Hi everyone

Just a quick reminder that voting on the movement charter closes *tonight*. Whether you're for, against, or you're not sure whether you think the Charter is a good idea or not, please consider voting (you can be neutral/blank) and helping to achieve a quorate result.

Wikimedia UK has voted yes to the Charter, with the following comments:

Wikimedia UK supports the ratification of the Movement Charter, and thanks the Drafting Committee for all their work to get the Charter to this point. We also recognise the significant time, energy and (in some cases) financial resources invested by many individuals and organisations across the movement to support the creation of the Charter.

The Charter sets out a codified set of values and principles which broadly align to Wikimedia UK’s own views, particularly on inclusivity and equity. We believe that a Movement Charter–with broad support from across the community–is an important step in terms of decentralisation and subsidiarity; and that an effective Global Council would allow for quicker and more responsive decision making. In turn, we believe that good governance of the Wikimedia movement at a global and local level would ultimately benefit readers and editors of Wikimedia’s open knowledge projects.

Wikimedia UK is voting to ratify the Charter in recognition that this is a step towards delivering key principles in the Wikimedia Movement Strategy. However, we would welcome further iterations and improvements to the text and supplementary documents. In particular, we would like to see more clarity on the composition and selection processes for the Global Council, in order to ensure adequate community representation and to guard against replicating existing structural issues. Whether or not the proposed Charter is ratified as it currently stands, Wikimedia UK is committed to working constructively with volunteers, our fellow affiliates, the Wikimedia Foundation and other movement partners to help shape the future of our movement and projects.

All best Lucy

On Tue, 25 Jun 2024 at 11:31, Lucy Crompton-Reid < lucy.crompton-reid@wikimedia.org.uk> wrote:

Dear all

The voting period for the ratification of the Wikimedia Movement Charter has now opened, and all eligible editors and contributors https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Movement_Charter/Ratification/Voting/Eligibility_criteria are encouraged to participate:

https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Movement_Charter/Ratification/Voting

The Movement Charter, which would pave the way for the creation of a Global Council and a different mode of governance across the Wikimedia movement, grew out of the extensive work on the creation of a Movement Strategy to 2030 https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Movement_Strategy, which started in 2017.

As some of you may be aware from other mailing lists, it seems very likely that the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees will vote against the Charter, and on that basis it will not be ratified. Despite this, I would encourage you to vote according to your own views on the Charter, as I think this will be a helpful indication to everyone of the level of support and agreement (or otherwise) within the editing community.

Please note that there is a separate vote for affiliates. As a chapter, Wikimedia UK has not yet decided how we will vote and have a board discussion scheduled for early July (the voting period runs until 9th July).

With best wishes Lucy

-- Lucy Crompton-Reid Chief Executive