The Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries

The Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP) was created in Lisbon in July 1996 in order to convoke the seven Portuguese speaking countries - Brazil, Angola, CaboVerde, Guiné Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal and São Tomé e Príncipe - around the three general objectives as defined in the Community bylaws: political and diplomatic coordination among its members; economic, social, cultural, legal, technical and scientific cooperation; and promotion and diffusion of the Portuguese language.

The CPLP originated from an initiative of the Brazilian government : an International Portuguese Language Institute, the IILP, created during the Summit Meeting of Heads of State of those countries whose official language is Portuguese, held in São Luis de Maranhão in 1989. The IILP, considered the first institutional instrument of the CPLP, has its headquarters in Praia, Cabo Verde.

The decision-making bodies of the CPLP are the Conference of Heads of State and of Government, which takes place every two years, and the Conference of Ministers of Foreign Relations, held annually. The executive body of the Community meets monthly on the Permanent Coordination Council (CCP), comprised of Ambassadors of the member-states who reside in Portugal. The CPLP also has an executive secretariat headquartered in Lisbon. The mandate of the current executive secretary, Dr. Marcolino Moco, an Angolan, will expired last July, when the III Conference of Heads of State and of Government of the Community will be held in Maputo, Mozambique. At that time, the new executive secretary of the CPLP will be designated who, according to the rules of rotation of the organization, will be Brazilian.

Among the various objectives of the CPLP Brazil ascribes particular importance to the area of cooperation. The Brazilian government is involved in several cooperation projects with African countries whose official language is Portuguese, especially in the area of training human resources and in health. In order to maximize the efforts undertaken in this area, during the II Conference of the Heads of State and of Government, held in 1998, the member-states selected education as the priority area for cooperation in the Community.