The Fifth International Schools Debating Championship, organised by QatarDebate, a member of Qatar Foundation, is taking place from Friday with sustainability in focus.
For the first time, the championship is being held in Arabic and English languages, with 50 countries participating in each category.
Moza al-Hajri, a member of the Qatari debate team at the championship, says, “Choosing sustainability as a topic for discussions in the tournament encouraged me to learn more about environment-related topics.
“I have always been interested in these issues, and I have a passion to learn and study more about the environmental challenges facing the planet, and how to confront and address them. It is important to highlight the issue of sustainability as one of the most important ways of facing addressing climate change, global warming, and other environmental risks.”
Abdulrahman al-Subaie, outreach programmes manager at QatarDebate, said, “Debating tournaments are distinguished from other awareness activities in that they encourage all debaters to explore issues and topics from various frames of reference they have to study the various positions and viewpoints related to a topic, critique them, and compare them.
“We believe that by adopting the topic of sustainability in this championship, we will increase awareness among over 400 young debaters, and over 100 coaches and 100 referees, by exposing them to the issue of sustainability in a critical way, away from traditional or superficial awareness.”
Speaking about the significance of the championship being held in Arabic and English, al-Subaie said, “QatarDebate has succeeded in being a flag carrier for the Arabic language around the world, and we are continuing to reach new student communities who are interested in learning the Arabic language in Asia, Europe, and America."
“We are working to advance our role in spreading awareness and a culture of critical thinking to all young people around the world, so we decided that adding English language as a new category in the competition will further enrich dialogue further and contribute to advancing our mission of building future leaders.”