Lebanon Debating Society: Reviving the Art of Debate
The Lebanon Debating Society is an initiative that addresses the root causes of the explosion in Beirut on August 4th 2020. The catastrophe has been attributed to both a result and a symptom of years of mismanagement and corruption that have brought the country on the brink of collapse.
Transparency International ranks Lebanon 149 of 180 countries in their global corruption index. Thus, it is crucial that the wider public becomes aware of the structural problems that led to the explosion. Without a fair, transparent and information-driven public discussion, the Lebanese society cannot move forward and overcome the immense challenges the country currently faces.
Today, in many countries around the world, public discourse is characterized by polarization. Opposing political camps face each other seemingly irreconcilable and are not willing to listen to one another’s arguments. In Lebanon as well society is strongly divided along political, social and sectarian lines. By reviving the art of debate, the Lebanon Debating Society wants to contribute to a new civic culture which allows for constructive and nuanced debates, where every opinion is heard, respected and critically analyzed based on facts. This strengthens civic engagement and enables voters to make well-informed choices – and ultimately to hold the public officials accountable at the ballot box.
Here you can get a first impression of the project:
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With the donations collected after the explosion, forumZFD supports the Lebanon Debating Society in order to promote long-term and peaceful change in Lebanon. 32 debaters from all over the country will participate in the project. After weeks of intensive training, they will form teams and discuss topics which are selected by the Lebanese public. The debates will take place live, and are live-streamed online. A jury will evaluate the debate and the audience will have a say in whether they are swayed by the debaters. The events will take place all over the country so that perspectives from different regions will be heard. After several rounds of debate, the finals will take place in autumn 2021. But whoever wins the debating contest – the project’s biggest accomplishment will be to bring people together and discuss diverse ideas and solutions for their shared future.
