Emirates
Indicate if it is a local, international, or regional proposal and if it involves several countries? (optional)
- Local
If you have answered regional or international, please write the country names and any other information that is useful for understanding your proposal.
What are the main challenges you are trying to solve and your proposed solution?
- The first challenge of Wikimedians of the United Arab Emirates User Group is to increase the content of Wikimedia projects (the most important being Wikipedia) in Arabic and English language. To achieve this, we will hold various competitions (Article Contests, Photography Contests, Wikimarathon, Wiki camp) on the Arabic and English Wikipedia. Contests will be regional and international.
The second challenge is to increase the volunteers of Wikimedia project editors. The increase of the number of participants in Wikimedia projects, primarily in the Arabic language, is strategic for us; since the growth of the Wikimedia content and its quality depends on the number of participants. We will seek different groups and individuals, including those under-represented in our community by supporting and organizing training aimed at increasing participation in the Wikimedia movement. We are working with our community to find opportunities to increase participation and improve the climate for new comers in Wikimedia projects. This is done through outreach activities, partnerships with educational institutions, and on-wiki initiatives (such as Wikimarathons and Article contests). These activities have parallel aims of improving content and attracting more participation from the target groups. To address this challenge and to attract new volunteers and participants in the Wikimedia project in the UAE, we will carry out the following projects: 1- We conduct active training and workshops in educational institutions and for interested parties. 2- We conduct thematic competitions and wikimarathons.
The third challenge is to become an official Wikimedia chapter which will make us the first in the Arabic world. To achieve this, we will be using the Affiliation Committee guidelines.
What is the main objective of your proposal?
- -Bridge the content gap in Arabic language - promotion of knowledge in Arabic and aiding Arab speakers to find information easily.
- Increase Participation - cultivating sustainable communities of Arabic content creators and researchers in the UAE to preserve information in Arabic.
- Increase awareness of the importance of freely accessible and reliable data across all subject matters in the Arabic Language, as a translation of Arabic content into English and other languages for global exposure.
Describe your main strategies to achieve this objective and the main activities you will be developing as part of these strategies.
- Education and Digital literacy
This program sums all the actions and activities that seek to connect the work of Wikimedians of the UAE UG and the WM Educational projects with Educational institutions and Universities in the UAE, to spread the WM philosophy on the national stage.
Community Outreach This program brings together all the actions and activities that the UAE UG displays to recruit new members and train editors and content creators and facilitate collaboration with other WM structures in the region.
Media Outreach This program considers actions and activities that aim to promote the pedagogical use of the Wikimedia philosophy and projects and also to discuss the importance of data sharing and open-source information within the media.
Research Programme The UG will allocate a research fund to conduct research in different areas to support reliable data collection. The research will focus on specific subject areas including all GLAM projects. The selected researchers will be assigned to a specific subject area such as Art, Calligraphy, History, Tourism, Science etc. The researchers will be tasked to develop and organize strong database in Arabic and English for each of the identified research areas. We will use this research as a base for our volunteers to create Wikipedia articles.
Local Identities This program refers to the actions and activities that seek to improve the quantity and quality of the content related to the United Arab Emirates and its identities and territories in Wikipedia by engaging local communities in the creation of that same content. This is an initiative that promotes the creation of visual content that represents UAE cultural and social life, as well as its natural and urban values and characteristics.
Please state if you will be carrying out any of these activities within your programs? Select all that apply.
- Organizing Meet-up online, Organizing Meet-up offline, Workshops, Edit-A-Thons, Train-the-Trainer, Photowalk, WikiCamp, Contest, Wikimedian-in-Residence, Photo/Media campaign, Wiki Loves campaign, WikiTown, Conference/Event Organizing, Media outreach campaign, Central organizing for movement campaign
Are you running any in-person events or activities?
- Yes
- https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1brkHmlbTwRO0THqUaL6h2u33CXa7xGKyBnWqEuT68IM/edit?usp=sharing
Please state if your proposal aims to work on any of the identified content knowledge gaps?
- Content Gender gap, Geography, Language, Important Topics (topics considered to be of impact or important in the specific context), Cultural background, ethnicity, religion, racial
Please state if your proposal includes any of these areas or thematic focus.
- Education, Culture, heritage or GLAM , Open Technology, Diversity
Will your work focus on involving participants from any underrepresented communities? Select all categories that apply.
- Geographic , Disabilities, Linguistic / Language, Age, Digital Access
Please tell us more about your target participants.
- 1- This is an open proposal for diverse communities in the UAE. Whilst it is open we hope to specifically engage students, women, and grass-roots organizations working in the area.
