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Gender sensitization is a theory that a maximum number of policy analysts discover easy to implement, but very few perform well. The same can be said about disaster risk reduction. When these two concerns are put together to mainstream gender into disaster risk reduction (DRR), concerned organizations and experts find gaps in planning and implementation of policies. This is not because the job is integrally challenging; rather, there is not adequate practical guidance and pragmatic information. This paper aims to increase awareness about gender issues in disaster risk reduction, to improve government capability to address gender problems in DRR and to encourage Pakistan's government to incorporate gender perception into DRR legislatures, strategies and plans for sustainable development. The importance of the Beijing Agenda for global action on gender sensitive DRR and the Manila Declaration for Global Action on gender in climate change and DRR have been highlighted, with the help of information from other developing countries, to develop a road map for Pakistan. Capacity development and gender-aware knowledge products are the two main areas with the help of which concerns regarding gender sensitivity can be addressed in disaster preparedness, recovery and rehabilitation.

This article assesses the gender sensitivity of indicators of health, nutrition, education, and composite indices which are relevant to developing countries, using the analytical framework of 'functionings'. It finds that a disaggregated under‐10 female–male ratio (0–4 years and 5–9 years) appears to be a suitable indicator for health. Difficulties with data collection and interpretation reduce the reliability of indicators of morbidity and nutrition intake. Nutrition outcome indicators like anthropometric measures are potentially useful, if genetic differences between population groups as well as between males and females are controlled for. In assessing gender gaps in education, enrolment and drop‐out ratios are more useful than adult literacy or mean years of schooling, but micro‐level research is required to decide which of these two is better. Composite indices like the Physical Quality of Life Index and Gender‐related Development Index are potentially useful, given some alterations to increase their relevance to developing countries.

Traditionally recruiters of male graduates, private sector
organizations have been steadily increasing their intake of female
graduates in recent years. Investigating "women‐friendly"
recruitment and retention measures, this exploratory study sets out to
discover whether the prospects for graduate women were improving over
the whole working lifespan. Suggests that employers may have as yet
given insufficient attention to the long‐term implications of a rise in
the proportion of women in their graduate intake. A more
gender‐sensitive approach is called for to the monitoring, development
and long‐term management of graduates in order to secure a satisfactory
return on this valuable resource.