Women are critical in humanitarian response as they help save lives during emergencies. According to the Aid Worker Security Database, women make up 43% of the global humanitarian workforce. Some of these women humanitarians are working directly in their own communities while others are supporting humanitarian response in other countries. Here, we feature Julie Villadolid and Joy Rivaca, two Filipina humanitarians who are in the frontlines working for WHO.
Whenever a health emergency occurs, Julie Villadolid is usually the first person on the ground. As a health emergency coordinator, Julie assists in coordinating WHO’s emergency response in the Philippines. Julie has decades of experience in emergency response when she started in 1998 at the regional government of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. Most recently, she supported the Marawi crisis response and assisting in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
“As we all know, disasters strike anytime and anywhere. We need to be there to ensure that the quality health services are available for everyone,” explained Julie. “While working in emergencies is challenging, there is always this feeling of satisfaction in serving and responding to people’s needs.”
Julie checks a toilet facility at the health center during monitoring of Marawi response.
For Joy Rivaca, from starting her career in development work, she concentrated on the humanitarian sector since 2007 when she joined the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Secretariat. Since then, Joy has joined the office of the WHO Western Pacific Region in 2010 and WHO Papua New Guinea in 2018 as the Risk Communication and External Relations Specialist.
“My role in emergencies is to make sure communication is an integral part of emergency response operations – that affected individuals and communities have access to information they can understand and suited to their situation and can help them make informed decisions, undertake positive behaviour change and maintain trust in health authorities,” said Joy.
Joy talks with the community members to inform them about the benefits of the polio vaccine.
As women humanitarians, both Joy and Julie experienced difficulties while working in challenging contexts. For Joy, the most memorable one she went through was during the Ebola outbreak in Port Loko District, Sierra Leone in 2015. She was tasked to negotiate for the release of a new-born baby whose mother died of Ebola. The baby had to be transferred to a treatment centre but there was refusal within the family and community due to deep distrust.
“I went to the family’s house everyday – camped outside and waited until I earned their trust and were ready to talk. Patience, empathy and an understanding of their emotional status having lost a loved one to Ebola were the factors that made me overcome the challenge,” Joy recalled. While the baby eventually died, moving the baby saved some of the children living in the same house.
Joy is in Port Loko District, Sierra Leone to support the Ebola response.
Julie had to go through the same negotiation tactics in one of the most memorable field experience she had in Basilan. It was in the aftermath of the beheading of Marine soldiers in 2007 that resulted to massive displacement and health issues. One of the issues identified was acute malnutrition among the affected children.
“In situations like this, it’s always tough trying to reach out to both sides of the armed group. We also need to ensure that our deployment is safe and our mission is accomplished,” shared Julie. Through good collaboration, negotiation and coordination, they were able to sustain a three-month month wet feeding activity to improve the nutrition outcomes for 50 undernourished children. She added, “Being a woman working in a conflict area like that, you really need conviction and a clear goal to complete your mission.”
Julie talks to a patient in a mobile health clinic in Lanao del Sur.
Despite the challenges they face from each mission, both women humanitarians feel supported because of their family members who are always there for them.
“I have a very supportive family who cheers me on whenever I go for overseas deployment. I make use of social media to post photos and updates re-assure my family and friends that I am fine and happy with my work,” said Joy.
For Julie, while she finds it difficult to tell her 90-year old mother about her work, her three adult sons and husband are supportive of her work.
“You just have to explain to them the nature of your work for them to understand why your absence is unplanned,” Julie explained.
Decades after their first stint in the humanitarian sector, both Julie and Joy are eager to continue working in this field for the foreseeable future.
“I will continue to collaborate and advocate with health partners to ensure that the response to emergencies adheres to the highest principle,” shared Julie.
“I have been fortunate to be deployed to high-profile public health emergencies to manage communication response – and these experiences gave me a front seat view of public health history,” said Joy. “I will continue to do what I have been doing – deploy to all kinds of emergencies I am called upon. Building my experience base will contribute to the pool of expertise that can be useful to my country.”