1.1. Content Gender Gap: focuses on including female authors, artists and others, not only representing their work but also as participants in the workshops and editors. The proposal also seeks to include grassroots cultural and governmental organizations that represent these communities as partners. 1.2. Geography: will include youth as editors and also future organizers from this area. 1.3. Socioeconomic status: will be working on including students as editors and future organizers from diverse socioeconomic levels. We will also include expats and residents from other countries, who are living in the UAE. 1.4. Age: will seek to include youth as one of the main groups of contributors as well as people from all age groups.
2.No prior experience with WM is needed to participate: we will be providing training to all our volunteers and contributors. 3.we will engage participants who are already active, by forming partnerships and collaboration projects. We will reach out to them through effective local communication channels such as posters, social media, local radio networks and local organisations.
Strategies to engage and maintain new contributors:
1. Reaching out to local communities and organisations:
By working with these organizations and aligning their missional work with Wikimedia movement philosophy, we look into benefiting from their community engagement dynamics, such as: regular meet-ups etc....
2. Visibility and impact: We will give recognition to contributors' work to show the impact of their work, for instance highlighting the content views. In this way, the local authors, artists etc... can see the potential of Wikimedia in giving them not only local exposure but also global one.
3. We will maintain participants to stay active, both online and offline, according to each person's time, interest, and capacity as well as a communications strategy via emails and email newsletters and social media engagement.
Do you have plans to work with other Wikimedia communities, groups or affiliates in your country, or in other countries, to implement this proposal?
- Yes
Please tell us about these connections online and offline and how you have let Wikimedia communities know about this proposal.
- We started working with the communities of Arabic speakers across the Arab world as well as communities in the Arab Gulf where there are no WM user groups, through our Arabic Literature project “Kateb Maktub” and organizing a competition on writing articles on Arab Authors in all the Arab world. We also have shared collaboration initiatives with other Arab User groups through the Wiki Arabia Conference 2021 in Algeria that was organized virtually in October. We communicate normally with the rest of these connections through social media, Facebook groups mainly.
We aim to work with the educational team of Wikimedia Foundation.
Will you be working with other external, non-Wikimedian partners to implement this proposal?
- Yes
Please describe these partnerships.
- We will be working with local collectives. such as the artists and authors collectives/unions and media collectives and entities. These are formally and informally organized grassroots organizations with a long tradition of community building in the UAE. These collectives will provide some of the equipment and physical spaces to carry out the activities, as well as help to engage existing participants of these communities with the proposal's activities by using their existing communication channels and mobilization capacities. The proposal aims to be able to benefit the collectives by expanding their range of activities and making their work more visible through Wikimedia sites and future partnerships with NGOs. the educational system, and local government.
How do you hope to sustain or expand the work carried out in this proposal after the grant?
- Most of our proposed actions in the attached Strategic Plan are self-sustainable, with the right push and initiation during the grant year, we aim for our participants and volunteers to stay engaged and active and continuously growing even after the grant year.
Do you have the team that is needed to implement this proposal?
- Name: Ahlam Bolooki (volunteer)
Role: Project Coordinator / Executive Director of WM UAE UG Username: Ahlam Bolooki Responsibilities: Responsible for the programmes and strategic planning of the User Group. She leads the execution of all programs and projects.
Name: Serine Ben Brahim (paid staff) Username: Serine Ben Brahim Role: Researcher, Trainer, and Content Writer Responsibilities: In charge of all the training programs, organizing data, and volunteers work. She will be in charge of the Education and Digital literacy program. She reports to the Executive Director of WM UAE UG.
Name: Reda Kerbouche (volunteer) Username: Reda Kerbouche Role: Communities Coordinator Responsibilities: In charge of planning, executing, and evaluating the Communities and new users program. He reports to the Executive Director of WM UAE UG.
Name:Hani Yekan (paid staff) Role: Outreach Coordinator/Partnership Manager Username: هاني يكن Responsibilities: Responsible for the execution of the Group’s communication, activities, and strategies. He will be also responsible for planning, executing, and evaluating the activities in the Outreach and Media program. He reports to the Executive Director of Wikimedia UAE UG.
Vacant positions: Researchers on different topic areas (refer to q.12 on the main strategies)
In what ways do you think your proposal most contributes to the Movement Strategy 2030 recommendations. Select a maximum of three options that most apply.
- Increase the Sustainability of Our Movement, Improve User Experience, Provide for Safety and Inclusion, Ensure Equity in Decision-making, Coordinate Across Stakeholders, Invest in Skills and Leadership Development, Manage Internal Knowledge, Identify Topics for Impact, Innovate in Free Knowledge, Evaluate, Iterate, and Adapt
Please state if your organization or group has a Strategic Plan that can help us further understand your proposal. You can also upload it here. (optional)
- Upload Strategic Plan
Learning, Sharing, and Evaluation
editWhat do you hope to learn from your work in this fund proposal?
