Ioannis Vardakastanis was born in Zakynthos, Greece in 1957. Throughout his life he has been a human rights campaigner, active at national, European and international level. He is the President of the National Confederation of Disabled People of Greece (N.C.D.P.), which is the umbrella organization of the Greek disability movement, and the President of the European Disability Forum (EDF), which is the umbrella organization of the European disability movement. Since 2007, he is the EDF representative in the International Disability Alliance (IDA) where from 2010 to 2012, he held the position of the Vice-Chair, and from 2012 to 2014, the position of the Chair. From 2014-2021 he was the Treasurer of IDA. After the elections of December 2021 he holds again the position of IDA President. Ioannis Vardakastanis is also a member of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) representing the N.C.D.P. in Group III (since 2010). He is one of the Vice - Presidents of this Group. Moreover, he is a member of the National Commission for Human Rights of Greece, the Economic and Social Council of Greece as well as a member of the National Accessibility Authority of Greece.