"We are an extraordinary example, we are a community all over the world and we show how it is possible to find the path of dialogue, find the paths of peace, of inclusion. It is an example that the Portuguese-speaking community offers to the international community", said Santiago Irazabal Mourão, Brazil's ambassador to UNESCO and current president of the General Conference of this organization, in statements to Agência Lusa.
The CPLP countries met in the main auditorium of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), in Paris, with the aim of marking in person, for the first time, the World Portuguese Language Day with several cultural manifestations from music to literature, passing through the five continents.
For Filipe Zau, Minister of Culture, present at this ceremony, this is an event that serves to draw the attention of international organizations to the importance of Portuguese as a working language.
"The issue of the Portuguese language, as it is beginning to be valued, is a considerable step for international organizations to start adopting this language which is extremely representative, not only in Europe, but in Africa and Latin America, as well as in our diasporas ", said the ruler.
According to the Minister of Culture, the Portuguese language is "gaining more and more space", having already surpassed "Portuguese ownership" and now belongs "to those who speak it".
It was the artists who took over the language in the late afternoon, with singer Assa Matusse, from Mozambique, singer Djanuno Dabo from Guinea Bissau, soprano Té Macedo from Angola, or soloist Lívia Nestrovski, Brazilian, accompanied by the Philharmonic Orchestra Portuguese.
From New York came the certainty of António Guterres, Secretary General of the UN, that the Portuguese language will continue to serve as a factor of understanding and approximation, in a message read by the Portuguese ambassador to UNESCO, Rosa Batoréu.
"The vitality and multicultural character of the Portuguese language will continue to project it as a factor of understanding and approximation between countries, between peoples and between people", stressed António Guterres in his message.
This ceremony also paid tribute to the centenary of the death of Lima Barreto, the centenary of the birth of José Craveirinha, Agostinho Neto and José Saramago, with texts and poems from these Portuguese authors being read by Portuguese students in France.
In Paris to attend this event, Maria Eugénia Neto, widow of the first President of Angola, recalled how her husband's journey and memory represents the main values of UNESCO and the CPLP.
"He was a great poet, a great fighter for freedom and friendship between peoples and he is a good representative of UNESCO. He is one of the main figures of the 20th century. He could have made his life without worrying about anyone and he sacrificed everything for the independence of Angola, for the independence of Africa which was his struggle", he concluded.
The World Portuguese Language Day was adopted in November 2019 during the 40th General Conference of UNESCO, thus entering the world agendas. The pandemic had so far prevented face-to-face celebrations at the headquarters of this international organization.
