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According to the UNESCO Proclamation, “The Portuguese language is one of the most widely used languages of the Indo-European family, and one of the most widespread languages in the world, with more than 265 million speakers. It is the most widely spoken language in the Southern Hemisphere. Its users are spread through all continents.

The Portuguese language is taught officially and unofficially in many countries across the world. Portuguese is the official language of nine States – Angola, Brazil, Cabo Verde, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal, Sao Tome and Principe and Timor-Leste –, and is also an official language of Macau Special Administrative Region of China. It is one of the official languages of the continental organizations African Union, Organization of American States, European Union and of multiple regional organizations, as well as official language of UNESCO General Conference.”

Language is not merely a tool for communication. It is the bearer of a whole nexus of cultural expressions and conveys identity, values and visions of the world. It is a vessel which contains cultural diversity and the dialogue among civilizations. It is a bridge that enables closer relations between societies, a richer diversity of forms of expression and interaction, and the exchange of support and empowerment. The Portuguese language occupies a central place in this approach, in view of its history, its geography, its lexical stock from other languages, and its own terms and expressions that have enriched other languages.

Multilingualism, a core value of the United Nations, is an essential factor in harmonious communication between peoples, which promotes unity in diversity and international understanding, tolerance and dialogue. The United Nations General Assembly, through its resolution 71/328 of 11 September 2017 on multilingualism, welcomed the implementation of a day dedicated to each of its official languages in order to inform and raise awareness of their history, culture and use, and encouraged the Secretary-General and institutions such as UNESCO to consider extending this important initiative to other non-official languages spoken throughout the world.

Also for UNESCO, linguistic diversity and multilingualism are domains of strategic importance that the Organization promotes in all fields of its mandate, through an interdisciplinary approach involving all programme sectors. There is a growing awareness that languages play a vital role in development, not only in ensuring cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue, but also in attaining quality education for all and strengthening cooperation, in building inclusive knowledge societies, in preserving cultural heritage, and in mobilizing political will for applying the benefits of science and technology to sustainable development.

The Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP) was established in 1996 as a privileged multilateral forum for the deepening of mutual friendship, political-diplomatic consultation and cooperation among its members, whose peoples have the Portuguese language as one of the foundations of their specific identities. CPLP Constitutive Declaration reaffirms that the Portuguese language is a privileged means of disseminating cultural creation among the peoples who speak it, and of international projection of their cultural values, in an open and Universalist perspective.