Community of Portuguese Language Countries
The Community of Portuguese Language Countries (Portuguese: Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa; abbreviated as the CPLP), also known as the Lusophone Commonwealth ("Comunidade Lusófona"), is an international organization and political association of Lusophone nations across four continents, where Portuguese is an official language. The CPLP operates as a privileged, multilateral forum for the mutual cooperation of the governments, economies, non-governmental organizations, and peoples of the "Lusofonia". The CPLP consists of 9 member states and 32 associate observers, located in Europe, South America, Asia, Africa and Oceania, totaling 37 countries and 4 organizations. The  history of the CPLP began when it was founded in 1996, in Lisbon, by Angola, Brazil, Cabo Verde, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal, and São Tomé and Príncipe, nearly two decades after the beginning of the decolonization of the Portuguese Empire. Following the independence of Timor-Leste in 2002 and the application by Equatorial Guinea in 2014, both of those countries became members of the CPLP. Macau (a Special Administrative Region of China), Galicia (an Autonomous Community of Spain), and Uruguay are formally interested in full membership and another 17 countries across the world are formally interested in associate observer status . History. The idea of a type of international community or political union of Portuguese language countries had been proposed and studied numerous times in history. However, the idea for what would become the CPLP came about in 1983, during a state visit to Cabo Verde by Jaime Gama, Foreign Minister of Portugal, when he first proposed a biennial summit of heads of state and government of Lusophone countries of the world and the idea of regular meetings between ministerial counterparts of the member states. The Community of Portuguese Language Countries was officially founded on 17 July 1996 at the 1st  CPLP Heads of State & Government Summit, in Lisbon, Portugal. In 2005, during a meeting in Luanda, the ministers of culture of the member states declared the 5 May as the Lusophone Culture Day ("Dia da Cultura Lusófona" in Portuguese). Through successive enlargements, the Union has grown from the seven founding states—Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal, and São Tomé and Príncipe—to the current nine, with the self-determination of Timor-Leste in 2002 and the accession of Equatorial Guinea in 2014 at the 10th CPLP Summit in Dili, Timor-Leste with the issuance of the Dili  Declaration. The community has grown beyond its mission in fostering cultural ties between the Portuguese language countries into facilitating trade and political cooperation between the Lusophone countries of the world, with the CPLP is the fourth-largest producer of oil in the world and its citizens totalling more than 270 million people. In 2017, in Brasilia, the nine-member states agreed to enlarge cooperation in matters of the seas, tourism, economy and more ambitious defense and cooperation mechanisms. More rights to the observer states were also approved, which Argentina planned to join. Structure. The CPLP's guidelines and priorities are  established by a biannual Conference of Heads of State and Government (known as the CPLP Summits) and the Organization's plan of action is approved by the Council of Foreign Ministers, which meets every year. Special summits can be requested at any time by 2/3 of the member states, usually for the purpose of pressing matters or incidents at the moment. There are also monthly meetings of the Permanent Steering Committee that follow specific initiatives and projects. The headquarters of the CPLP is in Penafiel Palace in Lisbon, Portugal, but the organization maintains dedicated bureaus in all of the foreign  ministries of the CPLP member states. The CPLP is financed by its member states. Mission. CPLP is a multilateral forum created to deepen cultural, economic, and political cooperation among the Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) nations of the world. The prime objectives of the CPLP are: Executive Secretary. The Executive Secretary of the CPLP () is the executive head and highest representative of the CPLP. The Executive Secretary is charged with leading the Executive Secretariat ("Secretariado Executivo"), the CPLP's executive branch responsible for creating and implementing the CPLP's agenda of projects and initiatives. The Executive Secretary, who must be a high -ranking diplomat or politician from one of the member states, is elected for a mandate of two years at the biennial CPLP Summit, and can be reelected once to a second term. The Executive Secretariat is headquartered at Penafiel Palace in Lisbon, Portugal. Council of