- • What makes participants more engaged and willing to continue participating? How can we create a sustainable movement of volunteers and content creators?
- What activities are more effective for generating content around various topics on each Wikimedia project?
- What are the strategies that help generate the skills needed to promote youth volunteers as organizers of future activities?
Core Metrics
editEnter a description of the metric and a number in the target field. If the metric does not apply to you, enter N/A for not applicable.
| Core metrics | Description | Target |
|---|---|---|
| Number of participants | Program 1: Education and Digital Literacy
Activity 1: Establishment of university roadmap across seven Emirates 120 participants Activity 2: Training librarians on Wikisource, Wikidata, and other Wiki projects 16 participants Activity 3: Roundtable with teachers 20 participants Activity 4: Partnership with archives 15 participants Program 2: Community Outreach Activity 1: Edit-a-thons 40 participants Activity 2: Competitions 100 participants Activity 3: Arabic language month 100 participants Activity 4: Partnership in the Golf region 20 participants Activity 5: Wiki loves X 100 participants Activity 6: Wiki Club 180 participants Program 3: Media Outreach Activity 1: Media gatherings 15 participants Activity 2: Engage journalist students 40 participants
Program 5: Local Identity projects Activity 1: Wikimedian-in-residence specialized researchers 20 participants |
829 |
| Number of editors | Program 1: Education and Digital Literacy
Activity 1: Establishment of university roadmap across seven Emirates 120 participants Activity 2: Training librarians on Wikisource, Wikidata, and other Wiki projects 16 participants Activity 4: Partnership with archives 15 participants Program 2: Community Outreach Activity 1: Edit-a-thons 40 participants Activity 2: Competitions 100 participants Activity 3: Arabic language month 100 participants Activity 4: Partnership in the Golf region 20 participants Activity 6: Wiki loves X 100 participants Activity 7: Wiki Club 180 participants Program 3: Media Outreach Activity 1: Media gatherings 15 participants Activity 2: Engage journalist students 40 participants
Program 5: Local Identity projects Activity 1: Wikimedian-in-residence specialized researchers 30 participants |
799 |
| Number of organizers | Program 1: Education and Digital Literacy
Activity 1: Establishment of university roadmap across seven Emirates 4 organizers Activity 2: Training librarians on Wikisource, Wikidata, and other Wiki projects 3 organizers Activity 3: Roundtable with teachers 2 organizers Activity 4: Partnership with archives 2 organizers Program 2: Community Outreach Activity 1: Edit-a-thons 2 organizers Activity 2: Competitions 4 organizers Activity 3: Arabic language month 9 organizers Activity 4: Partnership in the Golf region 4 organizers Activity 5: Wikipedia Arabic World forum 30 organizers Activity 6: Wiki loves X 4 organizers Activity 7: Wiki Club 4 organizers Program 3: Media Outreach Activity 1: Media gatherings 3 organizers Activity 2: Engage journalist students 2 organizers Activity 3: Press releases 1 organizer Program 4: Research Programme Activity 1: Wikimedian-in-residence specialized researchers 3 organizers Activity 2: Specialists Outreach 2 organizers Program 5: Local Identity projects Activity 1: WPWP 1 organizer Activity 2: QR code 5 organizers |
85 |
| Wikimedia Project | Description | Target |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia | Program 1: Education and Digital Literacy
Activity 1: Establishment of university roadmap across seven Emirates 120 articles Activity 2: Training librarians on Wikisource, Wikidata, and other Wiki projects 16 articles Activity 3: Partnership with archives 100 articles Program 2: Community Outreach Activity 1: Edit-a-thons 80 articles Activity 2: Competitions 1600 articles Activity 3: Arabic language month 500 articles Activity 4: Wiki Club 180 articles Program 3: Media Outreach Activity 1: Media gatherings 10 articles Program 4: Research Programme Activity 1: Wikimedian-in-residence specialized researchers 200 articles Activity 2: Specialists Outreach 80 articles |
2886 |
| Wikimedia Commons | Program 1: Education and Digital Literacy
Activity 1: Partnership with archives 2000 Program 2: Community Outreach Activity 1: Wiki loves X 2500 Program 4: Research Programme Activity 1: Wikimedian-in-residence specialized researchers 3000 Activity 2: Specialists Outreach 400 Program 5: Local Identity projects Activity 1: QR code 500 organizers |
8400 |
| Wikidata | Program 1: Education and Digital Literacy
Activity 1: Training librarians on Wikisource, Wikidata, and other Wiki projects 10000 items Activity 2: Partnership with archives 10000 items Program 2: Community Outreach Activity 1: Edit-a-thons 20 items Activity 2: Competitions 200 items Activity 3: Arabic language month 50 items Activity 7: Wiki Club 40 organizers
|
21210 |
| Wikisource | Program 1: Education and Digital Literacy
Activity 1: Training librarians on Wikisource, Wikidata, and other Wiki projects 8 books |
8 |
| Wikiversity | Program 4: Research Programme
Activity 1: Wikimedian-in-residence specialized researchers 10 courses |
10 |
If for some reason your proposal will not measure these core metrics please provide an explanation.
