Sonja Eggerickx

Born in Uccle, Eggerickx studied at the University of Ghent gaining a degree in Moral Sciences, and became a teacher of non-confessional ethics. She worked from 1992 until her retirement in 2012 as a Senior Schools Inspector in Moral Education. While studying to become a teacher of "non-confessional (secular) ethics" she became a member of the Dutch Humanist association, Humanistisch Verbond (HV). She became active in the Humanist movement through her work as a teacher of secular ethics and was editor of MORES, a humanist magazine for teachers. In 1992 she attended her first conference of the IHEU (now Humanists International) and saw the importance of its international reach so applied for a position on the board of directors. She is President of the federation of Flemish Humanist organisations in Belgium (Unie Vrijzinnige Verenigingen).

She was elected vice-president of the IHEU in 2002 and president in April 2006 in New York, becoming the organisation's first woman President.

Eggerickx has argued against the predominance of Catholic education in the Belgian school system, in favour of secularism and non-denominational schooling.

Belgian politician Joëlle Milquet named Eggerickx one of the '100 exceptional women', (100 Uitzonderlijke Vrouwen), having "co-written and shaped the history of equality between women and men."

In 2016 Eggerickx was given the Distinguished Services to Humanism Award by Andrew Copson for her work "nine years as president of the IHEU and...many decades of ground-breaking work in secular education and ethics."