Students are seen during a debating session

The QatarDebate Centre will organise the fourth International Conference on argumentation, rhetoric, debate and the paedagogy of empowerment at the Qatar National Convention Centre from January 11-13, 2013 .
The conference will welcome scholars and educators from diverse fields for vigorous dialogue and exchange and it will also unite scholars of argumentation and rhetoric, teachers, and organisers of local, national and international debating networks to discuss critical thinking and advocacy discourse through paedagogy.
The conference also represents a unique opportunity to share ideas and network with global critical thinkers.
Three conferences have been held previously in  Slovenia’s Koper, Ljubljana and Maribor.
The fourth conference is a unique opportunity to include the rapid scholarly and academic advancement of the Arabic world into the work, pioneered by QatarDebate and the Qatar Foundation. QatarDebate Educational Programmes manager Dr Abdellatif Salami spoke about the outstanding achievements of QatarDebate, saying: “This season has been full of events and most notably we organised the first International Schools Arabic Debating Championship, a first of its kind in the world between April 1-4, 2012 with the participation of 20 Arab states as well as Malaysia.”
He added that the centre organised many of the successful tournaments and competitions in both Arabic and English at the secondary and university level during the season.
The debating organisation’s 2011-2012 academic season which has concluded, was full of activities and events were organised by the centre throughout the season, including both local and international events.
The achievements recorded during the events were helpful to strengthen QatarDebate’s position as a monument of civilisation in contributing to the culture of constructive and open debate, in order to support all that would help to raise future generations and make them aware of matters concerning their daily lives and about happenings around them.
QatarDebate executive director Dr Hayat Maarafi, who was proud of what the organisation has achieved during the 2011-2012 season, noted that the debates have begun to make its way to become a general culture among all segments of society, especially among youth.
She also mentioned that QatarDebate will inaugurate the youth parliament programme next year at different levels for schools and universities, which falls within the education framework on principles of consultation, citizenship and human rights, and also practices in candidacy and election.