This year’s cohort of ambassadors hails from 37 countries across the world – including Qatar, Nigeria and Palestine.

Doha Debates has revealed the names of 98 participants from around the world who were selected for the fourth cohort of the Doha Debates Ambassador Program.

In a press release published on Tuesday, Doha Debates said that for the next ten weeks, the next generation of leaders will be developing their negotiation skills as they navigate critical conversations with their peers about topical issues, including climate change, global governance, and the rise of artificial intelligence and its ethics.

The process will be guided with the help of former ambassadors who now serve as mentors, facilitation experts and international guest speakers. They will work to develop the new participants’ communication skills to foster production dialogue about difficult topics of the day.

At the heart of Doha Debates’ mission is addressing pressing global issues through what they refer to as “majlis style debate”.

In line with welcoming Arab majlis traditions, discussions are open and grounded in finding commonalities and solutions.

This year’s cohort is a celebration of diversity, with the ambassadors collectively representing 37 countries – including Qatar, Afghanistan, Algeria, Palestine, Bangladesh, Uganda and Nigeria.

During their weekly virtual sessions, ambassadors will hone their abilities to appreciate and understand the different worldviews of their counterparts from across the globe.

Shazia Ahmadi, a business and data science student from Afghanistan, who is part of the 2024 cohort took to X to share her excitement of being part of an initiative that, “fuels transformative discussions and fosters a global community committed to positive progress”.

Doha Debates began with an Oxford Union style of televised debates in 2004 as the brainchild of former BBC correspondent Tim Sebastian, with funding support from the Qatar Foundation.

Later, in 2018,  following the success of the first eight seasons which tackled the topics of the day that were impacting the Arab world, the Qatar Foundation revamped Doha Debates to incorporate the “majlis style” of debate.

Today, Doha Debates town hall events in Qatar’s capital have unpacked issues such as orientalism, the future of Palestinian identity and the balance of power among Western states.