The inauguration ceremony of One-Day International Virtual Conference, organized by the National Institute of Psychology, Center of Excellence, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad was held to provide platform for academicians, professors, researchers, practitioners, and activists from all over the world to share their empirical and theoretical work highlighting issues and challenges that need immediate global attention.
Vancouver Association for Survivors of Torture (VAST) and Voice Against Torture, (VAT) from Canada; and School of Human Rights (SHR) and Roots Pakistan were the national collaborators for this event.
Prof Dr Rubina Hanif (director and conference organizer) and Dr Saira Khan opened the inaugural session and welcomed worthy chief guests Dr Muhammad Ali (Vice Chancellor, Quaid-i-Azam University), Prof Dr Muhammad Idrees (dean faculty of social sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University), speakers and the audience.
Both chief guests highlighted the importance of the issue in times when violence is increasing globally and locally. They further acknowledged the institute for its commitment for coming up with practical solutions on a much-needed theme.
The inaugural session of the conference was followed by the key notes of national and international speakers. Frank Cohn (Vancouver Association for Survivors of Torture, VAST) provided an overview of global and local implementations of anti-torture movements. Dr Asir Ajmal (dean and professor of psychology at GIFT University) highlighted the need of preventing torture in police settings. Prof D. Lawrence H Gerstein (Center for Peace & Conflict Studies, Ball State University, USA) and Dr Aashna Banerjee (Center for Peace & Conflict Studies, Ball State University, USA) articulated their narratives regarding prevention programs against violence in university settings. Dr Wajid Pirzada (CEO Roots Pakistan) emphasized the need for social protection in case of elderly abuse.
