An international session titled "Children; Victims of Violence in Wars and Terrorist Incidents" hosted by the Habilian Association on World Children's Day, bringing together a group of experts and researchers from Pakistan, France, Iran, the United States, and Uruguay.

An international session titled "Children; Victims of Violence in Wars and Terrorist Incidents" hosted by the Habilian Association on World Children's Day, bringing together a group of experts and researchers from Pakistan, France, Iran, the United States, and Uruguay.

The event featured testimonies and expert analyses covering psychological trauma, physical casualties, international legal failures, and the systematic dehumanization of young victims. A recurring theme was the condemnation of the international community's double standards and the urgent need for a cohesive global response to protect children's universal rights.

The conference began with a lecture by Dr. Seyed Qandil Abbas, Associate Professor of International Relations from Pakistan. He presented extensive data on terrorism's impact in Pakistan, revealing that over 9,000 children have been killed or injured since 2003, with 1,500 schools destroyed. Dr. Abbas highlighted that during the peak of terrorism, 132 children were massacred in the Army Public School attack in 2014. He detailed the profound indirect effects, including a 22-34% drop in school enrollment, a 70% rate of PTSD among conflict-affected children, and a 20-30% rise in child labor, concluding that effective counter-terrorism must incorporate psychological support and educational continuity.

Next, Dr. Violette Dagher, a French-Lebanese psychologist and human rights activist, delivered an analysis of the psychological wounds inflicted upon children in Gaza. She described their trauma not as simple PTSD, but as a "complex, compound" historical and transgenerational trauma. Dr. Dagher explained that the constant exposure to bombardment, loss of family members, displacement, and the deliberate destruction of a stable environment have left children in a state of perpetual alert, suffering from anxiety, depression, and behavioral disorders. She also raised alarming concerns about the exploitation of missing children for organ trafficking and sexual slavery.

The next speaker, Seyed Reza Ghazvini, an Iranian terrorism researcher, documented the martyrdom of approximately two thousand Iranian children under the age of 18 over four decades of terrorism in his speech. By providing harrowing examples of terrorist attacks from the 1980s to the recent Kerman incident, as well as the Zionist regime's 12-day war against our country, he pointed to the role of terrorist groups, including the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), in separating children from their parents and inflicting deep trauma upon them. He also criticized the negligence of international institutions towards Iranian children who are victims of terrorism.

Also at the session, Robert Fantina, an American author and human rights activist, referenced reports from Save the Children and UNICEF, stating that so far over 20,000 children have been killed in Gaza, with tens of thousands more injured or disabled. He described the difference in the global response to Ukrainian and Palestinian refugees as a clear example of political bias and discrimination, pointing in this context to Canada's different treatment of the two groups of asylum seekers.

Ms. Heba Smith, a psychologist and human rights activist from Uruguay, as the final speaker, examined the situation in Gaza by focusing on the process of dehumanization of Palestinians and its devastating psychological effects. She stated that the children of Gaza are grappling with depression, cognitive decline due to malnutrition, and suicidal thoughts, and that the collapse of the healthcare system has worsened this situation. Smith concluded her speech by emphasizing "Sumud" or the steadfast resilience of Palestinians and their hope for justice.

Habilian Association stated that the aim of holding this session was to create international solidarity and form a more cohesive intellectual front among experts and researchers to counter the violence inflicted upon children in conflicts and terrorist incidents.