The risks and vulnerabilities that people face from natural disasters are as much a product of their social situation as their physical environment. Vulnerabilities and capacities of individuals and social groups evolve over time and determine people’s abilities to cope with disaster and recover from it. Social networks, power relationships, knowledge and skills, gender roles, health, wealth, and location, all affect risk and vulnerability to disasters and the capacity to respond to them. There is enough evidence that in any disaster disproportionately large number of women are affected more severely relative to men.
This toolkit provides a guide to incorporating a gender perspective in the overall planning and practices of disaster management. The tools are intended for use by all those engaged in the disaster management, i.e., policy makers, donors, NGOs and researchers in their efforts to build resilient and gender-just communities.Topics covered include:

an introduction to the concept of gender
disaster through a gender lens including examples drawn from The  2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami in Tamil Nadu
tools - good practices in integrating gender concerns in disaster response and preparedness
case studies - examples of NGO gender sensitive interventions