Africa Wiki Challenge (AWC) is an initiative launched in 2021 by Open Foundation West Africa to strengthen the representation of Africa across Wikimedia projects. For its 2026 edition, themed “Water for Life – Water as a Source of Life in Africa,” the campaign invites contributors to create, improve, and enrich content on water resources, sanitation infrastructure, water governance, and local solutions addressing challenges related to this essential resource.
This year, Madagascar had the opportunity to take part in the Africa Wiki Challenge 2026 Madagascar campaign. The initiative aimed to develop content related to rivers and water resources in the country on Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons, and Wikidata, while also training new contributors capable of continuing this documentation effort beyond the competition.
As part of Africa Wiki Challenge 2026 in Madagascar, the community initiative, Wiki Malagasy Language and Environment partnered with the Polytechnic University of Avaradrano (MASCA) in Sabotsy Namehana, Antananarivo to raise awareness among students about contributing to Wikimedia projects. This collaboration led to a training workshop involving 17 first- and third-year Communication students, all first-time contributors. In total, 32 participants registered and took part in the campaign.
During the training, participants were introduced to the principles of free knowledge and learned how to contribute to Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons, and Wikidata. They were trained to create and improve articles, upload freely licensed media, and enrich structured data on Wikidata. All participants were new contributors and showed strong interest in continuing their contributions after this initial experience.
One of the approaches used in this edition in Madagascar was the provision of lists of articles to be created or improved, helping new contributors choose their topics. Special attention was given to rivers and watercourses in Madagascar, with lists of articles to be developed or enhanced in order to improve coverage of this natural heritage on Wikipedia. This effort aligns with the African Union’s Agenda 2063 vision and the continent’s development priorities, which emphasize sustainable management of natural resources and improved access to water across African communities.
The national campaign ran from June 1 to July 4, 2026. In total, 32 participants registered and took part in the campaign. From the beginning, experienced contributors, including some volunteer members of the Wikimedia User Group Madagascar mobilized to create and improve articles, enrich Wikidata entries, and upload images to Wikimedia Commons related to the theme of water. This collaboration between experienced contributors and new volunteers produced encouraging results, with participants created 52 new articles, improved 142 existing articles, made a total of 1,340 edits, uploaded 366 media files to Wikimedia Commons, and generated over 4,040 article views during the campaign. These achievements demonstrate both the productivity of the participants and the campaign’s contribution to improving water-related knowledge about Madagascar across Wikimedia projects.
The five most active contributors were recognized during the closing ceremony held on Saturday, July 4, 2026, in recognition of the quality and quantity of their contributions throughout the Africa Wiki Challenge 2026 in Madagascar. The first place was awarded to Fiavi14, followed by ZATSY Mitarimy in second place, Lalinah in third place, and Gaël RALANTONIRINA and Rufhar sharing fourth place. This recognition aimed to highlight their commitment to improving and creating content related to water resources across Wikimedia projects, as well as their consistent engagement despite the challenges encountered. The awards also encouraged other participants to continue contributing and to further engage in free knowledge initiatives.
We are proud to have contributed to Madagascar’s “Water for Life” initiative through Africa Wiki Challenge 2026, adding our part to documenting water-related knowledge on Wikimedia projects. However, due to limited time, we were not able to fully explore the richness of the topic, particularly the abundance of water sources in Madagascar and visual documentation that could further enrich the content. We therefore intend to continue working on this subject beyond the campaign.
We are grateful to Open Foundation West Africa for the opportunity to participate in the Africa Wiki Challenge 2026 and contribute to this meaningful initiative to document and share knowledge about Madagascar’s water resources across Wikimedia projects.
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