THE Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) has made available a sum of US$100,000 to support persons in the creative industries within the Region who might have suffered loss of incomes as a result of cancellations of bookings due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The CDB said the Emergency Relief Grants are being offered through its Cultural and Creative Industries Innovation Fund (CIIF).

According to the CDB, the grant is aimed at CI entrepreneurs “who can demonstrate loss of incomes for music, festival and carnival events that have been cancelled as a result of COVID-19.

The CIIF was established in 2017 with an initial USD2.6 million in capitalisation from the CDB and is intended to be a multi-donor fund, which will support development of the Creative Industries (CI) sector in the Caribbean. “CIIF’s goal is to enable the Region’s cultural and creative industries to be globally competitive,” the CDB said.

CIIF provides grant funding for innovative projects within the CI sector. “These projects should be focused on:
? supporting an enabling environment for the development of CI;

? improving the quality and dissemination of research in the CI sector;

? enhancing or creating data intelligence or data-collection methods in ways that can move the sector forward; and

? enhancing the technical capacity of creative entrepreneurs,” the project document stated.

It said that projects must demonstrate a significant measure of innovation, collaboration and sustainability.

The bank said that in light of the loss of revenue by CI practitioners due to the effects of COVID-19, CDB has allocated USD50,000 for the Music sub-sector and USD 50,000 for the Festivals and Carnivals sub-sector for CIIF Emergency Relief Grants. This grant is aimed at carnival at CI entrepreneurs who can demonstrate loss of incomes for music, festival and events that have been cancelled as a result of COVID-19.

“This grant is to be used for one of the following:
? product development: to produce an online/virtual product or event on an existing platform external to the CDB, that leads to revenue generation.
? market distribution & channelling: to on board and promote new Caribbean content from emerging and established producers through existing regional and international electronic platforms.
? digital disruptive technologies for music & festivals and carnivals: to support the further development of an existing electronic solution that will facilitate revenue generation through online CI showcases, exchanges and performances.

The CDB said that the projects should be community oriented where possible with a percentage of funds raised going towards associations of health care workers or sanitation workers or registered charities.

“CIIF is offering a limited number of grants ranging from USD2,500 to USD20,000 each for the Music sub-sector and Festivals and Carnivals sub-sectors. Eligible project costs include expenses incurred facilitating stakeholder consultations, workshops and seminars, technical work, marketing and distribution; research including development of knowledge products for CIs; or new CI products and services and institutional -strengthening activities,” the CDB project document said.

Those eligible to apply for the grants are:
? Micro, Small or Medium Enterprises (MSME); business owners with registered businesses who are not employed with established institutions, that is, are not salaried employees of an established institution.
? Business owners must be CI practitioners in Music or Festivals and Carnivals; however, CI practitioners may have partners in other CIIF Priority sub-sectors including Audio-Visual, Visual Arts and Fashion & Contemporary Design.
? Entities that have already received grants under CIIF are not eligible to apply.
“Organisations applying must be resident in one of the Caribbean Development Bank’s 19 Borrowing Member Countries: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, the British Virgin Islands,The Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago, and the Turks and Caicos Islands,” the CDB said.

The deadline for applications is May 20, 2020.