The organisation of annual meetings has enabled progress to be made on political, economic and cultural cooperation between the peoples of those countries.
In order to strengthen that process, the 13th Summit (Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, 2003) decided to set up the Ibero-American Secretariat-General (Spanish acronym: SEGIB) as a new international organisation.
The SEGIB, the headquarters of which are in Madrid, is the permanent body providing institutional and technical assistance to the Ibero-American Conference and the Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government. The organisation comprises the 22 Ibero-American countries: nineteen in Latin America and three on the Iberian Peninsula: Spain, Portugal and Andorra.
Objectives
- To contribute to the strengthening and cohesion of the Ibero-American community and promoting the international presence thereof.
- To assist with the preparation of the Summits of Heads of State and Government in close collaboration and coordination with the corresponding Secretariat Pro Tempore.
- To strengthen the work undertaken in terms of cooperation within the framework of the Ibero-American Conference, in accordance with the Bariloche Agreement.
- To promote historical, cultural, social and economic ties between Ibero-American countries, recognising and valuing the diversity that exists between their peoples.
- To implement the mandates it receives from the Ibero-American foreign Summits and Foreign Affairs Ministers Meetings.
- To coordinate the various bodies of the Ibero-American Conference with other Ibero-American organisations.
From a standpoint of great diversity, the Ibero-American world is accepting the challenge to build a strong alliance to foster peace, democracy, human rights and sustainable economic and social development.
The first Ibero-American Secretary-General is the Uruguayan internationalist expert Enrique V. Iglesias.
What does the SEGIB do? The work agenda of the Ibero-American Secretariat-General
The Ibero-American Secretariat-General focuses its activity on four main areas: politics, economics, society and culture.
Over the course of the year, the SEGIB supports the Secretariat Pro Tempore in the development of preparatory meetings ahead of the Summit for national coordinators, cooperation ministers, sectoral ministers and foreign affairs ministers.
The SEGIB promotes multilateral and horizontal cooperation within the framework of the Ibero-American Conference in order to strengthen the Ibero-American identity through activity in the fields of culture, science and education, and to contribute to achieving the Millennium Development Goals in the region.
The Ibero-American Secretariat-General oversees, assesses and supports the spread of the Cooperation Programmes emerging from the Summits, initiatives and associated projects in order to guarantee their quality, results and sustainability.