Doha – QatarDebate

The 5th International Universities Debating Championship, organized by Qatar Debate Center (QD) continues on day three, 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); featuring 100 universities from 51 Arab and foreign countries.

Day three witnessed enthralling and captivating debate rounds with top-16 teams going against each other to win a spot in the quarterfinals. Eight teams from these universities earned a place in the quarters: The University of Khartoum-Sudan, Princess Sumaya University for Technology-Jordan, University of Amar Telidji – Algeria, International Islamic University-Malaysia, Misurata University-Libya, Qatar University Boys team, Ahfad University for Women-Sudan and the Harvard University-United States

Today, day four of the championship will witness top teams battling each other out with logic and reasoning for a spot in the tournament’s grand final debate on Wednesday.

“Al Jazeera Media Network”, media partner for 5th IUDC set up an interactive studio

The unique presence of “Al Jazeera Media Network” enhanced the participants’ experience at the championship through many activities and events. As the media partner of the championship, Al Jazeera Media Network has set up an interactive studio at the QNCC for QatarDebate to broadcast reports, coverage and daily interviews with participating teams. Mr Mohammed Zayed Al Shahwani, Head of Operations at Al Jazeera Media Institute, said: “the AJ Media Institute is keen to participate in this Championship to support Al Jazeera Media Network’s vision of supporting local events and activities that promote public speaking, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills”.   He added ‘The participants at the championship are using the Arabic language competently, especially participants from countries away from the Arab world, such as China, India, Korea, Japan, and others. We are impressed by the way participants are expressing their ideas and views in Arabic during their interviews with us.”

Press Conference

A press conference was held at the Media Center with some of the participating teams from non-Arabic countries, which are competing for the first time in the championship. These countries include Kyrgyzstan, Belgium, Bulgaria, Thailand, and Azerbaijan among others. Debaters stressed the importance of participating in this international debating championship and noted that they had heard a lot about the State of Qatar before got a chance to visit. They appreciated the great efforts being made by the Qatari institutions to spread the Arabic language.

Speaking about their experience at the championship, they cherished the opportunity they got to hone their Arabic debating skills. They were confident that such opportunities would pave the way for them to outclass other teams in future championships.