Hello everyone,
After twelve training sessions, we are pleased to announce that two Afghan female student debate teams have been selected to participate in the Harvard Debate UK–TOC International Tournament on October 23–25, 2026.
1. Team 1: Aysha Wazir and Helala Ghanizada
2. Team 2: Hadia Sultani and Zahra Hossaini
Our teams will compete in the Public Forum Novice division on National Speech & Debate Association (NSDA) Tabroom. For details, please visit: https://lnkd.in/gYHrgVVa
We would like to express our gratitude to the Harvard Debate Council and the University of Kentucky’s Tournament of Champions (TOC) for their kind support in waiving participation fees for our Afghan female debate teams for the Harvard Debate UK–TOC International Tournaments 2026–2027.
We would also like to extend our sincere thanks to Keerti V. Joshi from Team Canada Debate (2025–2027) for his support in training our teams.
About Team Canada Debate:
– 5x World Champions of the WSDC; most recent win: 2026 in Kenya
– 4x World Runners-up
We would like to thank the coaches at Vietnam Public Forum Academy for their continued support and ongoing involvement in training the Afghan girls since November 2024.
Finally, we thank all remaining participants for their efforts during the training period. You will continue to receive training and may be selected for the upcoming Harvard Debate UK–TOC International Tournaments in November 2026 and January 2027.
Sincerely,
Empowering Afghan Girls & Young Women Through Debate
(An initiative of Vietnam Public Forum Academy)
and Afghans for Progressive Thinking (APT)
