Praia – The prime minister of Cape Verde today defended the expansion of the Portuguese language to states with other official languages, but acknowledged that “money is important” for this and other missions of the International Institute of the Portuguese Language IILP).
“Money is important. It is also important to have vision and determination, “Ulisses Correia e Silva told reporters in the city of Praia, after giving the former IILP Executive Director Marisa Mendonça the Medal of Dedication for” exceptional qualities and a spirit of respect and dedication in performance of public functions. ”
For the head of the Cape Verdean government, Marisa Mendonça “managed to do very little,” but recalled that “there is a commitment by the heads of state and government [of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP)] to guarantee the financial conditions so that the IILP can carry out more and more its duties and missions “.
This commitment, made at the last CPLP summit, which took place on the island of Sal, Cape Verde, in July last year, involves the “payment of overdue quotas and the regularization of arrears, as well as the investments necessary for the promotion of the language, “recalled the Prime Minister of Cape Verde.
The IILP has a budget of 300,000 euros, but its action has been limited due to the lack of funding, taking into account delays in the payment of quotas by some CPLP Member States. Before the Sal summit, the institute had debts of quotas amounting to 800 thousand euros.
Ulisses Correia e Silva considers that the mission of the IILP is to “design the Portuguese language in the various fields: art, culture, economy, what it represents in terms of identity and union of the various countries that are part of the CPLP.”
He also defended “an international projection” to “increasingly have the Portuguese language in other spaces, other regions with different official languages”.
For the winner of the Medal of Dedication, this award is an honor that comes to seal “a commitment already made with Cape Verde, on a professional and personal basis.”
“I did not expect this distinction and I expect to be deserving of such an act,” he said, acknowledging that Cape Verde’s importance at this moment is “maximum” since it chairs the CPLP and the IILP resides in this country.
For the future, Marisa Mendonça defends “the continuation of the development of projects already cemented, such as the Common Vocabulary Vocabulary (VOC) of the Portuguese Language and the Teacher’s Portal”, among others.
“Continuity has to be a slogan in the IILP,” he said.
His successor, the Guinean Incanha Intumbo, considered the tribute “timely”.
It is the “recognition of a job done in conditions not very easy,” he said, choosing as his first challenge to replace Marisa Mendonça in the roles.
Regarding the difficulties that the IILP is facing, Incanha Intumbo said that “countries will honor their commitments under the CPLP.”
“The countries recognize the importance of IILP in the diffusion of the Portuguese language and I think that this question will be gradually overcome,” he said.
IILP’s main objectives are the promotion, defense, enrichment and diffusion of the Portuguese language as a vehicle for culture, education, information and access to scientific, technological and use knowledge in international forums.
