The US embassy, in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education of Qatar and Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar (VCUQatar), celebrated the winners of the third annual Young Writers Competition yesterday at VCUQatar in Education City.
Nearly 300 essays were submitted for the competition and the top five writers from each grade were recognised at the event. The winning entries will also be featured in the Third Volume of the Young Writers Journal, which will be published by the US embassy in July.  
US ambassador Dana Shell Smith congratulated all the students who participated in this year’s competition and commended the efforts of teachers, especially, for their support.
“I’d like to extend my gratitude to all the amazing teachers who make this programme possible for their students.
The work of teachers is so often overlooked and undervalued, but without them our societies would fail and our youth would never realise their full potential.”
She added that “the theme of this year’s competition – ‘Shaping our World for the Better’ – speaks directly to the importance of education in shaping our world, and particularly our youth, for the better.”  
Dean Akel I Kahera of VCUQatar said, “We humbly appreciate ambassador Smith and the Ministry of Education and Higher Education’s steadfast dedication to the Young Writers Programme in its efforts to encourage Qatar’s youth to read, write and think critically about important topics in society.
In our eyes, all of the students are winners and we champion each one of them on pushing towards their goals.”
The Young Writers Competition is the central component of the larger Young Writers Programme, which strives to encourage Qatar’s youth to read, write, and think critically about key issues while improving their English literacy skills.  
Since the programme’s inception in 2014, students from more than 120 government schools in Qatar have participated.
The programme is a joint partnership between the US embassy and the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, with support from VCUQatar.
The themes for the 2016/2017 programme focused on ‘Shaping our World for the Better’. Students from grades 5, 8, and 10 were asked to write a personal essay, story or poem (fiction or non-fiction) on one of the provided topics for their grade using this theme as inspiration.  
More information about the Young Writers Competition can be had from the Public Affairs Section of the US embassy at [email protected] or the Young Writers Qatar website at https://youngwritersqatar.com/