The Ministry of Culture on 22 October 2025 announced the start of the implementation of the Unesco-backed ArtSecure initiative to guarantee social rights for the cultural sector, reduce vulnerability caused by informality, and strengthen the creative economy through a regulatory framework tailored to the needs of artists.
A press release from Unesco explains that the project “ArtSecure: A Comprehensive Social Security Framework for Artists and the Cultural Sector in the Dominican Republic” is now underway. This initiative, led by the Ministry of Culture, is supported by Unesco’s technical assistance and funded by the European Union.
The process is supported by a team of experts, including a national specialist and a member of Unesco’s Expert Group, both with extensive experience in cultural and creative industries and policy development.
The effort seeks to lay the foundations for a new inter-institutional capacity in the country to manage a social security subsystem dedicated to the cultural and creative sector, aligned with international standards and best practices.
This project reflects the true added value of international cooperation. The European Union, Unesco, and the Dominican Government come together to show that multilateralism is more than a concept: it is the sum of efforts to transform realities. ArtSecure marks a new chapter in collaborative history, placing artists at the center of public policy.
Julia Sánchez, UN Resident Coordinator in the Dominican Republic, explained that among the first actions is a national census of artists, which will provide data on their numbers, production, and economic contribution. This information will be key to designing evidence-based public policies.
Unesco sees the Dominican Republic as a deeply creative country, and this project opens new opportunities for that talent to continue growing. ArtSecure seeks to guarantee better conditions for artists and inspire new generations to pursue artistic careers.
Renowned Dominican merengue artist Pochy Familia highlighted that the census will be “the first step toward strengthening public policies that recognize the value of art in our society”.
The project includes a needs assessment, multisectoral dialogue, training workshops, international exchange of best practices, and the drafting of a regulatory framework tailored to the cultural sector.
ArtSecure is part of Phase III of the EU/Unesco program “Designing Policies for Creativity” (2023–2026), an initiative that supports countries in creating evidence-based cultural policies to strengthen culture as a driver of sustainable development. This phase includes eight countries, among them the Dominican Republic and Belize representing the Caribbean, alongside Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Jordan, Nigeria, and Rwanda.
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Unesco
5 November 2025