Ask Me Anything about Movement Charter Session, Asia-Pacific

Ensure Equity in Decision-Making Movement Charter
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With the goal of ensuring that anyone interested is well informed to fully participate in the conversations and are empowered to contribute their perspective on the Movement Charter, three Ask Me Anything about Movement Charter sessions will be organized, scheduled for different time zones. The Asia-Pacific edition will occur on November 4, 2022 at 09:00 UTC (your local time)

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The Zoom link will be shared 48 hours ahead of time, both on Meta and here!

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Dear all, Kindly see below the details for the call tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing many of you!

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The meeting was really amazing.
I could raise some concerns that were really important in the context of my Wikimedia works.
Hope the charter will become a valuable asset to define the shape and responsibilities of the involved stakeholders of the movement.

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I hope the movement charter will be beneficial for all Wikimedia communities. I would like to ask the drafting committee to give emphasis on the small, non-affiliated communities as well.

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Notes (see the etherpad):

  • Are the non-affiliate organized wikimedia groups going to be included in the Movement Charter (MC)? I represent one of them and as people are often confused about the roles and responsibilities of these types of organizations, in a lot of the cases we feel uncomfortable. We also faced very negative behavior from the local affiliate.

    • Response: Our movement is built with different kinds of people with diverse experiences and challenges. The Movement Charter will attempt to provide all manners of information. Non-affiliated organized groups are most likely to be included. The Roles & Responsibilities document will include this information & work is currently ongoing in this document. Community members are invited to share their thoughts about including non-affiliated groups directly with the MCDC, via email.

  • What will be the process of regional community involvement?

    • Response: Regional conversation hours have been planned. Apart from these eight regional conversations, ambassadors can host conversations in their language community & MCDC members can join those conversations.

  • Will the ambassadorships program be limited to only to the board members of User Groups? If not, can individuals represent non-organized groups?

    • Response: Ambassadorship is open for everyone. You do not need affiliation with any group. Anyone who is willing to work with the MCDC to expand their outreach and help to build engagement about Movement Charter can become an ambassador.

  • There is no active discussion about hubs in the South Asian region. How far behind are we in this process? Is it ok to start now? How and when do you intend to start defining Hubs?

    • Response: Currently, the MCDC is not working on the text/chapter about Hubs. MCDC is working on three chapters only & the feedback is about these three chapters, as of now. That being said, the MCDC will define Hubs and it will be done by the Role & Responsibilities Drafting Group.
    • Response: Interested community members can read about the Hubs Dialogue conversation which happened earlier in 2022. Some initial guidelines were developed on piloting Hubs, based on regional responses and Hubs collaborations. Members can read and engage with the CEE Hub that has started to pilot. All this is in an initial phase; a kind of test to see how the Hub shapes up and functions. The Hubs pilots are not official hubs, even if they are receiving funds from the Wikimedia Foundation, because there is no approval process for them. It is worthwhile to be noted that once the MCDC completes their definition of the Hub, the existing hub structures might need to change their Hubs construct.
    • MCDC is in the process of considering how Hubs will connect with future movement governance. The closing comment on this question was not to rush the creation of hubs.

  • Follow up question: To whom the hubs are going to be responsible or answerable ? There should be clarity on the social dynamics and relevant process across the wikimedia movements.

    • Response: See the previous answer.

  • What are the specific roles of the ambassadors?

    • Response: The expectation from the ambassador is to liaise between the community-at-large and the MCDC. The MCDC has been sharing updates but they have not been enough to receive feedback from a movement as diverse as ours. The primary responsibility of the ambassador will be to facilitate this dialogue within their language community, and share it back with the MCDC. It does include translation and community consultation. MSG can comment more on the ambassador program.

  • How do you see thematic hubs working given the diverse geographical scenarios and challenges?

    • Response: The way forward is for everyone to participate in the discussions around Hubs. For now, the MCDC is not working on defining Hubs. If community members want to work on a Hub pilot, they are encouraged to propose a project. They can join existing hub conversations to learn more. The next round of conversations of Hubs will be in early 2023. In the meantime, connect with the MSG team to learn more about the Movement Strategy grant process, and present a proposal for hubs.

  • Will the translation work be the part of Ambassador?

    • Response: Yes, but that will not be the only thing.

  • How is ambassador work different from WMF Facilitator?

    • Response: Wikimedia Foundation facilitators are there to support ambassadors.

  • Can we request a regional strategy meetup? And participation by MCDC/ MSG representatives?

    • Response: MCDC members are available to attend regional strategy meetups. Members have been attending and presenting at events like the Wikimedia Summit and WikiIndaba.

  • Follow up question: if we want to discuss strategy in India, and need to plan a meet up for that. Can we request a grant for such a meetup?

Off-Topic

  • What is the issue with grants to Bangladesh?
    • Response: There are various institutional challenges in disbursing grants in Bangladesh. Work is ongoing to find a solution.
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