community

Our Mapper of the Month for September 2026 is Fortunatus Ogwachi from Kenya. Fortunatus was one of participants of the Youth Climate Mapping Externship initiative in Kenya, and the top mapper of the cohort group.

In June 2026, UN Mappers Kenya launched its first ever Youth Climate Mapping Externship, a seven-week virtual programme designed to put real geospatial tools in the hands of young Kenyans and point them at real climate problems in Nairobi. Nineteen university students answered the call.

From March to early June 2026, four (4) Community Ambassadors from Argentina, Cameroun, Kenya and India led mapping activities, built partnerships, mentored new contributors, and is laying the groundwork for a more sustainable and community-driven future for UN Mappers.

Our Mapper of the Month for June 2026 is James Owornte from Nigeria. James is one of our new validation candidates and is our top validator for the Ceel Gadde roads project validating 52 tasks or almost 30% of the project. He is also one of our top mappers for the previous months, adding 35 km of roads.

Our Mapper of the Month for May 2026 is Nitya Kapoor from India. Nitya supported the communications and promotion of UN Mappers mapathon with FOSS Club - Delhi Technical Campus. She is also one of the top mappers for the India flood mapping projects.

Our UN Maps Community Ambassadors, Lucy Kago, together with UN Mappers Kenya and Young Lawyers Voice on Climate Change Foundation (YLVOCCF), led the activity "Nairobi Draining Map and Clean" using KoboCollect and ChatMap. They held training and cleaning activity, mapping 110 drainage points.

Los embajadores comunitarios de UN Maps prestarán apoyo a las actividades de cartografía y de acercamiento a la comunidad de UN Maps. Dirigirán y coordinarán la participación de las comunidades locales mediante iniciativas de desarrollo de capacidades y oportunidades de capacitación. A través de este proyecto piloto, esperamos obtener información sobre cómo podemos fortalecer un sistema de datos abiertos sostenible y gestionado por la comunidad, así como explorar la viabilidad de establecer secciones locales de UN Mappers y/o comunidades.

Our Mapper of the Month for April 2026 is Maria Maily from Scotland. She is one of our new validation candidates and is our top validator for the Ceel Gadde roads and waterways projects. She validated 85 tasks or 37% of both projects.

The UN Maps Community Ambassadors will support mapping and community outreach activities of UN Maps. They will lead and coordinate local community engagement through capacity building and training opportunities. Through this pilot, we hope to gain insights on how we can strengthen a community-owned and sustainable open data, and to explore the feasibility of establishing local UN Mappers chapters and/or communities.