Wikipedia:WikiProject Cameroon/Wikivillages of Cameroon/Rules

Summary

On the occasion of the 44th National Day of Cameroon the Professional Farmers of Cameroon (AGRIPO) launched a large-scale English/French bilingual encyclopedia writing contest on the topic of villages in Cameroon. The contest will be held from 20 May to 20 November 2016.

This contest, entitled #Wikivillages, is a pioneering endeavor in Africa. Its main objectives are to:

promote the sharing and dissemination of documented information on the history, geography, culture, economy, mode of life, heritage and wealth of Cameroonian villages,
fight against the digital isolation of Cameroonian villages and communities,
allow villages to communicate via internet about their development activities and difficulties.

This contest is open to all. The only condition for entry is to compose an original article on the subject of a village in Cameroon, which satisfies all of Wikipedia’s editorial criteria. To participate, simply register at: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Projet:Wikivillages_du_Cameroun

Once registration has been validated by the #Wikivillage team, participants will have until 20 November 2016 to publish their article on the Wikipedia platform.

All submitted entries will be evaluated by a jury. The jury will select the five (5) best articles. The contest participants responsible for composing the 5 winning entries will receive prizes that can be used to support rural development. A Special prize will be awarded to the participant who contributes the highest number of articles.

All results will be published January 20, 2017.

Villages, the living context for approximately half the population of Cameroon

Remarkable for their biodiversity and cultural heritage, villages constitute the living spaces for 47.79% of the Cameroonian population. Cameroon has more than 13,000 villages which are indispensable actors in the long-term development dynamics of the country. And their role doesn’t stop there! Constituting about 20% to the gross domestic product, the impact of the rural agricultural sector on Cameroon's economy is considerable. This sector is also the largest employer in the country comprising nearly 60% of the workforce, and the primary foreign exchange earner with 55% of total exports. Ensuring rural development is thus absolutely essential for the overall development of Cameroon.

However, the development of Cameroonian villages faces many organizational and infrastructural obstacles. Poverty in Cameroon is largely a rural phenomenon: 86.5% of the poor live in rural areas. In terms of infrastructure, the electricity coverage in rural areas in Cameroon is estimated at less than 5%.

What is #Wikivillages Cameroon?

The #Wikivillages of Cameroon contest - which is the first of its kind in Africa - will: End the isolation of Cameroonian villages and facilitate the preparation of new development projects

The village is the fundamental administrative and cultural unit in Cameroon. To capitalize, network and transmit information to the country’s villages, is to drive development at the most fundamental level in Cameroon. Creating an encyclopedic database of villages will facilitate the conception, implementation and monitoring of local development projects through reliable information and indicators built around coherent goals and based on facts. The #Wikivillages initiative aims to highlight the historical, social, economic and environmental strengths, challenges and on the ground realities facing villages in Cameroon.

To help the world discover hundreds of Cameroonian villages The initiative aims to provide simple answers about historical, social, economic and environmental issues facing the villages of Cameroon and to enable a large number of internet users who consult this resource to begin understanding Cameroonian villages.

Encyclopedic summaries of hundreds of Cameroonian villages will be published on Wikipedia, the largest encyclopedia in the world. To introduce the villages of Cameroon - together - is a great collaborative project. The best fuel driving this initiative is our shared joy in participating.

As of 12 May 2016, English Wikipedia contained 36 articles on Cameroonian villages.

How can I participate?

Whether you are a student, worker, farmer, entrepreneur, artist, athlete or have a totally different profession, whether you reside in Cameroon or anywhere in the world, you can participate and help to introduce one or more villages in Cameroon on the Wikipedia platform. Just upload an encyclopedia article on one or more villages of your choice to Wikipedia. If you have a camera, you can choose to illustrate the article(s) and enhance your presentation of the village page.

To participate and help advance development in Cameroon, there are four important steps to follow:

Conduct documentary research on target villages

To give an encyclopedic scope to your article and ensure it meets Wikipedia criteria for publication, readers must verify the information contained in the text through accessible references.
Contest participants are invited to write their article on the basis of documentary research in order that all information published in the article can be linked to concrete reference sources.
Thus, all submitted articles must be based on documented information complete with supporting references. Each article will then consist of a unique synthesis of existing knowledge at a given moment of time.
Documentary research allows users to find published writings on targeted villages and to synthesize them into a new article according to an encyclopedic methodology.

Within the framework of one article you can publish an array of encyclopedic information pertaining to the target village - for example on history, geography or demographics etc.

Supporting images or maps are of course also welcome. To include images you will need to first upload them to the Wikimedia Commons website and then insert them into your Wikipedia article following Editing Wikipedia this guide.

