Maria de Fátima Jardim succeeds Timorese Zacarias da Costa, who served two terms in the position (since 2021).
The new Executive Secretary holds a degree in biology from the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon and served as Vice-President of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Council, representing Africa, a position she assumed in 2021.
The Angolan diplomat served as Director of the National Institute of Fisheries and Marine Research (INIPM) in Lobito, and later served as Director of the National Institute of Fisheries Research (INIP) in Luanda.
In addition to serving as Minister of Fisheries between 1992 and 1996, in the Government of Unity and National Reconciliation of Angola, she served as Minister of Fisheries and Environment from 1996 to 2002 and from 2008 to 2015, she served as Minister of the Environment.
In 2015, she was sent to the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 21), representing Angola and the Least Developed Countries in the negotiations that led to the Paris Agreement.
From 2003 to 2008, Maria de Fátima Jardim was a member of the Angolan National Assembly.
Until March of this year, she was Angola's ambassador to Italy.
The CPLP Executive Secretariat is the organization's main executive body and is responsible for implementing the decisions of the Conference of Heads of State and Government, the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, and the Permanent Concertation Committee.
It is also responsible for planning and ensuring the execution of the organization's programs, organizing and participating in meetings of the various community bodies, and monitoring the implementation of decisions made at ministerial meetings and other initiatives.
In addition to Angola, CPLP member states include Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Timor-Leste.
