Pierre Mertens
Mr. Pierre Mertens is the President of the International Federation for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus (IF). He is of Belgian nationality, and he is a visual artist and psycho-therapist.
His first child, Lies, was born with hydrocephalus and spina bifida, and one year later, Pierre and his wife started the Belgian Association for Hydrocephalus and Spina Bifida. They have two other children, Leen and Maarten, and are foster parents to Roxanne, Fadie, Shana, and Lynn. For ten years, Pierre Mertens was President of the Belgian association, stepping down in 1989 when Lies died after a shunt operation. At that time, he was elected Vice-President of IF. In 1994, he started PHOS (Platform Handicap and Developing Country work) in Belgium, the umbrella organization of non-governmental organizations and organizations of people with disabilities addressing disability issues as they relate specifically in/to developing countries. In 1995, he was elected President of IF. In 2001 he published Liesje a book about his daughter with Spina Bifida. This book was translated into French, Italian, English, and Norwegian. In 2002, he was asked to become European Ambassador for the Environment.