Posted on September 29, 2026
Today, the global asbestos prevention community came together for a special webinar, “Honouring Global Asbestos Activist Éric Jonckheere of Belgium,” organized by Workplace Health Without Borders (WHWB) as part of its Saeed Awan Lecture Series.
The program was more than a remembrance of a respected friend and advocate. It was a powerful demonstration of the international collaboration Éric helped strengthen and a reminder that our shared work must continue.
Workplace Health Without Borders brought together Éric’s family, colleagues, asbestos victims’ organizations, occupational health leaders, and advocates from around the world to reflect on his life, his work in Belgium, and his contribution to the global movement to prevent asbestos exposure and disease.
Remembering Éric and His Commitment to Justice
Éric’s commitment to asbestos prevention was rooted from personal experience.
His family lived in a Belgian company town where his father managed an Eternit asbestos-cement factory. Mesothelioma ultimately took the lives of Éric’s father, mother, and two of his brothers. Éric was later diagnosed with mesothelioma and died from the disease on December 13, 2024. Through extraordinary personal loss, he remained committed to justice for asbestos victims and to achieving a worldwide asbestos ban. Éric understood something many of us in this work know all too well: behind every statistic is a person, a family, and a community.
He transformed personal tragedy into public action. His leadership connected people across borders and helped strengthen a global movement grounded in science, prevention, accountability, and solidarity.
A Global Program Reflecting Éric’s Reach
Alec Farquhar, a member of the Workplace Health Without Borders Board of Directors and Convenor of the WHWB Asbestos Working Group, opened the session and brought together an extraordinary international group of speakers. The webinar also included introductory remarks from Dr. Dua Awan, daughter of Saeed Awan, whose occupational health legacy is honored through the WHWB lecture series.
Éric’s family was central to the program. His wife, Dorothée Van Eecke, and his brother, Xavier Jonckheere, shared reflections on Éric’s experiences, activism, and what he meant to those closest to him.
Representing the Belgian Asbestos Victims Association (ABEVA), Marc Molitor and Marie-Anne Mengeot discussed Éric’s role in the organization and his contribution to the struggle for asbestos justice in Belgium.
The program then expanded outward, reflecting the international reach of Éric’s advocacy. Speakers included:
- Alec Farquhar — Workplace Health Without Borders, Member of the Board of Directors and Convenor of the Asbestos Working Group
- Dr. Dua Awan — Daughter of Saeed Awan
- Dorothée Van Eecke — Widow of Éric Jonckheere
- Xavier Jonckheere — Brother of Éric Jonckheere
- Marc Molitor — Belgian Asbestos Victims Association (ABEVA), Belgium
- Marie-Anne Mengeot — Belgian Asbestos Victims Association (ABEVA), Belgium
- Sugio Furuya — Japan Occupational Safety and Health Resource Center; Ban Asbestos Network Japan (BANJAN); Asian Ban Asbestos Network (ABAN), Japan
- Bruno Pesce — Association of Family Members and Victims of Asbestos (AFEVA), Casale Monferrato, Italy
- Jacques Faugeron — National Association for the Defense of Asbestos Victims (ANDEVA), France
- Linda Reinstein — Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO), United States
- Dr. Eudice Goldberg — Canadian Mesothelioma Foundation, Canada
- Daniel Green — Association of Asbestos Victims of Quebec (AVAQ), Quebec, Canada
Each perspective reinforced the same fundamental truth: asbestos disease does not stop at national borders, and neither can prevention.
Collaboration Must Continue
Éric believed in working across countries, organizations, professions, and communities. Today’s gathering reflected that spirit.
The global asbestos movement has made important progress, but our work is far from finished. People continue to be exposed to asbestos and families continue to face preventable disease and loss. Nations continue to confront legacy asbestos while the international community works toward ending the mining, manufacture, trade, and use of asbestos everywhere.
No single organization or country can accomplish this work alone.
We must continue sharing scientific knowledge, public-health strategies, legal experience, survivor stories, and successful advocacy approaches. We must support one another across borders and continue building the relationships that make lasting prevention possible.
Honoring Éric means remembering him. It also means continuing the work he believed in.
ADAO Resources from Today’s Webinar
I was honored to represent the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) and the United States during today’s global program.
I will be adding my personal remarks, PowerPoint presentation, and United States report to this blog so they can be shared and used by our colleagues around the world.
Thanks to Alec Farquhar for his translations, these materials will be available in:
Our languages and national experiences may differ, but our goal remains shared: to prevent asbestos exposure, protect public health, support affected families, and advance a worldwide asbestos ban.
Éric helped bring people together around that mission. The most meaningful way we can honor his legacy is to keep working together.
Alec Farquhar, WHWB Board Member shared, “Thank you Linda for participating in this powerful tribute to Saeed Awan and Éric Jonckheere. You and ADAO have modeled the international solidarity and collaboration that is vital in the movement to ban asbestos and eliminate it from the built environment. It was a privilege to share in this special event with you and the other wonderful people. Many have suffered personal loss as you and Éric have and have transformed this into activism. I look forward very much to continuing our journey together.”
Special thanks to the Workplace Health Without Borders for organizing this important event in honor of Eric and global collaboration.