All full IDA Member organizations are represented on the Board
President: Yannis Vardakastanis
President, European Disability Forum
Yannis Vardakastanis was born on the Greek island of Zakynthos in 1957. Throughout his life he has been an active disability rights campaigner. Since 2007 he has been the European Disability Forum (EDF) representative on IDA’s board. After the IDA elections of 2021, he holds the office of IDA President, while from 2010 to 2012 he held the position of Vice Chair, from 2012 to 2014 the position Chair and from 2014 to 2021 the position of Treasurer. Since 1999 he has been the President of EDF. He has also been the President of the National Confederation of Disabled People of Greece (N.C.D.P.) since 1993. From 2010 until the present day, he is a member of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) representing the N.C.D.P. in Group III. More particularly, he holds the office of one of the Vice Presidents of Group III.
First Vice President: Ruth Warick
President, International Federation of Hard of Hearing People
Dr. Ruth Warick is the President of the International Federation of Hard of Hearing People (IFHOH) and has represented IFHOH on IDA’s board since 2010. Besides being First Vice President, she serves on IDA’s Inclusive Education and Inclusive Livelihood Committees. Born hard of hearing, Ruth became active in the disability movement in her early 20s and is a founding member of the national hard of hearing association in Canada. She was formerly a Senior Accessibility Advisor at the University of British Columbia where she worked for over 25 years. Currently, she is Director of Programs and Services for Wavefront Centre for Communication Accessibility; she manages the accessible communications, community outreach and research divisions of the agency. She has a doctoral degree from the University of British Columbia and was recognized for her work by being named a recipient of the University’s President Award of Excellence in Diversity.
Second Vice President: Idriss Maiga
Chairperson, African Disability Forum
Idriss Maïga Alzouma is from Niger. He is married and the father of 13 children (including 4 adopted). As a young child, he had polio. He graduated from the 3rd cycle (Baccalauréat + 6 years of studies) from the National School of Administration and Magistrature, and is now the Chief Inspector of Taxes at the General Direction of Taxes – the head of the tax center of Tillabéri (which is a region located 120 km from Niamey). Idriss has been committed to the voluntary movement of people with disabilities since the 2000s, which become a priority in 2006/2007. He then started working with the West African movement through the relaunch of the activities of the West African Federation of Disabled (WAFOD). Idriss became the President of WAFOD in December 2011. He is also now the President of the African Disability Forum and before that held the position of Vice President.
Treasurer: Sue Swenson
President, Inclusion International
Sue Swenson is President of Inclusion International, the global network of persons with intellectual disabilities and their families. Sue has served United States Presidents Biden, Obama, and Clinton in disability appointments. Sue learned about rights from her middle son Charlie, who lived for 30 years with profound disabilities, was included in neighborhood schools, and lived in the community. Sue was educated at the University of Chicago, and she holds an MBA from the University of Minnesota.
Secretary General: Joseph Murray
President, World Federation of the Deaf
Dr. Joseph J. Murray is Secretary General of the International Disability Alliance and President of the World Federation of the Deaf. Joseph has worked with governments, NGOs and disability communities in over 50 different countries in his two decades of involvement with international human rights work. Joseph is Professor of Deaf Studies at Gallaudet University, co-editor of Deaf Gain: Raising the Stakes for Human Diversity (2014, University of Minnesota Press), and The Legal Recognition of Sign Languages: Advocacy and Outcomes Around the World (2019, Multilingual Matters) among other edited collections and journals. He has published numerous articles on human rights, linguistic rights, and Deaf Studies.
