Doha, September 20 (QNA) - Qatar Foundation has concluded the second edition of the BilAraby Annual Gathering, bringing together 1,600 participants for discussions on building digital platforms that serve people, overcoming challenges in entrepreneurship, and drawing on community knowledge to build peace.

Organized by Qatar Foundation's (QF) BilAraby initiative, the gathering took place on 19–20 September 2026 at Multaqa (Education City Student Center) in Doha under the theme "With Our Ideas, We Build'.

HE Minister of Education and Higher Education Lolwah bint Rashid Al Khater attended the second day of the gathering and toured the partner pavilions.

The program featured main-stage talks, exploratory sessions, workshops, and interactive spaces, enabling participants to share experiences, discuss ideas, and explore their practical applications.

Executive Director of Strategic Initiatives and Programs at QF,

Hisham Nourin said: "The value of a gathering lies in leaving it with greater understanding and something useful to put into practice.

"At Qatar Foundation, our responsibility is to create the conditions for this exchange to continue and ensure participants can stay connected beyond the gathering."

In his talk 'Don't Undervalue Yourself', Founder and CEO of social media platform UpScrolled, Issam Hijazi shared his experience of building a platform that gives users greater control over the content they follow.

In her talk, titled 'Who Tells the Story of Peace?', Mediation expert Zahra' Langhi emphasized the importance of grounding peace efforts in an understanding of conflict-affected communities and listening to their experiences.

For his part, Founder and CEO of Snoonu, Hamad Mubarak Al Hajri described how a letter terminating his employment became the starting point for his business. He recounted how he navigated a funding crisis with the support of team members who agreed to accept pay cuts in exchange for equity in the company.

At the BilAraby Open Translation Project workshop, Dr. Anwar Dafa-Alla, Adviser to the BilAraby initiative, highlighted the role of volunteers in bringing Arabic content to new audiences in different languages. Meanwhile, Musab Masri, a multimedia supervisor and translator, shared his experience of translating texts that include poetry, explaining how meaning and fluency are prioritized while balancing the eloquence of the original text with clarity in the target language.

Workshop participants exchanged experiences in translation and review, and discussed developing the project's style guide and continuing work on its glossary. A 'Translation Buddy' program was also proposed, through which experienced translators would mentor newcomers to support the quality of the work and sustained participation in the project.

The final-day program included 'Lead in His Footsteps (Peace Be Upon Him): An Interactive Simulation of Prophetic Leadership', presented by QF's QIYADA conference, and 'Read to Me', a session on advancing Arabic-language education presented by the Queen Rania Foundation for Education and Development.

The gathering also hosted the 'Initiative Accelerator Lab', presented by Al Sharq Forum, which focused on moving from ideas to action.

A video presentation highlighted the 'BilArabyFee…' events in Damascus, Amman, and Djerba, alongside an invitation to those interested in hosting the event in their own cities. These events enable local and regional partners to showcase ideas and experiences from their communities as part of the initiative's year-round efforts to foster dialogue and knowledge exchange in Arabic. (QNA)