Notice on the status of Wikimedia Armenia

On May 10, 2022 Wikimedia Foundation notified Wikimedia Armenia on official suspension of Wikimedia Armenia’s benefits due to Wikimedia Armenia’s continued non-compliance with the terms of the Chapter Agreement dated February 14, 2014 and continued failure to fully remediate issues despite multiple prior notices.

Affcom presented requirements which include a number of measures to address the organization's problems based on which Wikimedia Armenia has developed an Action Plan which you can see below.

While Wikimedia Armenia is suspended, it

will not be eligible for new funding except to discontinue the chapter,
will not be eligible to participate in International Wikimedia Affiliates conferences, and
will not be eligible as fiscal sponsor for community member scholarships.

Wikimedia Armenia will become eligible to formally apply for funding when it has both

met the mid-term goals based on AffCom’s assessment described later in this communication, and
- Action Plan
- Community Notification
- A plan for active contributor involvement and improved chapter capacity
- Financial reporting if the affiliate intends to apply for grants
- A report on above listed actions submitted to Affcom & Community Resources by August 10, 2022.
submitted the requested expense reporting

If Wikimedia Armenia fails to address these issues and take specific actions by the dates described above, in accordance with terms of the Chapter Agreement, Wikimedia Foundation will send a notice of revocation on November 10, 2022 for the Chapter Agreement and Wikimedia Armenia will cease to be a recognized Wikimedia chapter after termination of the Chapter Agreement on November 10, 2022.

If Wikimedia Armenia does not believe that it is able, or willing, to meet these commitments, Wikimedia Foundation suggests considering the alternative option to reorganize our group as a less formal Wikimedia User Group instead.

The following are the current non-compliant issues of Wikimedia Armenia:

Bylaws updation and implementation without AffCom approval
Governance challenges- Removing members & closing Hubs without having substantial grounds, requests for action from members or processes.
Nature of activities- The issues of organizing objectionable activities like military-connected events in sensitive times.
Ineffective COVID-19 safety protocols
Reporting discrepancies- Lack of transparency in reporting activities and also similar lack of transparency in sharing information with the Armenian language community.
Negligence in publishing identity information of participants (minors) on social media.
Failure to follow the approved election process and system of voting.

Six months action plan for stabilizing “Wikimedia Armenia”

(May-October, 2022)

№	Key measures	Dates	Notes	Status
1	Sending membership invitations to those whose membership has been terminated due to different reasons. Keep AffCom updated about the process.	Sending invitations: Until April 17 Affcom update: end of May.		Արված է
2	Submit an Action Plan	May 31		Արված է
3	Community Notification	May 31		Արված է
4	Resolve outstanding grant issues/financial reporting	May 30		Արված է
5	Departure of the staff	June 1		Արված է
6	Hold General Assembly aimed at electing a President of the organization and members of the Supervisory Committee.	June 1: Announcement about the General Assembly, open call for candidates June 15: General Assembly	AGENDA: Opening of General Assembly. Nomination and election of the Chair and Secretary of the General Assembly Introducing election observers Adoption of agenda Deciding the voting format (open/closed) Nomination and election of the Counting Committee of the General Assembly Introduction of presidential candidates, Q&A WM AM President’s elections Nomination and introduction of Supervisory Committee members, Q&A WM AM Supervisory Committee members' election^[1] Other issues Closure * A representative from AffCom should participate in the whole process as an observer.	Արված է
7	Receive comments from AffCom on the revised version of the Charter.	Until May 15^[2]		Արված է
8	Submit a plan for active contributor involvement and improved chapter capacity	By June 30	Requirement: Support of at least 20 active editor-members (at least 300 contributions to Wikimedia projects from an account that has existed for at least 6 months) Result: 32 wiki editors expressed their support for Wikimedia Armenia, 22 of them are members of "Wikimedia Armenia" NGO.	Արված է
9	Work on the revised version of the Charter confirmed by the AffCom. Constantly and closely work with AffCom.	May-June	See the "Updates" section	Արված է
10	Discussions on the revised version of the Charter with chapter members.	June		Արված է
11	Hold an Extraordinary General Assembly on the approval of the Charter.	By July 15		Արված է
12	Approval of the final version of the Charter by the Agency for State Register of Legal Entities of the Republic of Armenia.	July-August		Արված է
13	Prepare the official translation of the Charter and send it to AffCom.	August		Արված է
14	Prepare working guidelines for the decisions regarding membership and starting or closing the WikiClubs	August		Արված է
15	A report on what has been Արված է about actions listed by Affcom & Community Resources	By August 10		Արված է
16	a) Discussions with AffCom whether there is a need to organize elections of a new Board (current Board is in service from December 2021). b) In case of a positive answer, an Extraordinary General Assembly for the Board elections must be held in September.	July-August September		Արված է

^{1 Supervisory Committee members' term is coming to the end in June, 2022. Because of that new elections are scheduled.}

Updates

Some changes were made to the Action Plan. Dates and agenda of the General Assembly were finalized.
The Board has discussed the changes proposed by Affcom, made appropriate changes accordingly and sent the reviewed version to Affcom. If we receive positive response from Affcom after the review, we will move forward to the next step of the Action Plan.
The General Assembly that took place on June 15, did not elect neither a President nor a Supervisory Committee. The voting format of the General Assembly was closed. Two of the candidates had equal votes, however before the General Assembly AffCom informed the Chair of the Board that Vahagn Piliposyan could not run for this term of elections according to AffCom recommendations. There were observers from AffCom who joined the General Assembly.
On June 21, the second extraordinary stage of the General Assembly was held. According to General Assembly's decision, the voting format was defined as open. Out of two candidates - Aram Soghomonyan and Arshak Shahinyan - the latter was elected as the President of the organization. The term of one of the members of the Supervisory Committee ended, and one of the other members Norayr Baghdasaryan resigned. As a result, the General Assembly decided to dissolve the Supervisory Committee. Three out of four candidates were elected - Karen Terteryan, Aram Soghomonyan and Sevak Ayvazyan. There was an observer from AffCom for the second extraordinary stage of the General Assembly.
The discussions on the Bylaws with the members of the organization are still continuing. WMAM informed AffCom that the date of the Extraordinary General Assembly for approving the Charter mentioned in the "Action Plan" has to be rescheduled because the discussions with the community still resumes. AffCom replied that the change is acceptable.
Wikimedia Armenia has received a letter from AffCom stating that the latest updates to the charter have been successfully adopted, and this step is also considered fully completed and confirms that the ban on the organization's financial activities is lifted.