Kingston Creative Makes History as First Caribbean NGO to Receive UNESCO-Aschberg Program Grant.

Kingston, Jamaica – Kingston Creative has achieved a historic milestone by becoming the first non-governmental organisation (NGO) in the Caribbean to receive funding under the UNESCO-Aschberg Programme for Artists and Cultural Professionals, marking a significant boost for the region’s creative and cultural industries.

The Jamaican organisation was selected by an independent panel of experts from 1,068 applications submitted worldwide, emerging as one of only 16 successful initiatives chosen for the 2026 UNESCO-Aschberg Programme for Artists and Cultural Professionals.

Through the program, UNESCO is investing more than US$750,000, with financial support from the Government of Norway, to strengthen the professional, social and economic status of artists while promoting artistic freedom across the globe.

Kingston Creative will use the funding to implement the Caribbean Artist Resilience and Empowerment (CARE) Programme, an 18-month regional initiative that will commence in Jamaica before expanding to Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados. The programme aims to improve artists’ rights, enhance economic resilience, promote regional mobility and strengthen disaster preparedness for artists and cultural professionals throughout the Caribbean.

Speaking on the significance of the award, Yuri Peshkov, Head of the Culture Program at the UNESCO Office for the Caribbean, said supporting artists is essential to building resilient communities.

“Investing in artists is an investment in stronger and more resilient societies. Through the UNESCO-Aschberg Programme, we are supporting practical initiatives that strengthen artistic freedom, improve the working conditions of cultural professionals and ensure creativity continues to drive sustainable development across the Caribbean. We congratulate Kingston Creative on this pioneering achievement and look forward to the lasting regional impact of the CARE Programme,” he said.

The CARE Program was inspired by the challenges faced by Jamaica’s creative sector following Hurricane Melissa. After the disaster, Kingston Creative conducted a survey involving more than 500 artists and creative practitioners, revealing the severe impact on their livelihoods.

The survey found that over 70 per cent of respondents had lost income because performances, exhibitions and creative engagements were cancelled, while 60 per cent reported damage to studios, equipment or creative workspaces.

These findings contributed to Jamaica’s Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) for the Culture Sector, developed with technical assistance from the UNESCO Office for the Caribbean.

In response to the challenges identified, Kingston Creative established the Creative Resilience Fund, which provided emergency financial support to more than 80 artists and creative practitioners affected by the disaster.

Co-founder and Executive Director of Kingston Creative, Andrea Dempster Chung, said the grant highlights the urgent need to recognise and protect artists living in climate-vulnerable regions.

“Artists in Small Island Developing States are on the front line of the climate crisis, yet they are too often overlooked in disaster recovery planning. This grant recognises that Caribbean creatives matter and that the systems designed to protect them should be created within the region, by Caribbean people, for the benefit of the Caribbean and the wider world,” she said.

As part of the CARE Program, Kingston Creative will undertake regional research, deliver capacity-building training for 250 artists and cultural professionals, develop a Cultural Crisis Resilience Toolkit tailored for Small Island Developing States (SIDS), provide grants to support displaced artists and organise a regional forum aimed at strengthening cultural resilience across the Caribbean.

The UNESCO-Aschberg Program supports the implementation of the 1980 UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of the Artist and the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. Through the initiative, UNESCO continues to champion artists’ rights, improve working conditions for cultural professionals and safeguard artistic freedom around the world.

Kingston Creative’s recognition marks an important milestone not only for Jamaica but also for the wider Caribbean, highlighting the growing international recognition of the region’s creative sector and the importance of investing in artists as drivers of sustainable development, cultural preservation and community resilience.