That was the central question at the book launch of Disaster Recovery through Women's Eyes: Reimagining Resilience on Friday 6 November 2026.
Hosted by the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) together with The Hague Humanitarian Studies Centre (HSC), the event brought together practitioners, researchers and students for an afternoon of discussion, reflection and photography exploring how women's experiences can reshape our understanding of disaster recovery.
The launch took place just two days before the 13th anniversary of Super Typhoon Yolanda (internationally known as Haiyan), which devastated parts of the central Philippines on 8 November 2013. This timing was deliberate, as author and ISS Assistant Professor Dr Kaira Zoe Alburo-Cañete explained in her opening remarks.
‘This is not a book about how Yolanda destroyed Tacloban,’ she shared. ‘It is a book about what came after.’
Drawing on research conducted between 2016 and 2020, the book examines women's experiences of recovery following Yolanda, particularly those relocated to resettlement communities on the northern fringes of Tacloban City. It challenges conventional approaches to disaster recovery that prioritize rebuilding infrastructure and restoring economic activity, instead placing women's everyday experiences, relationships, care responsibilities and aspirations at the centre.
Rethinking resilience through dialogue
The launch featured a panel discussion moderated by Dr Emma Lynn Cantal of Leiden University, with Alburo-Cañete and ISS researcher Dr Cynthia Bejeno. Karla Quimsing, a Filipina author and poet, read excerpts from Tingog Nanay: An Anthology of Motherhood Stories.
During the discussion, Alburo-Cañete reflected on the importance of taking resilience seriously as a theoretical framework while remaining critical of its limitations. Rather than dismissing resilience as a policy concept, she encouraged a closer examination of how it is understood and practised in everyday life. Central to this perspective is taking care seriously within humanitarian research, recognizing how relationships, responsibilities and everyday acts of care shape recovery long after the immediate aftermath of disaster.
Building on these reflections, Bejeno drew attention to the policy implications of disaster recovery practices and the experiences that often remain overlooked. Recovery interventions frequently prioritise restoring order and rebuilding physical environments, while women's contributions, memories and everyday efforts to sustain their communities receive less recognition. The discussion highlighted the importance of making these experiences visible and considering how they might inform more inclusive approaches to recovery.
Stories of recovery through photography
Alongside the discussion, guests explored an immersive photo exhibition featuring images produced through PhotoKwento, the participatory research methodology used in the book.
Combining photography with collective storytelling, PhotoKwento enabled women in resettlement communities to document, interpret and share their experiences of recovery on their own terms.
Modelled after a living room, the exhibition recreated the intimate, everyday spaces in which the PhotoKwento research took place. Visitors were invited to browse photographs and stories in a setting reminiscent of the women's homes, where many of these narratives were first shared and collectively interpreted.
The exhibition offered another perspective on recovery, highlighting moments of care, displacement, belonging and hope that are often overlooked in dominant disaster recovery narratives.
- Assistant professor