Doha – QatarDebate

Under the patronage of Her Excellency Sheikha Hind bint Hamad Al Thani Vice Chairperson and CEO of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development (QF), QatarDebate Center (QD) a member of Qatar Foundation (QF), – is hosting and organizing the 5^th International Universities Debating Championship, the event will take place on March 16 – 20, at Qatar national convention center. Around 100 teams will take part in this year’s championship, representing 52 Arab and foreign countries.

The championship supports the mission of QF to unlock human potential by fostering a culture of discussion and debate, helping shape the global citizens of the future and create intellectual leaders of tomorrow.

In announcing the fifth edition of the championship, QatarDebate organized a press conference in the presence of Dr. Hayat Abdullah Maarafi, Executive Director of QatarDebate, Mr. Ali Sultan Al-Muftah, PR & Media Manager at QatarDebate, Mr. Ramzan Al-Naimi, Director of Network Creative, Aljazeera Network, Ms. Aisha Al-Nesf, Head of Educational Programs at QatarDebate, and Abdulrahman Al-Subaie, Head of Outreach Program at QatarDebate.

The press conference started with a welcome note by Mr. Ali Al-Muftah where he thanked everyone for their attendance and praised the role of media in helping implement the vision of QatarDebate which aims to spread the culture of debate and dialogue worldwide.

In her speech, Dr. Hayat Maarafi said: “with great pleasure, and under the patronage of Her Excellency Sheikha Hind bint Hamad Al Thani, I would like to announce the fifth International Universities Debating Championship” Referring to the difference between this year championship and the previous in terms of participating volume and quality”, she added this is the largest championship in the world of debates in both Arabic and English in terms of participation volume, quality of programs offered and the level of trainers and judges. This year, we will be hosting around 110 teams from 52 countries and 600 delegates from debaters, judges, and trainers. Dr. Hayat said: “At the end of this championship, we will announce the winner of “Pioneers award”, which will be presented to the best project to spread the art of debate based on precise judging standards. New QD ambassadors will also be announced.

Mr. Ramzan Al-Naimi, Director of Network Creative, Aljazeera Network expressed his pleasure to cooperate with QD Stressing the keenness of Al Jazeera Network to support such activities and events that develop  public speaking skills in order to establish and disseminate the art of debate and dialogue in Arabic and encourage young people to practice critical thinking.