The Carter Center has selected Kingston as one of 13 new cities worldwide to join the fourth cohort of its Inform Women, Transform Lives campaign—an initiative dedicated to ensuring that women can seek and receive information on municipal and social services from their governments.

“The Carter Center choosing the city of Kingston is truly an honour as it falls in line with our goals of empowering women,” said Mayor of Kingston, Councillor Andrew Swaby. “Beyond the campaign, we have the chance to build momentum by exploring additional gender-equity frameworks such as CEDAW adoption, further positioning Kingston as a city that champions women and transparency.”

The Inform Women, Transform Lives campaign seeks to raise awareness of critical city services available to women, with the potential to significantly improve their wellbeing and quality of life. Through the initiative, local governments receive support to increase women’s access to and use of services already offered in their cities.

Campaign activities include traditional and social media outreach, programming for both government agencies and community groups, public art installations, and platforms for sharing lessons and experiences among the 48participating cities. Collectively, these cities span five continents and represent more than 255 million people.

Kingston’s selection highlights the city’s commitment to transparency, gender equity, and strengthening women’s right to information.

The other cities participating in the campaign’s fourth cohort are: Abuja, Nigeria; Cardiff, Wales; Guadalajara, Mexico; Karachi, Pakistan; Kisumu County, Kenya;

Liverpool, England; Medellín, Colombia; Recife, Brazil; Rosario, Argentina; Tangier, Morocco; Toronto, Canada; and Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.

The campaign was officially launched on September 28, 2025—International Day of Universal Access to Information.

For more information about the campaign and the work cities are doing to help women access information and services, visit www.informwomen.org.

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