Doha Forum 2024
Sport as a Force for Sustainable Development in the MENA Region
Program Location: Salwa 2
Program Start: 08 December 2024, 14:30 - 15:15
As the global community continues to seek innovative solutions to development challenges, sport has emerged as a powerful tool for addressing critical issues in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. This panel, hosted in collaboration with the International Platform on Sport and Development, will bring together leading experts and practitioners who have successfully harnessed the power of sport to drive social change. The discussion will explore how sport-based programs have been utilized to address pressing challenges such as youth unemployment, educational disparities, and gender inequality, while simultaneously promoting peace, resilience, and social cohesion in conflict-affected areas. This session will serve as a dynamic platform for participants to showcase impactful projects, exchange best practices, and explore strategies for scaling up sport-based interventions to contribute toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals across the MENA region.
In partnership with: Qatar Fund for Development
In partnership with: Qatar Fund for Development
Partner:
The Geopolitics of Artificial Intelligence
Program Location: Al Dafna
Program Start: 08 December 2024, 14:30 - 15:15
Artificial intelligence is not just a technological frontier—it is a geopolitical battleground. As nations race to build the infrastructure that powers AI, critical questions arise about the balance of power, energy sustainability, and global partnerships. Data centers, the backbone of AI innovation, are becoming pivotal in shaping the future of global influence, raising concerns about security, sovereignty, and environmental sustainability.
This panel will delve into the geopolitical stakes of AI infrastructure, addressing how geographic, energy, and strategic factors intersect to reshape global dynamics. From the role of sovereign investments to emerging “AI swing states,” the discussion will highlight the transformative impact of AI on international relations and economic development. Panelists will explore how nations can navigate these challenges through diplomacy, innovation, and sustainable practices, gaining insights into the critical decisions that will define the AI-driven industrial revolution.
Perspectives on Gulf Security (invitation only)
Program Start: 08 December 2024, 15:30 - 16:30
Organized by: New Ground Research and Gulf Research Center
Prospects for Cooperation in a Fragmented World
Program Location: Al Dafna
Program Start: 08 December 2024, 15:45 - 16:30
While the world is grappling with deepening divides, existential threats increasingly require global cooperation. Future pandemics, AI risk, climate change, and geopolitical divisions pose risks that cannot be addressed on a national or even regional level. This session will ask how, in the current environment, to foster collaboration across ideological and geopolitical boundaries. National leaders will spotlight innovative strategies and hard-earned lessons that could redefine cooperation in a polarizing world. We will ask: what role do shared values and mutual interests play in bridging divides, and how can international partnerships adapt and thrive in an era of increasing uncertainty?
Closing Session
Program Location: Al Dafna
Program Start: 08 December 2024, 16:30 - 16:45
Post Event Session: Doha World Negotiation Day (by registration only)
Program Start: 09 December 2024, 15:00 - 18:00
The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and ADN Group, in partnership with the Doha Forum, are proud to announce Doha Doha World Negotiation Day Negotiation Day that will take place on December 9th 2024 (15:00 - 18:00).
Uniting some of the world’s most renowned contributors to peaceful negotiations and conflict resolution, Doha World Negotiation Day will provide a high-level forum to discuss the role of negotiation in today’s challenging world, offering valuable perspectives on emerging challenges and opportunities in the field. During this event, participants will have the chance to attend two high level panels from esteemed officials from international organizations, national governments, and the private sector on ‘International Negotiation in an Age of Disruption’ and ‘Bilateral Negotiations’. The event will conclude by bestowing the “Doha Best Negotiator of the Year” Award - a prestigious distinction given to one exceptional negotiator who has displayed exemplary skills and achievements on the international stage. After the event we invite you to join us for a cocktail reception.
The event is open to the public upon registration - to attend in-person or online please register here.
In partnership with: United Nations Institute for Training and Research
Partner:
Post Event Session: Qatar Mediation Forum (invitation only)
As influence in an increasingly multipolar world order shifts to the South and the East, Qatar is among a number of Middle Powers facilitating critical conflict transformation processes. This commitment to peacebuilding and diplomacy is mandated in the Permanent Constitution of the State of Qatar and has become a pillar of its foreign policy.
Changes in the global order have accelerated markedly over the past ten years and mediators face a growing series of challenges. Rising geopolitical tensions, competition over global norms, and increased fragmentation and conflict have been exacerbated by disagreement over economic principles and climate change, undermining consensus-based approaches to peace and other global public goods. There has been a notable decline in the number of peace agreements, raising questions about prospects for settling conflicts through negotiation, and the effectiveness of traditional mediation approaches.
In response to these evolving challenges, the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies (CHS) has established the Qatar Mediation Forum to bring together leading mediators, diplomats, policymakers, and academics to address the most pressing challenges confronting mediation efforts today. Designed as a discreet and enabling platform, the Forum provides a space to share diverse perspectives, navigate sensitive issues, and explore pragmatic solutions for conflict mediation in an evolving global order.
The Qatar Mediation Forum is an invitation-only event conducted under the Chatham House Rule to provide an environment for frank discussions on some of the most intractable problems confronting mediators and humanitarian diplomats in today’s rapidly changing world order. This year’s event takes place on 9 December and will be composed of five sessions:
- The Changing Landscape of Global Conflict and Mediation
- Technological Innovation and Conflict Mediation
- Half the Sky: Innovation in Response to Resistance
- Diversity in Mediation: A Matter of Approaches and Resources?
- Humanitarian Diplomacy and the Rules-Based Order
In partnership with: Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies
Pre Event Session: Global Order: Which Principles Should Shape Our Future?
What kind of future should we create? This debate goes beyond politics to explore the deeper philosophical ideas underpinning the systems that define our world today. From critiques of modernity to competing civilizational visions, leading thinkers will confront the fundamental beliefs that shape tomorrow's world order. In this debate we explore how these diverse visions might build a better world.
To join this on December 6th at 5:30 pm at QNCC please register here.
In partnership with: Doha Debates
To join this on December 6th at 5:30 pm at QNCC please register here.
In partnership with: Doha Debates
Partner:
Post Event Session: Palestine’s Path Forward: Operationalizing Vehicles of Accountability (invitation only)
The events of the past year have posed the most significant threat to the Palestinian people since the 1948 Nakba while pushing the region to the brink of a large-scale war. At the same time, consequential breakthroughs have occurred at the international level regarding the illegality of the Israeli occupation, creating propitious conditions for challenging Israeli impunity. The workshop will focus on two related themes: 1) how to operationalize the recent ICJ Advisory Opinion of 19 July and UNGA Resolution ES-10/24 to advance Palestinian rights, and 2) centering the Palestine Question in an evolving Middle East and global geopolitical landscape, leveraging it among regional states and external powers.
In partnership with: U.S. / Middle East Project and Middle East Council on Global Affairs
Partner: