The mother-tongue contribution month

An online meeting was held on January 20, 2024 between different African communities leaders and WikiLinguila of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), to explore any possibility of collaboration for the mother-tongue contribution month.

A presentation of the mother-tongue contribution month was made, and the project was well received by the majority of African communities present at the online meeting with positive reviews and support, especially since Rwanda, Burundi, Congo-Brazzaville and the Central African Republic are ready to accompany this event in February 2025. Other communities have also expressed their interest in taking part, but promise to come back with their final decision at the next meeting on schedule.

This publishing competition coincides with the celebration of International Mother Language Day on February 21 each year (promulgated by UNESCO in 2000), and also with the movement’s strategies for the period to 2030 :

• Increasing the sustainability of our Movement
• Provide for safety and inclusion
• Ensuring equity in decision-making
• Coordinate Across Stakeholders
• Manage Internal Knowledge

The pilot project can be customized for each community, using their local language to increase understanding and connect with more members. The goal is to strengthen bonds and collaboration among people who speak the same languages, fostering a sense of belonging. Each community should appoint an ambassador responsible for diversity, culture, and languages to coordinate activities related to the month of February within their community.

Considering the vast number of articles on major wikis, we believe it might take us 10 to 15 years to catch up. We’ve faced challenges while editing pages on these large wikis, so we realize it’s best to create our own wikis with our editing rules. We should support each other by taking on specific tasks, like being administrators, as they are scarce or hard to find. This way, we can effectively manage our wikis, which demand a lot of maintenance from those contributing to them.

The project remains open to any community that would like to join us in celebrating our languages, as we’re aiming big but we would like to start small and smart.