Government of Timor-Leste

Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Social Communication (MAPCOMS- Portuguese acronym), Francisco Martins da Costa Pereira Jerónimo participated in the ceremony to award certificates to 89 journalists who attended, in 2022, the Portuguese language training and fundamentals of journalism under the Language Consultancy for Journalists (CLJ- Portuguese acronym) project. The ceremony took place on February 10^th, 2023, in the auditorium of the Cultural Centre of the Portuguese Embassy, in Dili.

The CLJ project training courses result from a partnership agreement between the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and Social Communication and Camões - Institute for Cooperation and Language, I.P., from Portugal, aiming to train national media professionals in the Portuguese language to transmit reliable information to the public.

In his intervention, Minister Francisco Jerónimo acknowledged Portugal’s support for this project in partnership with the Government of Timor-Leste. He stressed its importance in developing the skills of Timorese journalists.

The Minister encouraged the journalists to apply the knowledge acquired during the training to their daily lives and to improve the quality of their news so that the population can be better informed. 

The Portuguese Embassy's Cooperation Attaché in Dili, Cristina Faustino, pointed out that this cooperation project, the Language Consultancy for Journalists, has been running since 2016 and that its continuity has supported the development of the media and the capabilities of national journalists.

Cristina Faustino also expressed her happiness for the success of the training and for seeing an increase in the number of young people taking their first steps in journalism.

MAPCOMS' Chief of Staff, the Coordinator and the Head of Department of the Technical Training Centre in Communication (CEFTEC – Portuguese acronym), the CLJ trainers and the trainees also attended the ceremony.