Advancing Digital Rights in Sudan and Somalia through Wikimedia Projects

Introduction

In June 2025, I officially began my journey as a fellow of the AWA Digitalise Youth Project 2025, a six-month initiative project aimed at bridging content gaps on Wikipedia and Wikidata related to digital rights in Africa that was established by the African Wikipedian Alliance and Code for Africa. The project specifically addresses the African Union Convention on Cybersecurity and Personal Data Protection (commonly referred to as the Malabo Convention), e-democracy, digital mobilisation in social movements, Sustainable Development Goal 16 (peace, justice, and strong institutions), freedom of expression, and human rights, with my special focus on Sudan and Somalia.

A Strong Start with Onboarding and Collaboration

The fellowship launched with a vibrant three-day onboarding session led by Bukola James. During the launch, all selected fellows were introduced to the project goals, timelines, and expected deliverables. This was followed by a virtual launch event that featured participants from various African countries. You can take a snippet from the slides. The event was an opportunity to clarify expectations, foster collaboration, and build momentum around the campaign. Though our community awareness training is still pending, the energy from this first month has been inspiring.

Therefore, as part of my responsibilities, I updated the Meta-Wiki project page to reflect the proposed activities for the fellowship. This included an overview of the project, the training calendar, a curated topic list, and a space for monthly reporting. These updates ensure transparency, community involvement, and alignment across participating countries.

Achievements

Together with my participants, we worked hard in the month of June and proudly surpassed our editing target. We successfully created and improved 31 Wikipedia articles related to cybersecurity, digital mobilisation, and civil liberties in Sudan and Somalia. Some of our notable highlights are;

• The African Union Convention on Cyber Security and Personal Data Protection also known as the Malabo Convention (Malabo Convention): The treaty aims to harmonize cybersecurity and data protection laws across Africa. It was adopted in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, in 2014 and officially entered into force in June 2023 after securing the required 15 ratifications.
• The Data Protection Act (Somalia): Somalia’s first comprehensive data protection law that established the Somali Data Protection Authority (DPA) to ensure its proper implementation. It defines lawful data processing standards, secures the rights of individuals over their personal information, and sets rules for international data transfers.
• Adel Hassan Mohammed: The Sudanese former Minister of Communications and Digital Transformation who signed  the African Union Convention on Cybersecurity and Personal Data Protection for his country.
• Ibrahim Ahmed Mohammed Osman Al-Mirghani: The Sudan’s youngest minister of Communication and information of his tenure.

Looking Ahead

As the project progresses, I look forward to engaging more deeply with Wikimedia communities and digital rights advocates. There is still much to do, particularly around improving access to reliable information in local languages and involving communities from underrepresented regions. This is just the beginning. Each month of the fellowship offers a new opportunity to learn, collaborate, and amplify marginalised voices through open knowledge. I am proud to be contributing to this effort and can not wait to share what comes next.