<div dir="ltr"><div>Thank you Heather, Samson, and OSMF for the responses,</div><div><br></div><div>I will again be specific with these 5 cents;</div><div><ol><li>As Heather had advocated for gender equity, MapUganda has already <i>tried</i> to ensure this in the past <a href="http://www.mappingday.com/content/winners-mapping-challenge-are">(see author of the liked post)</a>, and with the <a href="https://mapuganda.org/board.html">current board</a>.</li><ul><li>It would help if OSMF can have <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Strategy/Wikimedia_movement/2018-20/Recommendations/Ensure_Equity_in_Decision-making">equity in decision making</a> so that local communities can be allowed to implement their own decisions to meet their differing needs. </li></ul><li>The minimum level of Education (UACE) <i>is and was</i> needed to ensure sustainability, innovation of the data or mapping ecosystem, that's why MapUganda has broad skills and fields like drone mapping/data collection, this is in addition to other projects that have been done over the years.</li><ul><li>UACE was based on what already exists in Uganda for Members of Parliament and Presidents, and also exists in some <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidential_qualifications_by_country#Turkey">other countries</a>.</li><li>It has <a href="https://www.parliament.go.ug/news/4744/mps-drop-education-requirements-local-leaders">only been dropped recently</a> for the Lowest local Administrative unit positions, but <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uganda_Advanced_Certificate_of_Education">UACE is comparable to GCE</a> A-Level in the UK. </li></ul><li>Management roles and paid projects are inevitable in a growing organisation, whether commercial or non-profit.</li><ul><li>Someone who <a href="https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Volunteering">has been a volunteer</a> for 1 - 5 years can be a project or community manager, and if there's funding, it would only be priceless to pay them. </li><li>OSMF shared <i>its plans for hiring additional paid staff </i>some time ago, MapUganda already had this during its inception.</li></ul><li>MapUganda has already expressed <i>some</i> level of transparency by sharing financial statements which indicate sources of income, including membership fees and expenses.</li><ul><li>A skim of MapUganda's application would have been OK (<a href="https://www.openstreetmap.org/user/%E1%9A%9B%E1%9A%8F%E1%9A%92%E1%9A%90%E1%9A%94%E1%9A%8F%E1%9A%94%E1%9A%8B%E1%9A%9C%20%F0%9F%8F%B3%EF%B8%8F%E2%80%8D%F0%9F%8C%88/diary">just like others</a>), and it would already be an OSM Chapter by now, but this extensive review is actually better for insights on past and future Local Chapter applications. </li></ul><li>The amended proposal <b>should be more closely aligned to the way that small non-profit organisations are structured and operate.</b> I do understand that some NGOs do become quite large and complex, but <b>I don't see signs of a Uganda LC following that kind of path to scale for at least several years.</b></li><ul><li>I hope we can now or at some point we will see the signs of MapUganda having followed that path already, and not as a small non-profit organisation.</li><li>I <b>almost</b> found this statement like an insult after spending 7 years (2011 - 2018) building the Ugandan and Global OSM Community (<i>behind the scenes</i>), but then picked the positives, like the suggested changes or getting to know any other <i>unknown reasons</i> for the rejection of this application</li></ul></ol>It's good to <a href="https://simple.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mark_Twain#cite_note-1">share facts</a> in an open and friendly environment/community, there are a few more cents and input i can share to this after the weekend, but will be on the look out incase of any urgent response needed.<br><div><br></div></div><div>Regards,</div><br clear="all"><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div><font size="1"><i><b><a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Community_User_Group_Uganda" target="_blank">Wikimedian in Uganda</a></b></i></font></div><div dir="ltr"><font size="1"><i><b>Ssebaggala Douglas | </b></i></font><font style="font-weight:bold" size="1"><i>Skype: douglo.m |</i></font><font style="font-weight:bold" size="1"><i> Twitter</i></font><span style="font-weight:bold;color:rgb(136,136,136);font-family:"times new roman",serif"><font size="1"><i>:</i> </font></span><span style="font-size:x-small"><span style="color:rgb(136,136,136)"><font style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><a href="https://twitter.com/douglaseru" style="font-weight:bold;color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">@douglaseru</a><b> </b></font></span></span>| <i style="font-size:x-small"><b>Mob - Uganda: +256 772 422524</b></i></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Sat, Nov 28, 2020 at 12:39 AM Allan Mustard <<a href="mailto:allan.mustard@osmfoundation.org">allan.mustard@osmfoundation.org</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div>
<p>That's pretty much my recollection, too. Yes, Christoph, there
were concerns raised and pertinent observations made, which we
shared with OSM Uganda, and when we got positive responses back,
including an amendment to the OSM Uganda constitution, we decided
it was time for community consultation to get underway. <br>
</p>
<p>apm<br>
</p>
<div>On 11/27/2020 4:08 PM, Tobias Knerr
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite">
<pre>On 27.11.20 20:36, Christoph Hormann via osmf-talk wrote:
</pre>
<blockquote type="cite">
<pre>So my question to the board is: Have there been any concerns raised or
pertinent observations made internally during the review of the OSM
Uganda application that are not part of the documentation of the
application available on the OSMF website?
</pre>
</blockquote>
<pre>Just describing my personal recollection here, and I was not one of the
board members involved in direct communications with MapUganda, so take
this with a grain of salt:
There were several aspects that at least some of us on the board found
concerning or unusual while reviewing the MapUganda application.
Among those was a requirement in their constitution for board members to
meet a certain minimum level of education. Their constitution was since
changed to drop this particular requirement – you can compare Article 9
between the versions of the document on the OSM Foundation wiki:
<a href="https://wiki.osmfoundation.org/File:OSM_Uganda-Constitution_2020.pdf" target="_blank">https://wiki.osmfoundation.org/File:OSM_Uganda-Constitution_2020.pdf</a>
Note that the newer version still requires skills in one of a list of
fields, although the list is relatively broad if it's generously
interpreted.
Another observation was that their organizational structure, as depicted
in the application¹, appears rather hierarchical, with dedicated
management roles, an idea of appointing people into roles, etc.
This also relates to a broader concern that MapUganda seems to have a
strong focus on running paid projects – based on several aspects of
their applications and submitted documents, including their financial
statement² where projects appear to be by far their main source of
income. This could at least potentially give raise to new issues (e.g.
relationship of the chapter with volunteer contributors not engaged in
organized projects; competition between the chapter and community
members wishing to offer similar services as the chapter and/or apply
for grants).
There were other topics mentioned, but my impression is that the ones
above that featured the most in our deliberations. Note that the board
didn't have an unanimous consensus on whether and to what extent these
observations were problematic, so I think it's very valuable to get
feedback from the community. I found the thread very insightful so far!
¹
<a href="https://wiki.osmfoundation.org/wiki/Local_Chapters/Applications/Uganda#Organisational_structure" target="_blank">https://wiki.osmfoundation.org/wiki/Local_Chapters/Applications/Uganda#Organisational_structure</a>
²
<a href="https://wiki.osmfoundation.org/w/images/2/21/OSM_Uganda-Audited_financial_statements_2020.pdf" target="_blank">https://wiki.osmfoundation.org/w/images/2/21/OSM_Uganda-Audited_financial_statements_2020.pdf</a>
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</pre>
</blockquote>
<div>-- <br>
-------<br>
<i>Allan Mustard, Chairperson</i><br>
<i>Board of Directors</i><br>
<i>OpenStreetMap Foundation</i></div>
</div>
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