Bridging Open Knowledge And Digital Rights: Reflections From DRIF 2026 And The Wikimedia Community

The Digital Rights and Inclusion Forum (DRIF) consistently reassures me that we are not alone in the vital work of creating, curating, and preserving the web for future generations. It’s inspiring to see a diverse group of global actors, focused on digital rights, education, technology, and open knowledge, creating meaningful opportunities for collaboration and learning. DRIF is a yearly conference organized by Paradigm Initiative in the African continent, which has brought together over 3500 delegates from more than 70 countries to discuss digital rights and inclusion in the Global South during its past 14 editions. The Forum this year encouraged discussions on several topics, ranging from internet governance to the fundamental rights that underpin the web, leading to key conversations on the future and integrity of the digital landscape to empower today’s internet users. Our Wikimedia volunteer community members were not left out of these exchanges: they engaged with these actors to learn from and to shape Wikimedians’ worldview on these topics, so they can apply this knowledge in their own volunteer communities.

As rightly put by my colleague Franziska Putz (Senior Movement Advocacy Manager, Wikimedia Foundation):

“Supporting the Digital Rights and Inclusion Forum creates a critical space for African Wikimedians to engage directly with the broader digital rights ecosystem that is shaping the future of the internet across the continent. For many Wikimedians who attend, DRIF is their first experience connecting the everyday work they do on important issues like driving digital inclusion through the preservation of indigenous languages, or edit-a-thons in schools on topics like gender equality or environmental sciences, with policy discussions. It is the work of these individuals that powers open knowledge projects like Wikipedia and Wikidata, which in turn are foundational building blocks for other digital public goods that make information, code, or software accessible for the general public interest.

Paradigm Initiative also does an excellent job of convening influential funders, policymakers, civil society organizations, and relevant stakeholders, which means that the Wikimedians who attend have the opportunity to forge new partnerships for impact. By supporting participation at DRIF, we help strengthen connections between African Wikimedia communities and regional digital rights leaders, ensuring that Wikimedians are not only part of these conversations, but are also recognized as key contributors to building a more inclusive, open, and equitable digital future for Africa.”

DRIF In Retrospective: Q&A With Wikimedians

To better understand the impact of DRIF from a Wikimedia community perspective, I spoke directly with Wikimedians who attended and actively contributed to the conference. Their reflections offer valuable insight into how the Forum shaped their thinking, strengthened their work, and reinforced the role of our movement within broader digital rights conversations.

Why was it important for our community to share their work at DRIF?

Barakat Adegboye (EduWiki Hub, Nigeria), a first-time attendee at this year’s conference, hosted and moderated a session titled “Open Knowledge for Youth Digital Inclusion: Rights, Skills, and Participation.” She was joined by panelists Dr Nkem Osuigwe (AfLIA), Sadik Shahadu (Dagbani Wikimedians User Group), and Willy Buloso (Wikimedia Foundation). Organized by the EduWiki Hub, the session aimed to explore how open knowledge approaches can enhance digital inclusion efforts across Africa, moving beyond mere access to foster meaningful participation.

Other participants echoed the value of explaining Wikipedia’s internal processes and illustrating how anyone can contribute. Emmanuelle Kakou (Wikimedia Côte d’Ivoire) highlighted the importance of showcasing the achievements of Wikimedia volunteer communities in Africa (particularly within Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Nigeria) in including people with disabilities. These efforts demonstrated that anyone can become a contributor to the Wikimedia projects. Her session, “Digital Inclusion of people with disabilities in the open web community: Achievements and Challenges,” featured panelists Samson Kra (Wikimedian of Côte d’Ivoire), Mark Lapang (Wikimedia Igbo, Nigeria), and myself, Felix Nartey (Wikimedia Foundation). Emmanuelle was also a panelist and Emmanuel Menney (Wikimedian of Côte d’Ivoire) moderated.

Regine Njiké (Wiki N’zuñdeuh, Cameroon) and Mark Lapang (Igbo Wikimedians User Group, Nigeria) led a session titled “Linguistic mutualization with Wikidata: strengthening free access to knowledge through interaction between communities,” which focused not only on raising awareness about Wikipedia, but also on highlighting Wikidata’s multilingual capabilities and encouraging participants to contribute through a hands on training. Regine explained that Wikimedia projects are a vital digital platform for accessing information, where the concepts of sharing and access to knowledge are crucial to realize its full impact. She further emphasized that Wikipedia and Wikidata are recognized as digital public goods, underscoring Wikimedia’s essential role in public policy discussions about digital rights and inclusion. Therefore, the Wikimedia communities should actively participate in policy debates.

How would you describe your overall experience at DRIF, and what moments, sessions, or interactions stood out most to you?

As a first-time attendee, Mark described his experience as “excellent,” noting the “powerful presentations” and “energetic participation from diverse organizations.” His sessions were well received, and he reflected on the importance of multilingualism, observing that participants who spoke multiple languages had “an added advantage” in fully engaging across sessions.

Barakat described DRIF26 as “valuable and inspiring,” highlighting how it created opportunities to connect across digital rights, education, libraries, and technology. Facilitating her session on youth digital inclusion stood out as a key moment, where she explored how open knowledge can move “beyond access toward meaningful participation,” particularly through digital literacy, local language content, and sustainable engagement.

Regine found this year’s DRIF both enriching and personally transformative, sharing that she “really enjoyed getting to know everyone” and was surprised by her own growth, noting: “I spoke English like never before.” Alongside facilitating her session, she valued the opportunity to connect with the larger digital community and described the sessions as “very enriching.”