Member of the executive committee without portfolio, representing global members: Vanessa dos Santos
President, Down Syndrome International
Vanessa dos Santos has been a board member of DSI since 2004. She served as the President for 9 years, from 2012-2021, and as the Vice Chair for 3 years prior to that. Her work in the disability field started upon the birth of her son Steven 26 years ago. Steven was born with Down syndrome, however also has Cerebral Palsy and Autism. Vanessa is the previous National Director of Down Syndrome South Africa and with her focus on inclusion and poverty she founded and launched Inclusion South Africa (an organization for persons with Intellectual Disabilities) as well as the African Down Syndrome Network. She also served on boards such as the African Decade (African Disability Alliance), Inclusion International, and was the Chairperson of the South African Disability Alliance (2008-2010). She completed her Masters in Disability Studies (MPhil) at the University of Cape Town in 2011 and has written several training manuals on various issues relating to Down syndrome and other intellectual disabilities. She has conducted many training and advocacy sessions and engaged with various governments as well as giving several presentations at the United Nations in both New York and Geneva. Vanessa was also instrumental in the creation of World Down Syndrome Day and the ratification (UN 2011) thereof.
Member of the executive committee without portfolio, representing regional members: Nawaf Kabbara
Arab Organization of Persons with Disabilities
Nawaf Kabbara has been teaching for about 25 years. In addition to his qualifications as an associate professor of political science and international affairs, he has been active in all the negotiations for the formation and adoption of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) along with the discussions and negotiations related to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As a wheelchair user, he is well known in the fields of disability, public policy making and regional and international organizations. He is the founder of organizations such as the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies (LCPS), the Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections (LADE), the Arab Organization of Persons with Disabilities, the National Association for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Lebanon, and the Forum for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. In 1987, Nawaf organized a national march by Lebanese persons with disabilities against the war and violence in Lebanon. During the Syrian crisis, he became involved in dealing with the situation of Syrian refugees in general and those with disability in particular. He has been member of IDA board from its foundation until 2016. Nawaf is also a writer and has published many articles on disability related issues.
Martine Abel-Williamson
President, World Blind Union
Martine Abel-Williamson QSM is the World Blind Union (WBU) President and serves on the boards of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) Accessible Books Consortium (ABC), and International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB). She also holds positions on the boards of Blind Citizens NZ and the Royal NZ Foundation of the Blind. Her day job is as Senior Human Rights Advisor at the New Zealand Human Rights Commission. She lives in Auckland, New Zealand and is usually accompanied by her guide dog, Greg.
Geir Jensen
President, World Federation of the Deafblind
Geir Jensen is a 78-year-old deafblind Norwegian of native descent. He holds a Cand. Mag. Degree from the Faculty of Law at the University of Oslo, 1994. As a skilled worker in the engineering industry between the 1960s and 1970s, he held several positions in the labor union. Currently the President of the WFDB, Geir has 62 years of national disability advocacy experience (previously an active member of the deaf, hard of hearing, and blind societies). He has spent 30 years in national and 26 years in international deafblind advocacy, 16 years in the WFDB and has been President of WFDB for 8 years. Geir has been on IDA’s board for 9-and-a-half years. Geir has also acted as an authorized athletics referee in the 1960s and 1970s, and participated as a referee at local, national, and international competitions. A football and chess enthusiast, Geir was the Nordic Deafblind Chess Champion in 2005.
Juan Ángel De Gouveia Fernández
Juan Ángel De Gouveia Fernández was born in Caracas, Venezuela. He is a Deaf person, Human Rights Defender, emphasizing persons with disabilities. From 2001 to 2003, he was UNICEF Global Representative for Children with Disabilities. He was the President of the World Federation of the Deaf, youth section, from 2007 to 2011. Subsequently, he was Vice President in Charge of the National Council for Persons with Disabilities (CONAPDIS), until 2013. In 2015, he won the "Teapot Diplomat" Prize of the United States Department of State and in 2016 he was selected as student of the month of September in the "International Leadership Program for Visitors - Global Social Impact”, of the United States Department of State. Since 2017 he has been Vice President of RIADIS (Latin American and Caribbean Network of Persons with Disabilities and their Families). Since 2018, he has been accredited as an expert member by civil society before the Committee for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities (CEDDIS) of OAS. Currently, he is a member of the board of directors of IDA, member of the board of directors of the World Federation of the Deaf and serves as president of the Deaf Confederation of Venezuela and director of the Vanessa Peretti Foundation. Since December 2021, he has been the President of RIADIS.
