CAFFE in crisis

According to Jamaica Observer (General News), AFTER almost 30 years of monitoring elections in Jamaica, the internationally acclaimed agency Citizens Action for Free and Fair Elections (CAFFE) is now cash-strapped and desperately in need of assistance from the private sector to continue observing the country’s democratic process. CAFFE is still navigating the financial fallout from the Donald Trump Administration’s 2025 withdrawal of United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funding from non-governmental organisations globally. Speaking at a Jamaica Observer Press Club at the agency’s New Kingston office last Thursday, CAFFE Chair Grace Baston said its financial position has deteriorated further since the September 2025 General Election. For that poll, CAFFE had initially aimed to recruit 1,000 volunteers on a budget of approximately $15 million. Frozen funding, however, forced the organisation to halve its target t