Ministers. The Council of Ministers is made up of the ministers of Foreign Affairs of the nine Member States. The powers of the Council of Ministers are: Coordinate CPLP activities; Supervise the functioning and development of CPLP; Approve the CPLP budget; Make recommendations to the Conference of Heads of State and Government on matters of  general policy, as well as the efficient and harmonious functioning and development of the CPLP; To recommend to the Conference of Heads of State the candidates for the positions of Executive Secretary and Deputy Executive Secretary; Convene conferences and other meetings with a view to promoting the objectives and programs of the CPLP; Carry out other tasks entrusted to it by the Conference of Heads of State and Government. The Council of Ministers elects, from among its members, a President on a rotating basis and for a term of two years (usually, the Minister of the host country). The Council  of Ministers ordinarily meets once a year and, extraordinarily, when requested by two-thirds of the member states. The Council of Ministers reports to the Conference of Heads of State and Government, to which it must present its reports. Decisions by the Council of Ministers are taken by consensus. Director General. The Executive Secretary is assisted in his duties by the Director General. The Statutes establish, since the Summit of Bissau in 2006, the existence of a Director General, and the position of Deputy Executive Secretary ceased with his appointment. The Director General is recruited from among the nationals of  the Member States, through public examination, for a period of 3 years, renewable for an equal period. The Director General is responsible, under the guidance of the Executive Secretary, for the day-to-day management, financial planning and execution, preparation, coordination and guidance of the meetings and projects activated by the Executive Secretariat. The current director general of CPLP is Armindo Brito Fernandes, from São Tomé and Príncipe, who took office on February 10, 2020. Goodwill Ambassadors. At the VI Summit of CPLP Heads of State and Government (Bissau, 2006) the first CPLP Goodwill Ambassadors were also appointed, who, according  to the approved regulation, are appointed for a two-year term and must be personalities of merit. recognized and distinguished themselves in promoting the values defended by the CPLP. The chosen personalities were three former Heads of State, Jorge Sampaio (Portugal), José Sarney (Brazil) and Joaquim Chissano (Mozambique). A prime minister and a minister, Fernando Van-Dunen (Angola) and Albertino Bragança (São Tomé and Príncipe); the musician Martinho da Vila (Brazil) and Gustavo Vaz da Conceição, president of the Angolan Basketball Federation and member of the Angola Olympic Committee. At the XV Council of Ministers, on 22 July 2010, in  Luanda, Ambassador Luís Fonseca, former CPLP Executive Secretary, was appointed. Defense component. In 2016, CPLP revised its cooperation protocol in defense, affirming the organization in the promotion of peace and security. The 2017 Exercício Felino military exercise taking place in Academia Militar das Agulhas Negras, Resende, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, aims for the increased interoperability of the armed forces of Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Timor-Leste. The first phase of the exercise, known as "Carta" (chart) took place in Cape Verde in 2016, in which  the operation was planned and executed using computer networks as a war game. The Exercício Felino was established in the year 2000. Section::::"CPLP Mobility". The 2021 Summit in Luanda saw the creation of the "CPLP Mobility", a system that seeks to facilitate the entry and permanence of citizens of one country in another. CPLP Youth Forum. The Youth Forum of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (FJCPLP) is the Community instance responsible for the protection and promotion of the rights of youth internationally. Created in 1997, its objective is to bring together representative platforms of civil society youth organizations (Youth  Councils) in the Member States to strengthen the protagonism and participation of youth in the development of their countries and the world. For its intervention, the Conference instituted as anchor activities the CPLP Sports Games and the CPLP Young Creators Biennial, to be held interpolated each year. In addition to these activities, sectorial Action Plans for two years are instituted, which seek to meet the priorities identified for the period in question. As part of its action, the Conference establishes partnerships with national or international organizations for activities in areas of clear interest to members. Its current president is Bissau -Guinean Aissatu Forbs Djaló. UCCLA. The