Klaus Lachwitz
Board Member, European Disability Forum
Klaus Lachwitz was the Director of the Legal Department of Bundesvereinigung Lebenshilfe (Federal German DPO for Persons with Intellectual Disabilities and their Families) in Berlin, Germany from 1981 to 2008. He then became the Executive Director until 2011. He was a member of the Council of The International League of Societies for Persons with Mental Handicap in Brussels, Belgium (ILSMH) from 1986 to 1998 and a member of the Board of Inclusion Europe from 1998 to 2002. Since 2013 Klaus has been a member of the Board of the European Disability Forum (EDF), Brussels, Belgium, representing the German Disability Forum. From 2010 to 2018 he was the President of Inclusion International. He has been a member of IDA’s board since 2011 and was IDA’s Secretary General from 2014 to 2021.
Cato Lie
President, International Federation for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus
Cato Lie is 60 years old, from Norway, and a father of two. He was born with Spina Bifida and is a wheelchair user. He has a masters’ degree in business administration (MBA) from Handelsakademiet in Oslo. Since 2002, he has worked for FFO, the Norwegian Federation of Organizations of Disabled People, member of EDF. For the past ten years, he has been responsible for FFOs policy on universal design and accessibility in all areas of society, buildings and housing, transport and ICT. He aims to influence politicians in the Norwegian Government and Parliament on accessibility. Since 2015 he has been a board member of the International Federation for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus (IF), and was elected president of the organization in 2021. Representing IF he is also board member of EDF and IDA.
Puay Tiak Lim
Chairman, ASEAN Disability Forum
Puay Tiak Lim is a founding member of the ASEAN Disability Forum and presently serves as its Chairman since December 2017. He is also a Board member of the International Disability Alliance (IDA). Puay Tiak has 40 years of working experience in the social service sector of Singapore in a wide range of top and middle management roles. He was employed in the Singapore Civil Service from 1981 to 1995 and was responsible for policies and capability building of the disability services sector.
As a wheelchair user, Puay Tiak aims to make a difference in the lives of people with disabilities and empower them to be contributing members of the community.
Daniel Mwesigwa IGA
Board Member, World Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry
Daniel is a person with a lived experience of Psychosocial disability since 1976 when he first had a mental health condition. He lived positively, against all odds of discrimination in society, institutions of learning, and later at work places.
He began working in disability activism in 2001 when he was elected as the National General Secretary for Mental Health Uganda (MHU). He was on the Board of Directors of the World Network of Users/Survivors of Psychiatry (WNUSP) after the General Assembly in 2002. He co-founded the Pan African Network of Users/Survivors of Psychiatry (PANUSP), participated in the negotiations of the UNCRPD from the 3rd to the 8th Ad hoc Committees and was on the Steering Committee of the International Disability Caucus (IDC). In 2018 Daniel was nominated to replace the Co-chair on the IDA Board and re-nominated in 2021 to continue the representation. He trained in Bridge CRPD/SDGs 1 & 2 and later in December 2021 as a Trainer of Trainers. He is a co-founder and on the Board of My Story Initiative (MSI), a national peer support and advocacy initiative for persons with Psychosocial disabilities.
Villaney Remengesau
Co-Chair, Pacific Disability Forum
Villaney Remengesau, commonly known as Lany, is a young woman with a physical disability and a mother of one girl. She is a proud Pacific Islander from beautiful Palau. She is a current female Co-chair of the Pacific Disability Forum (PDF) and a Board member of the International Disability Alliance (IDA) representing PDF and the Pacific disability community. She is the youngest IDA Board Member. She is also the Focal Point for the Disability Constituency in the Asia Pacific under the Asia Pacific Regional Civil Society Engagement Mechanism (APRCEM) and a member of the Pacific Community Based Inclusive Development (CBID) Committee.
Villaney is a very passionate researcher and served as a Disability Inclusion Consultant with the United Nations Multi-country Office, Fiji in July 2021-Dec 2021 and July 2020-Dec 2020. She also worked for the Palau Ministry of Health, Bureau of Public Health from 2009 to 2019.
Villaney contributed, with other partners, to the ratification by Palau of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. In 2019, she represented Palau and co-presented the Palau Voluntary National Review (VNR) Report at the High-Level Political Forum.