Hi everyone,
The ratification of the Movement Charter is a key step towards implementing the recommendations and goals that we all together in Wikimedia have been working on since 2017.
The Wikimedia CEE Hub and its Steering Committee, with its 10 members from 9 different countries of the CEE region, recommends ratifying the final version of the Movement Charter. This follows discussions and consultations with the CEE communities over the last few months, including presenting the opinions and views of those communities who could not attend the Wikimedia Summit.
We acknowledge that the Charter is lacking in certain aspects (as detailed below), but the direction of the Charter provides opportunities and possibilities for communities and affiliates that can serve as the foundation for the further development of Wikimedia towards a more equitable and fair community.
The CEE Hub has provided an analysis of the Movement Charter https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Pz5irzyJb2GeJZFPGFi6qIGXj-2BHP5l1nFmMNunkLY/edit#slide=id.g2c9143f36d2_0_70 that serves as the basis of this recommendation, and includes the following arguments for ratification:
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Volunteers and communities are given the right to demand a “Care Responsibility” from their local affiliate, their regional network and the global movement bodies. -
Communities are held to certain standards of equal access and openness, which, while a non-issue in most communities, will also make it easier to hold projects accountable that do not follow this principle. -
Movement Bodies (including affiliates and hubs) have stated rights and responsibilities that can be argued at an independent body, including disputes with the Wikimedia Foundation. -
The right to fundraise is stated and provides the basis for a future dialogue on what the financial sustainability of Wikimedia should look like. -
The Wikimedia Foundation is treated as a supportive part of the Wikimedia Movement and not as the superior decision-making organisation. -
The new core of the global governance structure, the Global Council, has the necessary tools to bring meaningful change to the way we work together.
While these arguments merit ratification of the Movement Charter, the following aspects will require the attention of the first Global Council:
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Relationships between key Wikimedia stakeholders, like the one between the Wikimedia Foundation and the Global Council, will have to be defined in more detail. -
The budgetary planning process of all movement funds will have to become a truly participatory process under the guidance of the Global Council and include a long-term strategic plan. -
The transition to or establishment of new decision-making structures should not result in parallel processes and putting more burden on volunteers and communities. -
Decision-making processes should be located as close to those affected by those decisions, instead of continuing centralised decision-making that does not solve the causes of our current structural and organisational issues in Wikimedia.
On behalf of the Steering Committee of the CEE Hub,
Kiril Simeonovski