2025:Trust and Safety
Contacting Trust and Safety
To report any trust and safety concerns:
- contact @WMFSafety on Telegram (monitored 24/7)
- email emergency
wikimedia.org (monitored 24/7) - visit the desk at the main conference venue
- eventyay – direct message the Virtual Trust & Safety account (monitored during event hours)
COVID and feeling unwell
If you feel unwell before you travel or are concerned about a possible exposure to an illness, you should not travel to Nairobi. We’d encourage any in person attendees who are feeling unwell (after having travelled), to remain in their hotel rooms and join the conference virtually.
There will be COVID tests for all registered in person attendees and we encourage everyone to self-test if feeling unwell. Face masks and hand sanitizer will also be available.
If you are attending as a scholar, the limited medical insurance covers you for your approved arrival and departure dates, as per the Wikimedia Foundation Scholarship Travel Policy. Any additional personal travel will not be covered, so please ensure you have adequate additional coverage.
If you become ill and need assistance, please email illnesssupportwikimania
wikimedia.org during the event.
Information on safety
We are aware of and monitoring the recent protests going on in and around downtown Nairobi (the area known as the Central Business District or CBD). The event organisers will continue to monitor the situation and will advise attendees if the situation changes. Wikimania will be held in Gigiri, home to the United Nations and many embassies from around the world. It is physically in a different part of Nairobi from where the protests are taking place. In addition, the organising team has been working very closely with venue security and surrounding areas and we have plans in place to make sure everyone is safe including shuttle buses from the airport to and from hotels and also between venues. These protests have been confined to areas that Wikimania attendees would not need to travel to during the event. We encourage all attendees to book their accommodation in Westlands and Gigiri neighborhoods where the vast majority of the conference will be staying. Travel anywhere in the world cannot by its very nature be 100% safe. Nairobi is host to several international conferences including Open Street Map's, State of the Map, CGIAR Science week, and the Ted Talks Countdown Summit. All travellers are encouraged to get travel insurance and make sure to understand any policy exclusions. Any attendees feeling uneasy can switch to attending virtually at any point.
Use of flags
Wikimania is a global event, bringing together Wikimedians from all corners of the world. To maintain a neutral, inclusive, and respectful environment for all attendees, we request that national or political flags not be displayed in the group photo or at any conference booths or installations. For more information about photos, see the photography policy.
LGBT+ related issues at Wikimania Nairobi
The Wikimedia Foundation in its role supporting the community organizers of the annual Wikimania global conference affirms its December 2020 commitment of support for LGBT+ volunteers. Specifically, the staff supporting each year's Core Organizing Team will make available to them educational and planning resources to encourage efforts to support both in-person and virtual LGBT+ attendees. Additionally, when advisable according to the guidance of the Foundation’s human rights team, the Foundation will facilitate discussions between the Core Organizing Team and local government officials to address the safety of participants, and between the Core Organizing Team and the Wikimedia LGBT+ affiliate to address any other needs identified for LGBT+ participants.
We recognize that no host city can perfectly address all concerns, and will work with the Core Organizing Team and Wikimedia LGBT+ to identify and communicate potential risks which cannot be offset. Finally, the Foundation will also continue "being vigilant that incidents where individuals are targeted for identity factors are properly recognized and addressed in our Trust & Safety systems."
The Wikimedia Foundation invites community organizers and entities to join our commitment and document their commitments and ideas for supporting LGBT+ participants of Wikimania and other community organized events.