Webinar in Tribute to Zenaida Delica-Willison’s Contribution to Disaster Risk Reduction

10 June 2020 via Zoom

This webinar was organised by the All India Disaster Mitigation Institute (AIDMI) and the Research Network on Disaster, Environment and Society (ReNDES) to launch the festschrift both organisations have published in tribute to Zenaida Delica-Willison’s contribution to disaster risk reduction. Zen’s career spans forty years. She has worked with local people, NGOs, networks of civil society organisations, local and national government, and international organisations both in her native Philippines and all over the world. Her continuing advocacy to make actions to reduce disaster risk people-centred and inclusive has been a critical factor in the progressive uptake and success of what is nowadays known as Community-Based Disaster Risk Reduction. As a result, Zen is considered a mentor by many current leaders in the field. A panel of stakeholders composed of Zenaida Delica-Willison herself, Lorna Victoria (Center for Disaster Preparedness), Bruno Haghebaert (International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies), Andrew McElroy (UNDRR) and Ben Wisner (University College London) discussed how Zen’s and others’ experiences of community-based disaster risk reduction may help deal with the current COVID-19 crisis.

*A festschrift published by the All India Disaster Mitigation Institute (AIDMI) in partnership with ReNDES*

Video recording of the webinar

“Zen Delica-Willison was CDRC (Citizens’ Disaster Response Center) Executive Director during the 1991 Ormoc flashfloods which killed more than 2,000 in our province of Leyte. She did a remarkable job in launching a massive humanitarian response... we will never forget that!”

— Minet, Leyte Center for Development (LCDE), Philippines

“Long Live Zen!”

— Amod Dixit, National Society for Earthquake Technology - Nepal (NSET)

“Some were born to lead, others were made to lead. Zen was both. She has the natural talent to inspire people, She also kept on honing her management skills. She does not know how to rest on her laurels, she just keeps on moving on. She is always a student, always a teacher, a sure way to keep learning. And also a sure way to keep oneself forever young.”

— Fe Andaya, Center for Disaster Preparedness, Philippines

“Zenben, sister Zen, (…) has dedicated her professional life to building the resilience of at-risk communities in the Philippines and around Asia Pacific. (…) Zenben's personal philosophy on development and disaster reduction practice is guided by empathy along with cultural and gender sensitivity.”

— Mihir Bhatt, All India Disaster Mitigation Institute (AIDMI)

“I argue that in practice community has been a valuable focus for work on disaster risk reduction, and Zen's work demonstrates how useful the concept has been.”

— Ben Wisner, University College London, United Kingdom

Zenaida Delica-Willison’s publications

Delica Z.G. (1993) Citizenry-based disaster preparedness in the Philippines. Disasters 17(3): 239-247.

Delica Z.G. (1994) Vulnerabilities of women and children in disaster situations. In Proceedings of the National Conference on Natural Disaster Mitigation, 19-21 October 1994, Manila, Philippines. Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, Quezon City, pp. 258-262.

Delica Z.G. (1996) Disaster and development: the Philippine experience. In Citizens’ Disaster Response Center (ed.) The Philippine reader on disaster management. Citizens’ Disaster Response Center, Quezon City, pp. 3-13.

Delica Z.G. (1998) Balancing vulnerability and capacity: women and children in the Philippines. In Enarson E., Morrow B.H. (eds.) The gendered terrain of disaster: through women’s eyes. Praeger, Westport, pp. 109-113.

Delica Z.G. (1999) Community mobilization for early warning. Philippine Planning Journal 30(2): 30-40.

Delica-Willison Z. (2004) Community risk management - A living legacy. In Proceedings of the International Symposium on Community Legacy in Disaster Management, 7 February 2004, Kobe, Japan. United Nations Center for Regional Development, Hyogo, pp. 60-63.

Delica-Willison Z. (2003) Community-based disaster risk management: gaining ground in hazard-prone communities in Asia. Philippine Sociological Review 51: 49-64.

Delica-Willison Z., Rillison R. (2004) Vulnerability reduction: a task for the vulnerable people themselves. In Bankoff G., Frerks G., Hilhorst D. (eds.) Mapping vulnerability: disasters, development and people. Earthscan, London, pp. 145-158.

Delica-Willison Z. (2005) Community-based disaster risk management: local level solutions to disaster risks. Tropical Coasts 12(1): 66-73.

Delica-Willison Z. (2006) Integrating disaster risk management in local governance. United Nations Dvelopment Program, Bangkok.

Wisner B., Kent G., Carmalt J., Cook B., Gaillard J.C., Lavell A., Oxley M., Gibson T., Kelman I., van Niekerk D., Lassa J., Delica-Willison Z., Bhatt M., Cardona O.-D., Benouar D., Narvaez L. (2011) Political will for disaster reduction: what incentives build it, and why is it so hard to achieve? Contributing paper to the United Nations Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction 2011, United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, Geneva.

Delica-Willison Z., Gaillard J.C. (2012) Community action and disaster. In Wisner B., Gaillard J.C., Kelman I. (eds.) Handbook of hazards and disaster risk reduction. Routledge, London, pp. 711-722.

Gaillard J.C., Cadag J.R.D., Abinales N., Anacta V.J.A., Batario R., Binoya C.S., Felizar-Cagay M., Dalisay M.N.M., Delica-Willison Z., Luna E.M., Occeña-Gutierrez D., Sanz K., Soriaga R., Viado R.P., Victoria L.P. (2013) Coping, not looting. Philippine Daily Inquirer, 17 November A-15.

Gaillard J.C. Glantz M., Kelman I., Wisner B., Delica-Willison Z., Keim M. (2014) Back to the future – Taking the ‘naturalness’ out of ‘natural’ disaster (again): What about climate change? Natural Hazards Observer 38(3): 1, 14-16.

Delica-Willison Z., Gaillard J.C. (2015) Disaster and climate risks aren’t separate. SciDev.Net: http://www.scidev.net/global/climate-change/opinion/disaster-climate-risks-separate.html

Gaillard J.C. Glantz M., Kelman I., Wisner B., Delica-Willison Z., Keim M. (2015) 论气候变化的社会影响. Shanghai Insurance Magazine 5: 50-51.

Delica-Willison Z., dela Cruz L.B., Molina F.G.J. (2017) Communities Doing Disaster Risk Reduction Including Climate Change Adaptation. In Kelman I., Mercer J., Gaillard, J.C. (eds). The Routledge Handbook of Disaster Risk Reduction Including Climate Change Adaptation. Routledge, London, pp. 340-351.

Delica-Willison Z. (2020) Short note on the Taal eruption, Philippines. Disaster Prevention and Management, 29(4), 511-513. https://doi.org/10.1108/DPM-08-2020-401

Delica-Willison Z., Sevilla-Alvarez A. (2022) Women at the forefront of civil society advocacy in disaster risk reduction governance. In Benouar D., Cutter S.L. (Eds) Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Natural Hazard Science. Oxford University Press, Oxford, https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199389407.013.401

Media with Zenaida Delica-Willison

Bruno Haghebaert’s interview with Zenaida Delica-Willison in 2017

Citizens' Disaster Response Center 1994 TV add (courtesy of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company) featuring Zenaida Delica-Willison

Disaster: Deconstructed Season 3 Episode 13 - Community-Based Action feat. Zenaida Delica-Willison. Hosts: Ksenia Chmutina and Jason von Meding. https://disastersdecon.podbean.com/e/s3e13-community-based-action/