KINGSTON, Jamaica — Kingston Creative has become the first non-governmental organisation in the Caribbean to receive funding under the UNESCO-Aschberg Programme for Artists and Cultural Professionals.

According to a release, Kingston Creative was one of just 16 organisations selected from 1,068 applications worldwide in 2026. The grant will fund the Caribbean Artist Resilience & Empowerment (CARE) Programme, an 18-month regional initiative aimed at strengthening the rights, economic security, mobility and disaster preparedness of artists and cultural professionals in Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

The programme will begin in Jamaica before expanding to Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados.

Kingston Creative space

Head of the Culture Programme at the UNESCO Office for the Caribbean, Yuri Peshkov, said the initiative reflects the importance of supporting artists and the wider creative sector.

“This initiative demonstrates that sustaining artists is an investment in resilient communities. Through the UNESCO Aschberg Programme, we are supporting practical solutions that strengthen artistic freedom, improve the working conditions of cultural professionals and ensure that creativity remains a driving force for sustainable development across the Caribbean. We congratulate Kingston Creative on this pioneering achievement and look forward to the positive regional impact of the CARE Programme,”Peshkov said.

The award recognises Kingston Creative’s work in strengthening cultural resilience, particularly following Hurricane Melissa. The organisation conducted rapid assessments involving more than 500 artists, finding that over 70 per cent had lost income due to cancelled performances and exhibitions, while 60 per cent experienced damage to tools or studio spaces.

The release said the data supported UNESCO and the Ministry of Culture in conducting the UNESCO Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA), marking the first time Jamaica’s creative sector was formally incorporated into the country’s official disaster response.

Kingston Creative also established a Creative Resilience Fund, which provided emergency stipends to more than 80 creative practitioners affected by the hurricane, with support from donors including the Clara Lionel Foundation and the Miami Foundation.

Co-founder and Executive Director of Kingston Creative, Andrea Dempster Chung, said the grant highlights the need to better protect Caribbean creatives.

“Artists in Small Island Developing States are on the front line of the climate crisis, yet they are too often invisible in recovery planning. This grant is recognition that Caribbean creatives matter – and that the systems that protect them must be built here, by us, for the region and for the world,” she said.

According to the release, the CARE Programme will include research into the needs of artists in crisis across Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados, capacity-building workshops for 250 creative professionals, the development of a cultural crisis resilience model for Small Island Developing States, grants to cultural institutions to support displaced artists, and a regional forum for Caribbean governments and cultural leaders.

The programme will prioritise women creatives, youth, Indigenous cultural practitioners, including the Maroons, and informally employed artists. Its partners include the Cultural and Creative Industries Alliance of Jamaica, the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce, and the University of the West Indies Institute of Cultural Studies.

The UNESCO-Aschberg Programme supports initiatives that promote artistic freedom and improve the status of artists worldwide under the UNESCO 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.