INTRODUCTION Challenges 1. Acts of terrorism impact children in multiple ways, with severe consequences. During armed conflict, children are often victims of violence and abuses by armed groups, including those designated by the United Nations as terrorist groups. Some Member State actions in response have further violated children’s rights. According to international law, children—all persons under the age of 18—are considered vulnerable and in need of special protections based only on their age. Consequently, States must treat children, including children related to or associated with designated terrorist groups, primarily as victims1 when devising responses, including counter-terrorism responses. With that challenge in mind, the present Handbook is aimed at supporting Member States to respect and protect the rights of children even while addressing security threats that arise at the hand of designated terrorist groups, including in relation to children associated with these groups, and to ensure children’s rehabilitation and reintegration into societies, minimizing any possible security threats that they themselves may pose if not provided with the adequate support and resources needed. 2. Children’s rights should be a primary concern of Member States seeking to counter terrorism and support children’s development in a peaceful environment. Yet children are often 1 See United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Handbook on Children Recruited and Exploited by Terrorist and Violent Extremist Groups: The Role of the Justice System (Vienna, 2017), chap. 2. among the casualties of acts of terrorism. Too many children are also killed in military and nonmilitary counter-terrorism operations, and are often seriously injured. As a result, they suffer from long-term consequences, including but not limited to physical disabilities and severe trauma. Designated terrorist groups are also known to recruit children and even send them to frontlines to participate in hostilities.2 Children have been used as carriers of personnel-borne improvised explosive devices.3 They are victims of exploitation, abduction, trafficking, and sexual and gender-based violence by designated terrorist groups. Children have also become victims of such violations by State armed and associated forces in countering terrorism. Acts of terrorism and their impact on society also seriously affects children’s access to health care and education. They also disrupt family life, including through the loss of parents and other family members, and in some cases, through displacement. 3. The cross-border nature of terrorist activities, highlighted by the latest wave of individuals who travelled abroad to join designated terrorist groups, adds another dimension to the impact on children. The Security Council has called upon Member States to assess and investigate individuals whom they have reasonable grounds to believe are “terrorists”, including suspected “foreign terror- 2 A/HRC/30/67, para. 44; A/HRC/36/55, para. 51; A/ HRC/40/70, para. 62; A/HRC/31/47, para. 59; A/72/865, para. 185. 3 A/72/865, para. 226. 11.