Wiki Loves Africa (WLA) is an annual contest where anyone across Africa can contribute free media that is relevant to their experience to Wikimedia Commons for use on Wikipedia and other Wikimedia communities (Wikimedia movement), and also make this shared media freely available for the Humankind.
Wiki Loves Africa encourages participants to contribute media (photographs, video and audio) that illustrate the specific theme for that year. Each year the theme changes and is chosen by the community from a few universal, visually rich and culturally specific topics (for example, markets, rites of passage, festivals, public art, cuisine, natural history, urbanity, daily life, notable persons, etc).
When
The project is a competition which last took take place from Feb 15th till April 30th 2022
Theme
Wiki Loves Africa particularly encourages participants to contribute media that illustrate a specific theme for that year. Each year the theme changes and could include any universal, visually rich and culturally specific topic (for example, markets, rites of passage, festivals, public art, cuisine, natural history, urbanity, daily life, notable persons, etc).
(*) If you wonder why there is no 2018... it is not due to skipping a year. In 2014-2015-2016-2017, the contest was taking place around October-November-December. Then in 2019, we decided to move to January-February-March to better accommodate the wikimedia community calendar of photo contests ;))
Where
The project is run at the entire African continent level. However, every year, specific actions (training, communication etc.) are held in some countries with national organisers.
Prizes
At the end of the contest, some national organizers host local ceremonies and prizes (some others do not). This is up to local teams to decide if they want to host ceremonies.
In any cases, there is a global jury, and global selection of international winners (usually between 3 to 6), with prizes.
In 2022, the international prizes are:
1st prize: US$2,000
2nd prize: US$1,500
3rd prize: US$1,000
Prize for best quality video (audio and visual quality and storytelling will be taken into account): US$1,000
Culturally specific or traditional representations of Home and Habitat : US$750
Special collection (a series of images that tell a story): US$750
Each winner will also receive a pack of Wiki Loves Africa-branded merchandise.
Key facts
The project is run across the whole continent, however, some specific actions (training, communication etc.) are held in some countries with national organisers.
Wiki Loves Africa has achieved much over 8 years:
Over 88,640 images collected
10,380 unique submitters
Images viewed 1,044,490,672 times altogether (June 2022)
337+ events in 26 African countries
Submitted images viewed 25,072,328 times each month (June 2022);
80%+ of competitors are newbies;
Image included in the Journeys Through Our Fragile Heritage exhibition at the UNESCO, Paris; and
Wiki Loves Africa’s ISA tool is the Winner of the Best Multimedia Tool Prize at WikiData Conference 2019
30th April/le 30 Avril 2022: Guideline for local jury process/Directive pour le processus de jury local. See meetings
25th April/le 25 Avril 2022: Guideline for local jury process/Directive pour le processus de jury local. See meetings
26 March 2022: Office Hours in English. See meetings
12 March 2022: Office Hours in English. See meetings
5 March 2022: Office Hours in English. See meetings
5 March 2022: Office Hours in French. See meetings
26 February 2022: Office Hours in English. See meetings
26 February 2022: Office Hours in French. See meetings
23rd February 2022: Communications 101 webinar. See meetings
19 February 2022: Office Hours in English. See meetings
19 February 2022: Office Hours in French. See meetings
February 2022: The contest launched on 15th February 2022
9 February 2022: Communications 101: training webinar in English. See meetings
7 February 2022: WikiPage Translation 101: training webinar in English. See meetings
5 February 2022: Office Hours in French. See meetings
5 February 2022: Office Hours in English. See meetings
29 January 2022: Office Hours in French. See meetings
22 January 2022: Office Hours in English. See meetings
January 2022: We are excited to announce the winners of the ISA Tool challenge for #Health+Wellness!! The challenge saw 20,954 data contributions by 40 participants. The winning 4 participants contributed the majority, with the top 2 (Rwebogora and Kwameghana) totaling 13,512 entries. Amazing result, thank you for taking part! View more results.
15 January 2022: Office Hours in French. See meetings
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August 2022: Announcement of the Wiki Loves Africa 2022 winners at Wikimania 2022 virtual Conference. Consult the winning pictures.
July 2022: Launch of Wiki Loves Africa 2022-WPWP campaign
February 2022: The contest launched on 15th February 2022
