The momentum of the African Wikipedian Alliance (AWA) Digitalize Youth Project 2025 continued strong into August, with participants not only contributing high-quality content to Wikipedia and Wikidata but also stepping into leadership roles to train their peers. This month marked a significant shift toward peer-led learning, reinforcing the project’s goal of empowering youth to take ownership of digital knowledge creation.
Training and Capacity Building
In August, we hosted two peer-led training sessions on 1 and 2 August:
- Notability on Wikipedia and Wikidata — facilitated by Andikan Efiok Eduok, this session explored notability guidelines for both Wikipedia and Wikidata, helping participants refine their judgment on which topics qualify for inclusion and how to present them effectively.
- Adding Citations, Internal Links, and Infoboxes on Wikipedia — led by Airypedia, this practical session equipped participants with skills to enhance article quality, credibility, and navigation through proper referencing, linking, and the use of infobox templates.
These sessions demonstrated the growing expertise within our cohort and highlighted the benefits of collaborative knowledge sharing.
We also held an Office Hour on 13 August to discuss challenges participants faced while contributing. One recurring theme was the lack of reliable references for topics relevant to Niger and South Sudan, underscoring the need for continued focus on sourcing credible local and regional materials.
August Contributions
In total, 41 contributions were made this month across Wikipedia, Wikidata, and content translation.
Wikipedia (English)
- 8 articles were created
- 4 articles were improved
Wikidata
- 12 items were created
- 8 items were improved
One of the new articles created on English Wikipedia is Nouhou Arzika and on Wikidata, here are some of the items created: South Sudan Cybercrime Court and Data protection laws in Niger.
Content Translation
- 9 articles translated from English into local languages such as Hausa — e.g., Mamadou Malam Aouami translated into Hausa to reach wider audiences in Niger.
New Participant Engagement
This month also welcomed a new contributor to the project community. They have already begun working on assigned topics, marking another step toward expanding our network of editors from Niger and South Sudan. These are some of their contributions: Tchima Illa Issoufou and Juletta Lino Alberto.
Looking Ahead
With participants now taking on training roles, the project is entering a more collaborative and self-sustaining phase. My priorities for the coming months include:
- Continuing to onboard new editors especially from Niger and South Sudan
- Expanding the pool of topics with reliable references
- Encouraging more peer-led sessions to strengthen participant ownership of the project’s goals
You can follow our ongoing progress and find ways to get involved by visiting the project’s Meta page.
Together, we are building a stronger ecosystem of open knowledge that supports civic engagement and digital rights across Africa.
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