Justice Joseph Whittal, Deputy Commissioner of Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice on Tuesday, launched the 3rd Ghana Tertiary Debating Championship (GTDC) in Accra.

The competition provides an enabling platform for university students in Ghana to interrogate contemporary national and global challenges and offer alternative ideas on their resolution, through engagement in healthy intellectual competitions.

The event, which began from June 27, is to end on Thursday July 4, on the theme: “Nurturing Critical Thinking and Good Democratic Spirit among the Youth through Competitive Debating.”

The event is being hosted by the Islamic University College in partnership with Debate Ghana Association.

Justice Whittal said the week-long competition will be attended by 120 participants from tertiary institutions in Ghana and participating countries allied to local universities and polytechnics include nationals and universities from Nigeria, Gambia, Cameroun, Botswana, Lesotho, South Africa and Burkina Faso.

He said the event is an additional opportunity to effectively cultivate global citizenship among the youth and implore the youth to learn more about good governance, democracy and human rights to play meaningful role in the country.

Justice Whittal said the competition is about a context of ideas through intellectual discourse in ensuring constructive argument devoid of hate exchanges.

He said the event would promote respect for human dignity since each contestant is allowed to present a reasoned and constructive argument as well as ensuring tolerance.

“Nation building requires that we become extra sensitive in the exercise of free speech and not hate speech in the day-to-day intellectual discourse,” he added.

Justice Whittal said there is the need for all to move from parochial interest, build the nation with integrity and use dialogue to resolve dispute instead of resorting to violence which undermines peaceful existence.

He said human rights education is essential in fostering mutual understanding and peace, adding that it behooves the youth to be assertive and provide leadership and direction to bring about change in their communities.

Dr Adam Mahama, Chairman of the Local Organising Committee of the 3rd GTDC said the Islamic University College won the bid to host the competition after her sterling performance at the 6th Pan-African Universities debate championship held in Nigeria, hosted by the University of Calabar.

He said finalists of this year’s competition would represent the country at the 7th Pan African and 8th World Universities debating championships to be hosted by South Africa and Malaysia.

Dr Mahama said the event offers a forum for sharing ideas by tertiary students in the country and constructively engage governance and the management of national resource with the view of reforming the nation.

Mr. Mohammed A. Marzuq, Patron of the Local Debate Society said the event would offer effective platform for fostering of linkages between Ghanaian youths and key policy makers for the overall development of the nation.

“The competition would inculcate in the youth a sense of tolerance, perseverance, logic, diplomacy and respect for diverging opinions,” said.