Empowering Youth through Open Knowledge: September Report of the AWA Digitalize Youth Project by Faisal Ali

Introduction

The African Wikipedian Alliance Digitalize Youth Project continued its mission in September, fostering digital literacy, open knowledge contribution, and youth participation in Wikimedia projects. This month’s activities were specifically dedicated to improving Wikidata items, enhancing Wikipedia articles, and creating new Wikidata items in line with the month’s theme.

Objectives for September

• To strengthen the skills of participating youth in working with Wikidata and Wikipedia.
  
• To enhance the quality and accessibility of knowledge related to the chosen theme.
  
• To create new structured data items on Wikidata that complement existing Wikipedia articles.
  
• To encourage collaboration, knowledge-sharing, and peer-to-peer learning among participants.
  

Activities Conducted

1. Training & Capacity Building
   
   • Online and in-person sessions were held to train participants on editing Wikipedia and creating well-structured Wikidata items.
     
   • Practical demonstrations emphasized best practices for sourcing, data consistency, and linking across platforms.
     
2. Wikidata Item Creation
   
   • Participants created new Wikidata items related to the monthly theme, ensuring each was properly referenced and linked to corresponding Wikipedia articles where possible.
     
   • Items were enriched with multilingual labels, descriptions, and properties to improve discoverability.
     
3. Wikipedia Article Improvement
   
   • Existing articles were updated with reliable references, clearer language, and better formatting.
     
   • New sections were added to selected articles to provide more comprehensive coverage.
     
   • Cross-linking with Wikidata ensured improved data integration.
     

Achievements

• Increased Participation: A significant number of young editors actively engaged in editing sessions and task-based contributions. A total number of 8 participants were introduced to SPARQL Query on Wikidata.
  
• Content Creation: Dozens of new Wikidata items were created, and Wikipedia articles were improved and expanded. 27 new Wikidata items were created.
  
• Skill Development: Youth participants gained a deeper understanding of the role of Wikidata in supporting Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects.
  
• Community Impact: The month’s activities contributed to closing knowledge gaps in the selected theme while building a sustainable community of young African Wikimedians.
  

Challenges

• Limited internet connectivity posed difficulties for consistent participation. To address this challenge, participants are reimbursed for them to participate more
  
• Ensuring that all contributions met Wikimedia’s standards required additional rounds of mentorship and review. To address this challenge, contributions by participants are carefully reviewed and also they are guided on how to add credible information to Wikimedia projects.
  

Next Steps

• Continue capacity-building with more advanced training on data modeling in Wikidata.
  
• Plan for upcoming themed activities to diversify content creation.
  
• Strengthen monitoring and evaluation tools to better track participation and contributions.
  
• Expand outreach to engage more youth in the Alliance’s programs.
  

Conclusion

The September activities of the African Wikipedian Alliance Digitalize Youth Project successfully advanced the project’s mission of empowering African youth to participate in open knowledge creation. By focusing on Wikidata and Wikipedia integration, participants not only developed essential digital skills but also contributed meaningful content that enhances African representation across Wikimedia platforms.