Emmanuelle described DRIF26 as “a wonderful experience overall,” particularly as it provided a platform to showcase our communities’ work on disability inclusion. Her session enabled meaningful exchanges, with participants sharing initiatives and ideas, reinforcing the value of collective learning and cross-community collaboration.

How did attending DRIF influence your perspective on the role of Wikimedians in advancing digital rights, digital inclusion, and public policy discussions?

Barakat noted that DRIF “reinforced that Wikimedians have an important role in digital rights discussions,” emphasizing that communities contribute critical perspectives on “participation, knowledge equity, media literacy, and community led knowledge creation” that are essential to inclusive digital ecosystems.

Mark shared that the experience “significantly strengthened my conviction” about the need for Wikimedians to engage in public policy spaces. He stressed that decisions made in these forums directly shape the movement, adding that “being absent risks the adoption of policies that may run contrary to our vision of a free, open, and accessible internet.”

For Regine, the Forum was a turning point, helping her realize that “we Wikimedians have a great deal to say and share on the issues of digital rights and inclusion.” She underscored that these issues are “at the heart of the Wikimedia projects,” making it clear that “it makes no sense for us to take a back seat in public policy debates.”

Emmanuelle reflected on a growing responsibility following DRIF26, noting that the experience inspired efforts to “raise awareness of digital rights within the Wikimedia community” and beyond, while also strengthening engagement with legal and policy-oriented stakeholders.

What actions, collaborations, or opportunities have emerged from your participation at DRIF, and what support or engagement would strengthen Wikimedia’s presence in spaces like this?

Barakat highlighted new collaboration opportunities across education, libraries, and digital rights, including discussions with African Library & Information Associations & Institutions (AfLIA) and other partners. She emphasized that DRIF “created opportunities to share Wikimedia communities’ approaches and build partnerships beyond the movement,” and pointed to future work around “digital literacy, AI literacy, local language content, and youth participation.”

Mark reported forming “several meaningful connections,” including with individuals who have since joined the Wikimedia movement. Looking ahead, he identified the need to elevate the movement’s visibility, advocating for representation in “opening ceremonies or main plenaries” to better position open knowledge within digital rights conversations.

Regine’s participation opened new doors, including an invitation to contribute to DRIBLE (a board game that helps university students learn about digital rights and online safety in a fun, interactive way). At the same time, she emphasized the need for stronger visibility of Wikimedian work at DRIF, noting that “for Wikimedia to have a wider impact, several measures need to be taken,” particularly by creating opportunities for the Wikimedia movement to engage larger audiences, showcase its work to all participants, and attract new contributors.

Emmanuelle outlined concrete next steps, including collaborations with Paradigm Initiative and legal professionals, as well as plans to connect Wikimedia communities to digital rights training platforms. She also emphasized continued regional collaboration, noting intentions to work with partners across Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, and beyond, while strengthening Wikimedia’s presence in future forums.

From Inspiration To Action: How DRIF Sparked My Next Steps In Ghana

Public Policy Experts Connect In Accra, Flixtey, CC BY-SA 4.0

Inspired by the 2026 DRIF sessions as well as the adage “charity begins at home,” I sought to connect the immediate Wikimedia community in Ghana with stakeholders who attended the conference from their country. In line with my duties as Partnership Manager at the Wikimedia Foundation, the objective was to foster connections and collaborations between our communities and these key individuals and organizations. To achieve this, my team funded a meeting that I organized on Friday, 24 April, bringing together civil society organizations that had participated in DRIF. This gathering provided a platform for attendees to connect, share their work, and coordinate efforts on projects aimed at enhancing Ghana’s digital landscape. Crucially, it offered our community a chance to leverage valuable professional expertise and gain support for their public policy advocacy initiatives.

The meeting included three Wikimedia representatives from Ghana and six civil society organizations. Notable attendees included:

• the Principal Information and Technology Administrator for the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice of Ghana,
• the Executive Director of Targeted Rights Initiative (TRI),
• the founder of ING Ghana, and
• the Global Campaign Manager for the #KeepItOn campaign.

Discussions during the meeting focused on improving the engagement of Ghanaian civil society organizations in digital rights conversations, balancing government representation in Ghana’s Internet Governance Forum (IGF) discussions, and strengthening relationships among participants to present a unified voice on digital landscape matters. The exchange was productive and engaging, extending beyond our initial two-hour plan to last nearly four hours. We agreed to continue meeting every two months, with offers from TRI and Open Foundation West Africa to host future sessions.

Conclusion

This year most of the Wikimedia volunteers who attended the conference were first timers, who widely described participation in the Digital Rights and Inclusion Forum 2026 as a highly valuable and inspiring experience. A clear theme emerged across participants: the Forum reinforces the critical, and often underrepresented, role of Wikimedians in shaping public policy conversations around digital rights and inclusion. Attendees left with a stronger sense of responsibility and urgency to actively engage in these spaces, recognizing that Wikimedia’s principles of knowledge equity, community-led content creation and moderation, and open access are deeply aligned with the goals of inclusive digital ecosystems.

The DRIF26 experience not only strengthened Wikimedians’ individual commitment to public policy advocacy particularly around access, participation, and representation online, but also sparked concrete plans to expand awareness, partnerships, and capacity building efforts within their local communities. Wikimedians recognized that they are essential contributors to ongoing digital policy dialogues in the Africa continent.