- N/A
Additional Metrics
editEnter a description of the metric and a number in the target field. If the metric does not apply to you, enter N/A for not applicable.
| Additional Metrics | Description | Target |
|---|---|---|
| Number of editors that continue to participate/retained after activities | We hope to have 100 participants after our activities. | 100 |
| Number of organizers that continue to participate/retained after activities | Organizers of events like the WLX and other contests and trainers | 20 |
| Number of strategic partnerships that contribute to longer term growth, diversity and sustainability | We hope that we will have partnerships with 3 ministries and 1 library and 1 NGO that will work with us permanently | 5 |
| Feedback from participants on effective strategies for attracting and retaining contributors | We will send a survey to all participants of our activities to have more feedbacks | 500 |
| Diversity of participants brought in by grantees | N/A | N/A |
| Number of people reached through social media publications | will have a marketing target on social media | 10000 |
| Number of activities developed | QR Code
Wikipedia Arab month Kateb Maktub project |
3 |
| Number of volunteer hours | Program 1: Education and Digital Literacy
Activity 1: Establishment of university roadmap across seven Emirates 3750 min. Activity 2: Training librarians on Wikisource, Wikidata, and other Wiki project 960 min. Activity 3: Roundtable with teachers 1200 min. Activity 4: Partnership with archives 2900 min. Program 2: Community Outreach Activity 1: Edit-a-thons 2400 min. Activity 2: Competitions 48 000 min. Activity 3: Arabic language month 10 000 min. Activity 4: Partnership in the Golf region 5760 min. Activity 5: Wikipedia Arabic World forum 27 000 min. Activity 6: Wiki loves X 960 min. Activity 7: Wiki Club 10 800 min. Program 3: Media Outreach Activity 1: Media gatherings 120 min. Activity 2: Engage journalist students 2400 min. Program 4: Research Programme Activity 1: Specialists Outreach 2400 min. Program 5: Local Identity projects Activity 1: WPWP 960 min. |
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 |
What other information will you be collecting to learn about the impact of your work? (optional)
- N/A
What tools would you use to measure each metric selected?
- We will be using google forms, interviews, feedback surveys, informal coffee-mornings… we also are open to any support or suggestions from the Foundation. and also Quarry and Bots
How do you hope to share these results so that others can learn from them?
- Create a video of our experience, Make a short presentation of the experience, Create a training workshop to show others what we learned, Share results on social media, Share results with our communities, Participate in one on one peer sharing session with other grantees, Develop learning material for other users, Share it on Meta-Wiki, I would like to receive support from the Foundation to discover how I can share my learning
Financial Proposal
editWhat is the amount you are requesting from WMF? Please provide this amount in your local currency. If you are thinking about a multi-year fund, please provide the amount for the first year.
- 394485.71 AED
What is this amount in US Currency (to the best of your knowledge)?
- 107401.5 USD
Do you want to apply for multi-year funding?
- No
If you have calculated it, please provide an estimate of the year 2 or year 3 request.
- N/A
Please share your budget for this proposal.
What do you do to make sure there is a good management of funds?
How will you contribute towards creating a supportive environment for participants using the UCOC and Friendly Space Policy?
- We have included the UCOC and Friendly Space Policy in our strategy and policy to create a supportive environment for participants. We will work on our by-laws and send it to the AffCom for review and approval.
Please use this optional space to upload any documents that you feel are important for further understanding your proposal.
- Staffing plan or organogram:
- Other public document(s):
Final Message
editBy submitting your proposal/funding request you agree that you are in agreement with the Application Privacy Statement, WMF Friendly Space Policy and the Universal Code of Conduct.
We/I have read the Application Privacy Statement, WMF Friendly Space Policy and Universal Code of Conduct.
- Yes
Feedback
edit- Please add any feedback to the grant discussion page only. Any feedback added here will be removed.