I am excited to be one of four fellows selected for the Africa Wikipedian Alliance (AWA) Inclusion and Climate Justice Fellowship 2025, a project led by Code for Africa in partnership with the Norwegian Embassy, which will run for 6 months. The fellowship is dedicated to improving and expanding Wikimedia content on gender equity, LGBTQ+ rights, and climate awareness across Southern Africa and neighbouring countries. My focus is on Malawi, Zambia, and Tanzania. These regions present both unique challenges and powerful opportunities for advancing inclusive knowledge.
Onboarding of Fellows: Setting the Tone
We kicked off our journey with a three-day onboarding session from June 18 to 20, 2025. It was a great way to start, helping us understand what the fellowship is all about, what’s expected from us, and how we can make a real impact on Wikimedia projects. We learned about the goals of the fellowship, how to plan our local activities, and how to create content that’s meaningful and respectful of the communities we’re working with. It was also a chance to connect with other fellows and feel part of something bigger. A few days later, on June 25, we had a virtual launch event. All the fellows, the AWA team, and members of the wider community came together to share our goals, meet each other online, and celebrate the beginning of this exciting journey.
Starting the Work: My Local Efforts
Since the launch of the project, I’ve been focused on building a strong local community of contributors. So far, I’ve onboarded eight participants, five of whom are completely new to the Wikimedia movement, and three are experienced editors eager to engage more deeply with this specific focus area. To support transparency and coordination, I created a dedicated Meta page to document all project activities, topic lists, contribution dashboards, reports, and participation criteria. As an added incentive, participants who meet the monthly requirements will receive internet support of $10 to help reduce connectivity barriers. Together, we’ve started working on improving and creating:
- Wikipedia articles on topics related to gender equity, LGBTQ+ rights, and climate justice in Malawi, Zambia, and Tanzania.
- Translating articles to other languages
- Wikidata items that make knowledge more accessible and structured.
- Wikimedia Commons uploads such as images and media to improve visual representation
Progress So Far: June Highlights
June marked the start of the project, and I successfully conducted three foundational sessions:
1. Introduction to the Project and Expectations
Date: June 28, 2025
This onboarding session outlined the scope of the project, deliverables, and expectations. We also introduced participants to the Wikimedia Movement and its role in advancing free knowledge and social justice.
2. Introduction to Wikipedia & Minor Edits
Date: June 29, 2025
This practical session introduced the basic mechanics of Wikipedia editing. Participants practiced making minor edits and explored Wikipedia’s editing interface, community norms, and citation policies.
3. Office Hour: Wikidata Focus
Date: July 2, 2025
A more interactive session where participants received hands-on support while contributing to Wikidata. We discussed structured data, properties, and how to represent real-world knowledge such as environmental policies and civil society groups.
Content creation
So far, several Wikipedia articles have been improved through the addition of internal links, citations, and infoboxes, while new articles have been created in other languages. On Wikidata, numerous items have been created and expanded, and relevant images have been added to enhance various Wikipedia articles.
Challenges Encountered
Content Restrictions in Tanzania: Due to regulatory limitations around LGBTQ+ content in Tanzania, contributors from that region face barriers in creating or editing topics related to queer rights. As a result, we are exploring alternative focus areas that still align with the overarching goals of inclusion and justice.
What Next?
The coming months hold great promise for deeper engagement, wider participation, and more meaningful content contributions. I’m especially looking forward to the upcoming edit-a-thons, data-a-thons, and translation training sessions, as well as collaborating with more participants from Malawi, Zambia, and Tanzania, particularly those working to highlight local voices and stories in indigenous languages.
Join Us
Want to follow our progress or get involved? Here are three quick steps:
- Fill out the Needs Assessment Form to let us know what skills or support you need.
- Register on the Event Meta page.
- Join the Outreach Dashboard to track your contributions.
- You can also reach out to me via Meta: James Rhoda
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