Union of Luso-Afro-Americo-Asian Capital Cities (União das Cidades Capitais Luso-Afro-Américo-Asiáticas, UCCLA) is an international organization formed by cities in Lusophony. It was founded in Lisbon on June 28, 1985, at the Centro Cultural das Descobertas. On that date, the constitutive document was signed by the presidents of the municipalities of Lisbon (Nuno Abecasis), Bissau (Francisca Pereira), Maputo (Alberto Massavanhane), Praia (Felix Gomes Monteiro), Rio de Janeiro - that ceased being the capital of Brazil in 1960 -(Laura de Macedo), São Tomé (Gaspar Ramos) and Macau (Carlos Algéos Ayres). Its  current secretary general is the Portuguese politician . Then came the remaining capital cities of Portuguese official expression and other non-capital cities, such as Brasília - capital of Brazil since 1960 - (1986), Cacheu and Luanda (1989), Guimarães (1990), Taipa and Coloane islands (1991), Santo António do Príncipe (1993) , Ilha de Moçambique (1994), Salvador (1995), Belo Horizonte (1998), Belém (1999), Bolama, Huambo, Porto Alegre and Mindelo (2000), Dili (2002), São Filipe, Oecusse (2004), Angra do Heroísmo (2013) and Santiago de Compostela (2016). The international intermunicipal association focuses on cooperation projects in the areas of companies, immigrants, culture, promotion of the Portuguese language  and urban issues such as garbage, the road system, heritage conservation, public health and water supply. Association of Portuguese Language Universities (AULP). Founded in 1986 in Lisbon, Portugal, the Association of Portuguese Language Universities (AULP) is an international NGO that promotes cooperation and information exchange between universities and higher institutes. With around 140 members from the eight Portuguese-speaking countries (Portugal, Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe, East Timor) and Macau, its mission is to facilitate communication between members for the benefit of collective development of teaching and the Portuguese language in the world. It  aims to stimulate research and exchange between students and teachers and also proposes continuous reflection through the daily dissemination of news and the organization of conferences and events. The president of the AULP is usually the vice-rector of the university elected to preside over the organization, and it is currently headed by the University of Coimbra, whose vice-rector is the Portuguese João Nuno Calvão da Silva. Parliamentary Assembly. The Parliamentary Assembly of Lusophony is the body that brings together the representations of all the Parliaments of the Member States, constituted on the basis of the respective electoral results  of the legislative elections. The Parliamentary Assembly, founded on the principle of one language - the Portuguese language - and common values, constitutes a space for strengthening ties of cooperation, solidarity and exchange between member Parliaments, with a view to contributing to the consolidation of peace , democracy and the rule of law in the respective countries. These are the pillars on which the objectives enshrined in the Statute and Regulations are based, instruments approved right at its first meeting. The rotating presidency of the CPLP Parliamentary Assembly was assumed in July 2021 by Guinea-Bissau, whose executive secretary is Cipriano Cassamá. University  for International Integration of the Afro-Brazilian Lusophony (UNILAB). The UNILAB is a public federal university located in Redenção, Ceará, Brazil. The major courses offered are preferentially the ones included in the mutual interest of all countries in the Community of Portuguese Language Countries. They are: Brazil, Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, Sao Tome and Principe, Mozambique, Portugal and East Timor. Looking for international integration, 50% of the seats in the University are for international students from those countries. The UNILAB is a private postgraduate institution that trains managers and high-level trainers in areas that are a priority for  development in Lusophone Africa, but also includes Timor-Leste and Macau. Its political-pedagogical project is innovative, as are those of Unila and Uniam, aiming at international integration. International Portuguese Language Institute. The International Portuguese Language Institute is the Community of Portuguese Language Countries's institute supporting the spread and popularity of the Portuguese language in the world. The institute's headquarters is located in Praia, Cabo Verde. Its history starts in 1989 when the countries of Portuguese language gathered in São Luís do Maranhão in Brazil to create a base for a Portuguese language community. The Brazilian president, José  Sarney, proposed the idea of an international institute to promote the language. Only 10 years