Jamaica

Through its groundbreaking Inform Women, Transform Lives campaign, The Carter Center partners with city leaders worldwide to raise awareness about women’s right to access information and to help cities reach women with valuable information and essential municipal services. 

Access to this information empowers women with a stronger voice, enabling them to participate in public life, utilize public services, and make more informed decisions for themselves, their families, and their communities. In 2025, this project expanded to partner with the city of Kingston, Jamaica.

How It Started

Jamaica’s Electoral Advisory Committee invited The Carter Center to observe elections in 1997 and again in 2002, hoping to deter election-related violence and raise confidence in the electoral process. Jamaica’s elections in the 1980s were fraught with violence; during the 1980 election, more than 800 people were killed. In 1997 and 2002, election-related violence in the “garrison” communities, controlled by politically related armed gangs, was a concern.

Our Work and Methods

• The Center sent 60 election observers in 1997. The delegation was led by President and Mrs. Carter, former Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Colin Powell, heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield, and former heads of state from Belize, Costa Rica, and Bolivia. Delegates visited 52 of Jamaica’s 60 constituencies.
• In 2002, a Carter Center delegation of 60 observers, led by President Carter and former Costa Rica President Miguel Angel Rodriguez, visited more than 850 polling stations in 29 constituencies.

Impacts

• After noting the theft of several ballot boxes and voters unable to cast ballots because their names were missing from registration lists in 1997, the Center recommended that Jamaica’s electoral process could be improved by:
  • Prosecuting offenders to deter future violence
  • Setting a deadline for printing and distributing voter ID cards
  • Establishing a process for reviewing voter registration lists
  • Completing fingerprint cross-matching
• The Center praised the 2002 electoral process, noting that the professionalism of the security forces and the Electoral Office of Jamaica bolstered voters’ confidence. Other contributing factors to a peaceful election were the institution of the Elections Center, which allowed for the immediate resolution of disputes, and the consultative process used to verify the voters list, determine the location of polling stations, and select poll workers.

This project ended in 2002.

How It Started

In 1998, Jamaican Prime Minister P.J. Patterson invited the Center to help inform the public debate about two important legislative efforts: a corruption prevention act and an access-to-information act.

Our Work and Methods

• The Center first commissioned a guide to Jamaica’s existing anti-corruption legislation and a comparative study of other countries’ laws.
• In 1999 and 2002, the Center published guides of expert studies on Jamaica’s efforts in corruption prevention and access to information, and co-sponsored seminars to stimulate debate among parliamentarians, citizen groups, media, and the private sector.
• The Center brought in international experts to advise government officials and citizen groups on using new tools for asset declarations and access to information.

Impacts

• The Access to Information Act passed in 2002, and implementation began in January 2004.
• To increase awareness of the law, the Center facilitated workshops for civil servants, civil society organizations, religious groups, the media, and the private sector.
• The Center also supported Jamaicans for Justice in its monitoring of the Access to Information Act’s use and government response. In March 2004, the Center opened a field office to support implementation and enforcement.

How It Started

In January 1997, Carter Center representatives met with officials in Jamaica as part of a fact-finding tour to prepare for a conference on “The Agenda for the Americas for the 21st Century.”

Our Work and Methods

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, and Dr. Jennifer McCoy, director of the Center’s Americas Program, met with Jamaican Prime Minister P.J. Patterson and leaders from Argentina, Brazil, and Chile.

Impacts

• In April 1997, The Carter Center hosted the conference on “The Agenda for the Americas for the 21st Century,” welcoming Prime Minister Patterson and 16 other current and former presidents and prime ministers of countries in the Americas to discuss the state of hemispheric relations and the steps needed to make progress toward shared goals.
• After candid discussions, participants made significant progress on a range of issues, including trade, drug trafficking, weapons moratoriums, territorial disputes, anti-corruption measures, and press freedoms.

This project ended in 1997.