World renowned journalist Tim Sebastian doesn’t shy away from the hard questions…or a good debate. As the former presenter for BBC’s HARDtalk, he has won various awards for his skills as a journalist and an interviewer. As Chairman for “The Doha Debates” he uses his award winning style to get to the heart of some of the most pressing issues facing the Gulf region and the world, now he will be using his talents to moderate a debate in the upcoming Spirit of Empowerment conference.

“Women are under-represented in almost every walk of like-except the home.” Says Sebastian “They consistently outperform men in the academic sphere and in many parts of the world-including the Middle East-they fail to reach their full potential. It doesn’t have to be that way. Conferences like Spirit of Empowerment can highlight the point most effectively.”

The debate topic “The family: is it holding back women’s advancement in the Arab world?” was chosen by Sebastian as one of the most important issues facing Arab women today.

“We’ve discussed this in some detail on the Doha Debates.” Says Sebastian, “I think family issues have enormous importance for the Arab World. Many families are experiencing change-brought about by education, travel, societal pressures. But a large number aren’t. Will they have change forced on them? And what should women do about the situation? These are just a few of the issues that I hope will be discussed.”

Although the issue may prove to be controversial, Sebastian believes it is an issue that needs to be discussed.

“It’s been topical for a long time, but the issues are becoming urgent. Many women feel aggrieved that they are being held back and their job opportunities-for whatever reason-don’t reflect their educational qualifications or their skills,” Says Sebastian

The debate teams will consist of prominent men and women from around the region. Including Dr. Khaled bin Jabor Al Thani, Chairmen of Qatar National Cancer society and vice-chairperson Qatar National Health Authority and Mona Eltahawy, Award-winning New York-based journalist, commentator and an international lecturer on Arab and Muslim issues.

With a man and a woman on each team the hope is that the debate might end with a call to action for the region and a way to move forward.

Sebastian hopes that the debate will lead to “Greater understanding about the challenges facing women in this region-and perhaps a sense that they can take more control of their destiny. The have some fine role models in the region-especially in Qatar itself, with Sheikha Mozah spearheading the educational drive.”