Disasters triggered by climate change are not blind to gender and age. They affect men and women, the old and the young, very differently. Sex and age are some of the most powerful indicators of how individuals will experience a disaster: who survives and who dies. Despite this, we have worryingly little data on the issue.

When we do look at the data, the gender dimension is clear. For example, when it comes to deaths in disasters, women tend to be affected significantly more than men. A household survey carried out by Oxfam in Aceh, Indonesia, following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami found that in the most affected areas, up to four women died for every male. In some villages, all the deceased were women. This discrepancy can largely be explained by cultural restrictions on women’s behaviour. In Aceh, women and girls are often not encouraged to learn to swim or climb trees. At the time the tsunami hit, women were also in particularly vulnerable places, clustered near the shoreline at home, mostly caring for children.

Among those who do survive a disaster, women and children also tend to face particular threats to their safety. This includes an increased risk of gender-based violence. Displacement, stress and trauma are familiar features following a disaster and tend to intensify pre-existing risk factors for domestic abuse. Many women and children end up in evacuation centres or with extended family networks, which can involve increased exposure to perpetrators of violence.

Data allow us to be aware of these kinds of vulnerabilities but also to help prepare tailored assistance once a natural disaster has hit. Men and women usually have different basic needs in response and recovery periods. These are highly context-specific, as disasters tend to exacerbate pre-existing gender inequalities, which vary from community to community.

Yet generally speaking, in situations where food is scarce, women are often expected to serve men and boys first, resulting in particular post-disaster nutritional risks for women. Women often also have particular needs for healthcare and sanitation, and tend to undertake specific household duties, which can impact on their ability to access humanitarian assistance. If humanitarians are unaware of these daily routines and needs, they will fail to ensure women have access that is equitable with the men in their community.

Women and men also have different skillsets and areas of expertise which, if utilised correctly, can alter the effectiveness of humanitarian responses and overall community resilience. In the Pacific region, where my work is focused, women tend to be the ones who know about local food preparation and dietary preferences – information vital to inform planning for food rations. This information is available only where women are consulted and the resulting data are analysed and used to inform the design of assistance packages.

Recent disasters in the Pacific have shown clear gaps in responding to the particular needs of women and girls. Despite the clear case for collecting more gendered data, the sector routinely fails to do this either at a global or regional level.

By contrast, where sex and age disaggregated data are used, we see a clear trend towards more effective and sustainable humanitarian response. This was particularly apparent in the Tongan government’s response to Tropical Cyclone (TC) Ian in Ha’apai in early 2014. Sex and age disaggregated data were collected by the national and provincial authorities, and at all levels responders were reasonably aware of the specific needs of women and girls.

For example, on all affected islands, the numbers of pregnant and lactating women were identified early in the response, and they were prioritised for access to health services. Local first responders collected qualitative data on where women were having problems accessing distributions, and allocated targeted resources to address these issues. Evacuation centres were set up with the particular safety and security needs of women in mind; these included gender-separated bathrooms and sleeping areas segregated along family lines.

So, if the collection and analysis of sex and age disaggregated data is so vital to effective humanitarian response, why is it so routinely neglected? Perhaps this task can seem like an administrative nicety, easily sacrificed in the headlong rush to respond to a given disaster. Whatever the reasons, ultimately the responsibility lies with all humanitarian actors, not just those with explicit responsibility for gender issues, to resolve the data gaps. To provide humanitarian assistance that is responsive to the needs of all, we need to work collaboratively to put the practice of gender and generational analysis firmly at the centre of what we do.

Philippa is gender and protection adviser with UN Women’s multi-country office in Fiji. Follow @UN_Women on Twitter.

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