Zenaida Delica-Willison at All India Disaster Mitigation Institute (AIDMI) has dedicated her professional life to building the resilience of at-risk communities in the Philippines and around the Asia Pacific. She has over 40 years of experience in development and disaster risk reduction practice in the Philippines and in other Asian countries. She has done so by facilitating community-based disaster risk reduction projects, trainings, and advisory services often all three converging with each other to enhance the overall impact.

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.