The 7th International Universities Debating Championship, held by QatarDebate Center, begins Saturday in Doha. The five-day event brings together around 600 participants from more than 100 universities globally to debate in the Arabic Language. The debates will be adjudicated by judges of diverse backgrounds from 50 countries.
The tournament is being held in partnership with the Doha Forum, Al Jazeera Media Institute, the Translation and Interpreting Institute at Hamad Bin Khalifa University, and the Doha International Family Institute.
Reem al-Musallam, communications manager at QatarDebate Center said: "The participants are divided into two categories, native and non-native speakers, due to diversity in Arabic language proficiency and cultural differences."
In the lead-up to the championship, more than 80 judges from Qatar and 45 from other countries, along with debate coaches, underwent preparatory training to develop their adjudicating skills and techniques.
The Center participated in organising 15 national championships from October 2024 to February 2024 in Libya, Tunisia, Yemen, Malaysia, India, Indonesia, Algeria, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, Morocco, Sudan, Germany, Turkey, and the US, involving 925 speakers and 565 judges.
Teams have arrived from different countries to participate in the championship.
