At the instance of the African Library and Information Associations and Institutions (AfLIA), and as an aspect of Integrating Wikimedia Projects into the African Library Ecosystem project under the Knowledge Equity Fund, virtual conversations were held between librarians and Wikimedians in the continent to explore pathways for mutual engagements and collaborations. The panel discussion will delve into the highlights of the conversations, the practical implications and the next steps for the African library sector within the Wikimedia movement.

This session will reflect on the methods used to address language preservation imperatives in South Africa. The focus of this session is to share about a collaborative project, SWiP, that brought together partners (including Wikimedia South Africa) that share a common goal in the promotion of the preservation of local languages.

The idea of this session is to practically show the methods that the South African Chapter used to improve the representation of languages on Wikipedia with the view of empowering other affiliates who may want to replicate this kind of initiative in their own regions.