Registering for the contest

As soon as you are sure you have enough information to generate a new article on a village and enter the contest, you can register your village on the #Wikivillages of Cameroon contest site [1] Within forty-eight hours of registering, you will receive an email that confirms your Wikipedia page has been created and which contains a link to it. If the village is not already known by the contest organizers, an email will be sent asking you to prove the legal existence of the village as a chiefdom of the 2nd or 3rd degree.

Publishing and distributing the Wikipedia page for your village

Once the Wikipedia page for your village has been created, you have from 20 May and 20 November 2016 to publish your article in French or English. You can also share the link to the Wikipedia pager for your village on social media using the hashtag #Wikivillages. To learn how to publish on Wikipedia, consult the Wikipedia support tools summary: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aide:Sommaire The booklet "Participating in Wikipedia" is also available online: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Welcome2WP_French_WEB.pdf

For any suggestions and/or questions, please leave a comment on the Facebook page of AGRIPO: https://www.facebook.com/AgriculteursProfessionnelsDuCameroun/

The contest began 20 May 2016 (0:00 GMT) and will close 20 November 2016 (11:59 p.m. GMT).

Inform us about the Wikipedia page of your village Send us the link to the Wikipedia page you wrote at info@agripo.net. All articles and photos used on Wikipedia are released under free license - which means that everyone can use and reuse them, provided that the source is cited and information is provided free of charge.

What are the basic contests rules?

Contact and registration

In order to be contacted following registration, the participant must provide their email address in the dedicated platform.

Candidates and editors: The contest is intended for participation by individuals. However, multiple contributors can collaborate on a single article. Thus, several contributors can form a group as a single author. Contestants are therefore free to create teams by village.

Multiple nominations and awards: A candidate may participate in the drafting of several articles but only 1 article by a candidate at maximum will be selected to receive an award.

Attribution of articles

The text(s) of articles submitted by a participant(s) must have been produced by the participant(s).

Accepted languages and translation

This contest is bilingual. Submissions in French and English are acceptable. A platform will capitalize on the progressive publication of the articles. Translation of articles into the other official language is welcome but not required.

Theme of articles

The articles selected for the contest must be encyclopedia articles written on the subject of a village in Cameroon. Participants may propose villages themselves or select a village already included on the list of municipalities in Cameroon: fr:Communes_du_Cameroun.

Writing criteria

Wikipedia publishing rules must be strictly observed. In particular as regards: adopting a neutral encyclopedia tone, generating a synthesis of already existing work, avoiding plagiarism, and referencing all sources. Thus, articles should in no case be written with commercial objectives - a neutral tone is required for the encyclopedic nature of Wikipedia.

Illustration criteria

Photos with trademarks, watermarks, or signatures are not accepted.

Structure Plan and articles: The general structure of articles is left to the discretion of the participants. No plan is imposed by the organizers. Depending on local circumstances, some aspects of a village can be more emphasized than others. The following aspects can be addressed: place names (original meaning of the name of the village), geography (location, natural environment, climate, rivers, transport), history, administration (attachment, division, local politics, or twinning partnerships), population and society (education, health), economy, culture (language, heritage, festivals and traditions, famous individuals from the village), etc.

Creating and editing articles

The contest organizers accept no responsibility in case of malfunction of their internet connection, in particular if disruption is due to external malicious acts that would prevent the smooth operation of the contest. Any inaccurate or false information or fraud will result in disqualification.

All members and employees of the contest organizers (AGRIPO, Wikimedia France), as well as members of the jury and their families are excluded from participation in the contest.

In case of force majeure or if circumstances dictate, the contest organizers of #Wikivillages of Cameroon reserves the right to modify these rules and to postpone or cancel the competition. Their responsibility would be voided in the face such events.

Evaluation of submissions

All submissions will be evaluated by a jury. The international and independent jury will select the five (5) best articles to receive a prize. All submissions will be evaluated by an independent, international jury, which will select the 5 best articles.

Selection criteria

The jury will select items on a competitive basis according to the following criteria (listed no particular order):

Technical quality (structure, encyclopedic approach, content and layout).
Linguistic quality (spelling, style, syntax, typography).
Density of the article (number of lines, words or characters).
Originality, overall value and utility (educational, historical, economic and/or cultural).
Quality of references and illustrations of article (maps, photos). The presence of relevant visual media illustrating the text will constitute a definite advantage.

What are the prizes?

If your town is included among the five (5) best village articles, you will win a cash amount presented in the form of a check.

1st prize: a check for 1 million FCFA
2nd prize: a check for 250 000 FCFA
3rd prize: a check for 200 000 FCFA
4th prize: a check for 150 000 FCFA
5th prize: a check for 100 000 FCFA

A Special prize will be awarded to the participant who submits the highest number of articles.

All results will be published 20 January 2017.

For more information

Help manual Editing Wikipedia
Example of a Wikipedia page on a village in Cameroon: Tayap
Information on free license and Wikimedia Commons license policy