Hello everyone,

Wikimedia projects are supported by you—a network of generous
individual volunteers, groups, and organizations around the world.
Together, you collaboratively enrich, grow, and advance the Wikimedia
projects and free knowledge mission.

You may have heard about the Affiliations Committee’s decision to
recommend the de-recognition of Wikimedia India. Some community
members have asked what this means for the future of WIkimedia
communities in India. We want to share more information about the
AffCom decision, and reaffirm our commitment to and support for our
many communities across India.

The Affiliations Committee is a community-run body of volunteers that
represents and supports Wikimedia affiliates. After several years of
working with Wikimedia India to bring its activities in line with
chapter requirements [1], the Affiliations Committee recommended in
June 2019 that the Wikimedia Foundation not renew the chapter
agreement.

Wikimedia India was first recognized as a chapter in 2011. In 2015, it
experienced difficulties meeting chapter agreement obligations.
Working with the Affiliations Committee and the Foundation, the
chapter developed a plan of action and returned to good standing by
2017. However, between 2017 and 2019 the chapter was unable to secure
a license to act as a fiduciary organization, and is not currently
legally registered as a charity in India to accept funding from the
Foundation. The Foundation and Affiliations Committee both hope that
this licensing and registration can be secured, and that the chapter
will again be eligible for recognition.

We are grateful for the vibrant, growing community in India who has
shown great leadership and created significant impact within our
global movement. The Foundation currently supports eight Indic
language community user groups, and we expect two more to be announced
by AffCom in the coming weeks. We receive more than 700 million
pageviews to Wikipedia every month from readers in India, and the
growth of the Indic community is a top priority for the future of
Wikipedia and the Wikimedia projects.

The Republic of India is of great importance to the Wikimedia
movement. The Wikimedia Foundation remains committed to supporting
volunteer editors, contributors, readers, and donors across India.
We’re grateful for all of your continued and growing efforts to
support Wikimedia projects and our free knowledge mission. We look
forward to continuing our work with you together.

On behalf of the Wikimedia Foundation,

Valerie D’Costa
Chief of Community Engagement
Wikimedia Foundation

You can help translate this message on Meta. [2]

[1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_chapters/Requirements
[2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:CKoerner_(WMF)/Support_for_our_communities_across_India

Sent by Chris Koerner (he/him)
Community Relations Specialist
Wikimedia Foundation

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