The team
This project is initiated by Leaders of Tomorrow (LoT) in Jordan | قادة الغد, that builds the capacity of young people and promotes social cohesion among youth. In addressing social development issues in the Middle Eastern and North African region, Leaders of Tomorrow empowers youth to become well-rounded, socially responsible citizens. Their work is founded on five pillars: Society, Culture, Knowledge, Environment and Health.
The Diwanieh initiative of LoT is taking political debate from the closed circles of decision makers and analysts to the street, where people from different backgrounds come to discuss issues that affect their lives, together with various public figures. The name of the initiative originates in the Arab culture, reviving the habit of people gathering in the diwan and discussing issues that concerned them. Diwanieh managed to bring thousands of people in the streets to talk freely about societal, economic, or cultural topic. See images from recent Diwanieh events.
LoT partnered with ARDOR - The Romanian Association for Debate, Oratory and Rhetoric for this project. ARDOR’s mission is to promote academic debate as a tool to foster critical thinking, tolerance and open discussion among youth. Over 50 debate clubs nationwide prove the popularity of debate among teens. Also, debate was recognized as an official elective for the high school curricula by the Ministry of Education. ARDOR organizes periodically debate tournaments and public debate related events. ARDOR was awarded the Best NGO in Education in 2011, at the Gala for Awards in Education.
Closer to Oxford is ARDOR’s initiative for beginner student debaters, which is now in its fourth year. Closer to Oxford won the award for best educational project at the Civil Society Gala in 2011 and created a community of over 1500 students who posted over 900 debate speeches online on various topics of general interest. In the last four years, the Closer to Oxford trainers organized 31 workshops on argumentation, critical reading, public speaking, in the largest centres of higher education in Romania and Rep. of Moldova. Also, 30 public debates where students teamed up with public figures took place in these cities, redefining university conference rooms as open spaces for public debate.