Community of Portuguese Language Countries (, (
EP), (
BP); abbreviated to
CPLP) is the
intergovernmental organization for friendship among
lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) nations where Portuguese is an official language. The Portuguese-speaking countries are home to more than 223 million people located across the globe. The CPLP nations have a combined area of about .
The formation and member states
The CPLP was formed in 1996 with seven countries:
Portugal,
Brazil, the former colony in
South America, and five former colonies in
Africa —
Angola,
Cape Verde,
Guinea-Bissau,
Mozambique, and
São Tomé and Príncipe.
East Timor joined the community in 2002 after gaining independence.
The CPLP is a bloc in the process of construction and the societies of the eight member nations have little knowledge of each other. One of the features of the CPLP is that its members are linked by a common language and shared cultural features, which form a bridge among countries separated by great distances and on different continents.
In 2005, during a meeting in
Luanda, the ministers of culture of the eight countries declared the 5 May as the
Lusophone Culture Day (
Dia da Cultura Lusófona in Portuguese).
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.
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. Also, the country has recently 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 is in discussion for full membership.
Mauritius, which was unknown to
Europeans until the Portuguese sailed there and has strong connections with
Mozambique, also obtained associate observer status in 2006.
In 2008,
Senegal, with historical connections to Portuguese colonisation in
Casamance, was admitted as Associate Observer.
Members
Officially interested countries and regions
Summits
The importance of the CPLP
The Portuguese-speaking countries are home to more than 223 million people located across the globe but having cultural similarities and a shared history. The CPLP nations have a combined area of about , which is larger than
Canada.
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. These two problems were solved, and in fact, have helped these two countries to take economic reforms (in the case of São Tomé) and democratic ones (in the case of Guinea-Bissau).
The leaders of the CPLP believe that peace in
Angola and
Mozambique as well as East Timor's independence will favour the further development of the CPLP and a strengthening of multilateral cooperation.
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.
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.
The CPLP system
The Organization’s
Executive Secretariat is responsible for designing and implementing the CPLP's projects and initiatives. It is located in
Lisbon,
Portugal. The Executive Secretary has a two-year mandate, and can be re-elected only once.
The CPLP's guidelines and priorities are established by biannual
Conference of Heads of State and the Organization’s plan of action is approved by the Council of Foreign Ministers, which meets every year.
There are also monthly meetings of the
Permanent Steering Committee that follow specific initiatives and projects.
The CPLP is mainly financed by its eight member states.
The CPLP flag has now eight wings, not seven, to reflect East Timor's membership.
Executive secretaries
Main initiatives
- CPLP's HIV-Aids Programme – designed to help the 5 African member states
- Centre for the Development of Entrepreneurial Skills – being established in Luanda, Angola
- Centre for the Development of Public Administration – being established in Maputo, Mozambique
- Centre for East-Timorese Official Languages
- Portuguese Language Census
- Digital School and University
- Electoral Mission to Guinea-Bissau (East Timor’s President, the Nobel Prize laureate, José Ramos-Horta is CPLP's Representative to the Electoral Process)
- Emergency Project for the Support of Institution Rebuilding in Guinea-Bissau
- Rebuilding East Timor’s Justice and Public Administration
- Combating Poverty and Starvation
- "Felino" manoeuvres - annual combined manoeuvres of the Armed Forces of CPLP's countries
See also
