Cultural and creative industries (CCI) across the Caribbean are set to benefit from three million euros in new funding as the European Union with support from the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific states, under the ACP-EU 11th EDF Culture Programme, rallies to help creatives recover from fallouts brought on by the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The project to be implemented by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), in joint partnership with The University of the West Indies (UWI) and the Caricom Secretariat is titled ‘Creative Caribbean — An Ecosystem of ‘Play’ for Growth and Development’.

At a launch event held yesterday, key stakeholders informed that the programme will provide grants to creative and cultural practitioners to aid in improving their economic conditions and promote the long term growth of these industres in the Caribbean. This, whilst also positioning the sector as a catalyst for social, economic and sustainable development in the region.

“The three-year project that will run across some 15 Caribbean countries aims to develop a robust creative economy in the region by strengthening the enabling environment and providing grant support for industry and training initiatives. It further seeks to strengthen research and data collection on CCIs, to facilitate market access opportunities, to support the development of national artist registries, cultural policies and Creative Industry Development Acts to incentivise the sector,” a Caricom report said.

“It will also provide grants to creative and cultural practitioners to grow more globally competitive businesses and enhance their professional development,” the stakeholder body also said.

Artists and cultural entrepreneurs from the 15 countries which includes: Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, St Vincent and the Grenadines, St Kitts, St Lucia, Belize, Suriname, Dominican Republic, Guyana , Bahamas, Antigua and Barbuda, Haiti, Grenada, and Dominica are being urged to apply for grant support under the programme. The industries targeted for grant support are music, fashion, festivals, film, animation, new media, visual and performing arts among other areas of entertainment

The sector made up of a large cadre of players including musicians, artists, writers among many others provides employment for a large cross sector of regional economies. The onset of the pandemic which has brought the industry to a complete standstill over the last two years has led to million in lost revenues for the usually lucrative sector. According to UNESCO, figures revenue generation over the last decade averages about US$2.3 trillion annually. Just recently industry stakeholders in countries such as Jamaica have reported losses of over $500 billion stemming from months of closure due to a prolonged ban on entertainment activities.

“It is an unquestionable fact that the impact of COVID-19 on the cultural and creative sectors was tremendously significant, yet CCIs play a notable role in the economy and recovery from the pandemic. The creative Caribbean project seeks to shift the paradigm from ‘the struggling artist’ to creating an enabling environment where creatives are incentivised to produce and thrive and become a key driver of sustainable development in the region,” stated Saadia Sanchez-Vegas, director and representative of the UNESCO Cluster Office for the Caribbean.