Qatar Foundation has brought its second BilAraby Annual Gathering to a close in Doha, drawing around 1,600 people together for two days of conversations, workshops and ideas. Held on September 19 and 20 at Multaqa (Education City Student Center), the event ran under the theme “With Our Ideas, We Build.”
Organised by Qatar Foundation’s BilAraby initiative, the gathering gave people space to share experiences, talk through real challenges, and explore how ideas can move from conversation into practical action.
Entrepreneurship and the power of connection
A big part of the programme focused on entrepreneurship and how digital platforms are changing the way people build and connect. Sessions mixed talks, workshops and informal conversations where participants could exchange stories and lessons from their own journeys.
Hisham Nourin,
Executive Director of Strategic Initiatives and Programs at Qatar Foundation,
stressed how valuable it is to learn from others — and how important it is to keep those connections alive after the event ends.
Peacebuilding starts with listening
Peacebuilding was another strong thread running through the gathering.
Zahra’ Langhi,
mediation expert,
spoke about the need to truly listen to communities living through conflict before trying to build lasting relationships. Drawing on her work in Yemen, she shared the experiences of mothers of abductees and their role in prisoner exchanges. Her session underlined a simple but powerful point: trust and local knowledge matter deeply in any serious peace effort.
Keeping Arabic at the centre
BilAraby continued its focus on Arabic-language content and knowledge sharing. At the Open Translation Project workshop, participants discussed translation and review processes, worked on a style guide and glossary, and floated the idea of a “Translation Buddy” programme to pair newer translators with more experienced ones.
Other sessions looked at Arabic-language education and the role media can play in strengthening Arabic across professional and academic life.
Founders share the real stories
The summit also featured founders from the tech and business worlds.
Issam Hijazi,
founder and CEO of the social media platform UpScrolled,
talked about building a space that gives people more control over what they follow.
Hamad Mubarak Al-Hajri,
founder and CEO of Snoonu,
was open about the challenges of building his company and the importance of trust, shared responsibility and loyalty inside a team.
Looking ahead
The gathering brought together organisations and voices working across education, media, translation, culture and community development. Partners recognised at the closing ceremony included Qatar Media Corporation, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, QatarDebate, the Queen Rania Foundation for Education and Development, Cambridge University Press and Assessment, Qatar Reads, and others.
BilAraby was launched by Qatar Foundation in 2024 to encourage ideas and creativity in Arabic. Its wider work centres on collaboration, knowledge sharing, and creating space for Arabic speakers to exchange experiences and insights.
This year’s Annual Gathering in Doha kept that mission moving forward — bringing people together around ideas that link innovation, entrepreneurship, education and community.