later in a meeting in São Tomé and Príncipe, a small island-nation in the Gulf of Guinea, the institute's objectives, implementation and location (Cape Verde) were set. The IILP's fundamental objectives are "the promotion, the defence, the enrichment and the spread of the Portuguese language as a vehicle of culture, education, information and access to scientific and technologic knowledge and of official use in international forums". TV CPLP. TV CPLP is a proposal for a television channel made within the Community of  Portuguese Language Countries to be broadcast internationally. Its costs will be borne by UNESCO and the Portuguese Government. All your programs will be broadcast in Portuguese, in their different ways of speaking and all accents. At CPLP, the proposal was discussed at the Workshop on the Television Content Sharing Platform, between Public Televisions of Portuguese Speaking Countries and CPLP TV, in Lisbon on October 16, 2007; as well as at the Round Table for a Television Content Sharing Platform between Public Television Operators from Portuguese-speaking Countries and TV CPLP, in Lisbon from March 5th to 7th, 2007. It will  be created by the following Portuguese-speaking TV channels and will be broadcast by the 8 founding countries and also to other countries. As a Lusophone Content Exchange Platform, the proposal was presented in Brazil as a project by the Instituto Cultural Brasil Plus (ICBrPLus) called "TV CPLP Via Web" exposed in a commission of the Federal Senate of Brazil and approved by Ordinance No. 416 of the Secretariat Executive of the Ministry of Culture. Membership. Member states. There are nine full member states of the CPLP. Seven were founding members of the CPLP: Angola, Brazil, Cabo Verde, Guinea Bissau , Mozambique, Portugal, and São Tomé and Príncipe; Timor-Leste joined in 2002, after achieving independence and Equatorial Guinea joined in 2014. Macau candidacy. Macau was the last Portuguese colony to be decolonized, and returned to China in 1999. It still retains traces of Lusophone culture and Portuguese is one of the official languages of the territory. Despite that, the majority of the population in Macau do not speak and understand Portuguese; rather, Cantonese is the main language. In 2006, during the II Ministerial meeting between China and Portuguese Speaking Countries, the CPLP Executive Secretary and Deputy ambassador Tadeu Soares invited  the Chief Executive of the Government of the Macau Special Administrative Region, Edmund Ho, to request the Associate Observer status for Macau. The Government of Macau has not yet formalized this request. Equatorial Guinea accession. When the CPLP was formed, Equatorial Guinea asked for observer status. Equatorial Guinea () was a Portuguese colony from the 15th to 18th centuries and has some territories where Portuguese-based creole languages are spoken and cultural connections with São Tomé and Príncipe and Portugal are felt. In the 21st century, the country has cooperated with Portuguese-speaking African countries and Brazil at an educational level . At the CPLP summit of July 2004, in São Tomé and Príncipe, the member states agreed to change the statutes of the community to accept states as associate observers. Equatorial Guinea then engaged in discussion for full membership. In June 2010, Equatorial Guinea asked to be admitted as full member. At its eighth summit in Luanda in July 2010, the CPLP decided to open formal negotiations with Equatorial Guinea about full membership in the CPLP. At its 10th summit in Dili in July 2014, Equatorial Guinea was admitted as CPLP member. Associate observers. In July 2006, during the Bissau summit , Equatorial Guinea and Mauritius were admitted as Associate Observers along with 17 International associations and organizations considered as Consultative Observers. On 23 July 2014, Equatorial Guinea was admitted as a CPLP member. Mauritius, which was discovered by Portuguese explorers and maintains strong connections with Mozambique. In 2008, Senegal, with historical connections to Portuguese colonisation in Casamance, was admitted as Associate Observer. In July 2014, during the Dili summit, the Heads of State and Government approved a resolution that grants Georgia, Japan, Namibia and Turkey the status of Associate Observers. Japan has had historical contacts with the Portuguese language in the  16th and 17th century, and today has connections to the Lusophone world through Japanese Brazilians in Brazil and Japan. Namibia has had extensive contact with the Lusophone world due to its location just south of Angola. Three European nations, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia, were admitted as observers along with Uruguay at the 2016 summit. Uruguay has historical ties to Brazil and Portugal and has some speakers of Portuñol, a Spanish–Portuguese pidgin. In January 2018 and prior to the 2018 summit, Italy requested the observer status as an effort for the consolidation of bilateral relations with all of  the Portuguese-speaking countries. In its request, the Italian government referred that due to the increasing number of associated observers in the community, CPLP is becoming a forum for countries in various geographical regions. Earlier in January, Andorra also formalized its candidacy for the same status. Italy shares a legacy of Ancient Rome and Italy is the non-lusophone nation with the greatest number of university chairs in the Portuguese language. Because of immigration and geographic proximity, Portuguese is one of the most spoken languages in Andorra. In the 2018 summit with all the heads of state present, with the  exception of East Timor due to national policies issues, several observers joined the organization: Luxembourg, Andorra, the United Kingdom, Argentina, Serbia, Chile, France, Italy and the Organization of Ibero-American States joined as observers. Uruguay, an observer nation since 2016, admitted in early 2018 a candidacy to become full member of the CPLP. The 2021 summit in Luanda, Angola saw the admission of ten new state observers to the organization: Canada, Côte d'Ivoire, Greece, India, Ireland, Peru, Qatar, Romania, Spain and the United States. They were joined by the organizational observers of the G7+, the Ibero-American Summit and  the European Public Law Organization. Consultative observers. The status of "consultative observer" is granted to organizations of civil society throughout the Lusofonia and pan-Lusophone bodies, as well as Lusophone institutions based outside of the Lusofonia, which serve a consultative status to the CPLP. Scope. The Portuguese-speaking countries are home to 267 million people located across the globe but having a common language, a shared history, and some cultural similarities. The CPLP nations have a combined area of about , which is more than twice as large as the European Union , but with a little more than half of the  population. Political cooperation. Since its formation, the CPLP has helped to solve problems in São Tomé and Príncipe and in Guinea-Bissau, because of coups d'état in those countries. The CPLP helped these two countries to take economic reforms (in the case of São Tomé) and democratic ones (in the case of Guinea-Bissau). In the early 21st century, the leaders of the CPLP believed that peace in Angola and Mozambique, as well as East Timor's independence, favored the development of the CPLP and a strengthening of multilateral cooperation. Language. Since many children in rural areas of Lusophone Africa  and East Timor are out-of-school youth, the education officials in these regions seek help from Portugal and Brazil to increase the education to spread Portuguese fluency (like establishing Instituto Camões language center branches in main cities and rural towns), as Portuguese is becoming one of the main languages in Southern Africa, where it is also taught in Namibia and South Africa. Angola has not yet signed the most recent accord on the orthography of the Portuguese language, and has asked other PALOP countries to support it in discussions on various points of that accord with Portugal. Education. In  many developing Portuguese-speaking nations, Portuguese is the language of government and commerce which means that Portuguese-speaking people from African nations can work and communicate with others in different parts of the world, especially in Portugal and Brazil, where the economies are stronger. Many leaders of Portuguese-speaking nations in Africa are fearful that language standards do not meet the fluency required and are therefore making it compulsory in schools so that a higher degree of fluency is achieved and young Africans will be able to speak a world language that will help them later in life. Lusophone Citizenship . Easing citizens' cross-border movement between the member states was proposed at the 2017 CPLP Summit. This proposal by Portugal and Cape Verde to Brazil was thought by some to conflict with Europe's Schengen area. However, this free movement is based on a different model: as residence permits, associated with the recognition of academic degrees and professional qualification, and maintenance of social rights including pension systems. It would henceforth establish the Lusophone citizenship, the "cidadania lusófona". Institutions. CPLP Summits. The Conference of Heads of State and Government of the CPLP (; CCEG), commonly known as the CPLP Summit ("Cimeira da  CPLP") is a biennial meeting of heads of state and heads of government of the member states of the CPLP. It is considered one of the fundamental pillars of the CPLP's structure. The mission of the CPLP Summit is to: