Organisation

The Camões, I.P. bodies are:

• Board of directors
• Auditor
• Advisory Council for the Portuguese Language and Culture
• Inter-ministerial Commission for Co-operation

At the highest management level, Camões, I.P. has a board of directors and an auditor (supervisory body). 

The board of directors has under its direct jurisdiction three organisational units: the Office of Evaluation and Audit, the Documentation and Communication Office and the Office of Cultural Programmes and Agreements.

The Board of Directors is composed of a president, a vice-president and two members, the President having the casting vote.

Board of Directors - President

Ana Fernandes

Ana Paula Lopes Fernandes has an International Relations degree at Minho University, Braga (1994); a Post-Graduate course in European Studies at the Lisbon School of Economics and Management  (1998); a Master on International Cooperation at Iscte - University Institute of Lisbon (2001); and a course on Public Administration for Directors Generals at the National Public Administration Institute in Lisbon (2008). Emerging Leaders Programme at Warton, University of Pennsylvania (2020). Volunteer at Leigos para o Desenvolvimento NGO in Mozambique (1994-1995), researcher at the Institute for International Strategic Studies (1997-1999), project manager at Marquês de Valle Flôr NGDO. From April 2005 to September 2009 she was Advisor to the State Secretary for Foreign Affairs and Development Cooperation. Portuguese Delegate to the DAC -Development Assistance Committee and to the Development Centre of the OECD since 2009. DAC Vice-Chair from 2011 to 2014, she was also the co-chair of AGID- Advisory Group on Investment and Development and also the DAC facilitator of the Working Party on Statistics. Invitee teacher at several Universities in Portugal, namely Iscte - University Institute of Lisbon and Lisbon School of Economics and Management, she has contributed to several publications.

President of the Board of Directors of Camões, I.P. since 17 July 2023.

Appointment Order

Board of Directors - Vice-President

Ricardo Victoria

Graduated in International Relations by the Institute of Social and Political Sciences (ISCSP) of the Technical University of Lisbon (UTL). M.A. in International Economics by the College Institute of Economics and Management (ISEG) at the same University; assistant teacher at the Catholic University in Lisbon in 1999; started his diplomatic career at the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in February 1998; posted on a temporary mission at the Portuguese Permanent Representation to the European Union (in Brussels) in January 2000; in the Directorate-General for EU Affairs of the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in July 2000; in the Africa Department of the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in December 2001; Adviser to the Portuguese Deputy Minister for European Affairs on 9 May 2002; on a temporary mission at the Portuguese Embassy in Madrid from April to September 2005; posted to the Portuguese Embassy in Berlin in September 2005; posted at the Portuguese Permanent Representation to the European Union in September 2009; Director for the Americas at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in August 2014; Chief of Staff of the Deputy Minister for the Portuguese Communities Abroad in November 2015; Deputy Head of Mission at the Portuguese Embassy in Luanda (Angola) in August 2018; Deputy Head of Mission at the Portuguese Embassy in Berlin in August 2021.

Vice-President of the Board of Directors of Camões, I.P. since August 28, 2023.

Appointment Order

Board - Member

Paula Pedro Loureiro

Paula Pedro Loureiro holds a degree in Economics and post-graduation in European Studies and in International Relations. In the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 2001, with a career in public governance, specially focused in budget control, held the position Director for Planning and Budget Control from 2012 until January 2018.

Member of the Board of Auditors since January 15, 2018.

Appointment Order

Board - Member

Joaquim Coelho Ramos

PhD in Linguistics (Faculty of Philosophy / Charles university in Prague, Czech Republic, under dual supervision regime with the Faculty of Arts of the University of Porto (2017)). Master in Portuguese - Foreign Language / Second Language (Faculty of Arts of the University of Porto (2012)). Master in Law (Faculty of Law of the University of Coimbra (2004)). Post-graduation in Contemporary Portuguese Culture (Universidade Aberta – Lisbon (2010)). Additional training in Portuguese Foreign Policy, by the Department of International Relations of the Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra (2002). Researcher at CLUP – Centro de Linguística da Universidade do Porto (Linguistics Center of the University of Porto) since 2012, member of the Advisory Board of the International Association of Lusitanians and founding member of the Czech Society of Portuguese Language (since 2011). External lector of Portuguese language at the universities of Brno and Olomouc (2005-2006), and assistant professor of Portuguese language in Prague, Czech Republic (2005-2006). Lector of Portuguese language and culture at Camões (2006-2018), placed at the Charles University, in the Czech Republic, and coordinator of local Language Center (2006-2016 and 2017-2018). President of the Prague Cluster of the European Union National Institutes for Culture/EUNIC countries (2011-2013). Medal of Merit of the Deanship of the Faculty of Philosophy at Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic (2016). Director of IPOR - Instituto Português do Oriente, in Macau - China (2018-2023).

Member of the Board of Auditors since July 10, 2023.

Appointment Order

Advisory bodies

Inter-ministerial Commission for Co-operation

Mission

The Inter-ministerial Commission for Co-operation (CIC) is a sectorial body for government support in the area of development co-operarion policy, working together with Camões, I.P..

Duties

The CIC’s main responsibilities are to:

• Provide support to the government in defining co-operative policies with developing countries;
• Promote the specific planning of programmes and projects of public development aid;
• Implement the activities of the various ministries regarding co-operation and public development aid, with a view to establishing concerted guidelines and strengthening the co-ordination and coherence of development policies;
• Promote and co-ordinate the execution of publicly-driven co-operative programmes;
• Promote the collation and sharing of information and statistical data among its members relating to the implementation of co-operation activity.

Advisory Council for the Portuguese Language and Culture

The Advisory Council is the official body for consultation, support and participation in the definition of the general performance of Camões, I.P., meeting at least once a year according to its internal regulations.

The Advisory Council consists of:

• The President of Camões, I.P. who presides over its affairs, along with the vice president and board members;
• A representative from each member of government responsible for the areas of foreign affairs, the economy, education, higher education, science and technology, culture, youth and the media;
• The director-general of foreign policy, the director-general of European affairs , the director-general of consular affairs and Portuguese communities of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs;
• Five people of a recognised level of expertise in the fields of education, research, the arts and science;
• By a representative of each of the teaching staff unions, incorporating the trade union confederations represented in the permanent commission for social dialogue.

Roles

The Advisory Council is responsible for:

• Expressing its opinion on the activity plan and report of Camões, I.P., in the area of the Portuguese language and culture;
• Providing an opinion on training plans relating to the teaching of Portuguese overseas;
• Providing an opinion on the planning relating to the Portuguese teaching network abroad;
• Providing an opinion on the setting up of Portuguese cultural centers and the co-ordination structures of the Portuguese teaching abroad;
• Providing an opinion, on its own initiative or at the request of the President, on initiatives relevant to Camões, I.P’s roles regarding the Portuguese language and culture;
• Interfacing Camões, I.P. with governmental bodies and public services with which the Institute is involved in order to fulfil its duties in the area of the Portuguese language and culture.