Safe drinking water, clean toilets and hygiene are basic human needs, and their absence affects overall well-being. While the effect is universal, the quantum of effect varies disproportionately. Women and girls often bear the brunt of the lack of access to WASH facilities.1 Globally women and girls spend over 200 million hours collecting water every day, placing them at risk of violence, absence from schools and limiting their ability to participate in productive activities. In the context of women with disabilities, the gravity of the situation further worsens. Given that 69% of the total disabled in India live in rural areas, it is imperative that their inclusion should be a priority agenda to ensure that no one is left behind in WASH. UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) recognises access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) as a fundamental right of persons with disabilities (PWDs). Article 28 (Adequate Standard of Living) emphasises on ensuring equal access and appropriate facilities, using universal design (like ramps, raised seats) to remove barriers for people with disabilities, especially women, girls, and children, to promote health, dignity, and inclusion. Key Areas of Importance: Accessible Infrastructure: Lack of accessible facilities at the HH level, schools and aanganwadi centres, coupled with issues of incontinence, cause illness, injury, and infection. The shame and social stigma associated with lack of such inclusive spaces often account for the absence of children with disabilities from attending schools and the exclusion of PWDs from the community. Special Needs for Menstrual Hygiene Management: Menstrual Hygiene Management for girls with disabilities calls for private spaces, inclusive safe products to be used during menstruation and customised targeted initiatives to generate awareness on safe management of menstruation by women and girls with disabilities. Health and Safety: Inaccessible WASH often leads to increased dependency of PWDs on others for intimate hygiene needs, thereby leading to caregiver fatigue, risking loss of autonomy and dignity and increased risk of abuse or neglect. Participation at the Governance level: The last decade witnessed key strides taken to improve accessibility and availability of WASH, with a focus on building community-based governance of WASH. At the grassroot level governance institutions, lack of statistics to support the inclusion of women with disabilities questions the actual status of inclusive initiatives to ensure access to everyone everywhere. Way Forward: Encourage Participation of People with Disabilities: At the panchayat level governance structure, while norms mandate representation of women, SC, ST in VWSCs - inclusion of women/persons with disabilities as a mandatory measure would provide a platform for inclusive governance mechanisms at the grassroot level and ensure voices being heard at the gram sabha level from the most marginalised. Community-based monitoring of all social schemes must incorporate social audits, with representation of PWDs in the audit committee. Monitor and Track: Disability and Gender being a cross-cutting priority across all flagship programs, it is important we track and monitor coverage and progress of key indicators with respect to PWDs for 100% saturation and leaving no one behind under these flagship programs, e.g., Inclusive toilet coverage, houses allotted to PwDs (under PMAY). Only when these programmes are tracked through these sub-indicators at the community and block level and monitored at the district, state and national level, inclusive progress can be attained. Inclusion in Skilling Initiatives: Prioritising nominations of women and PWDs fit for undertaking income-based initiatives at the village level for skilling initiatives of local cadres under various initiatives of national programs - e.g., Pump Operators under O&M of PWSS (piped water supply schemes), masons - under PMAY and SBM. To address the issue of discrimination, it is important that disability is considered throughout the program cycle and initiatives are built and designed to suit the needs of all, ensuring No One is Left Behind in this progressive journey of the nation! Reference:1WHO UNICEF JMP (2017), Progress on drinking water, sanitation and hygiene This article is written by Tasha Mahanta, State Program Lead - Madhya Pradesh, Sightsavers India [Published in NIWAS Vartika - Vol-I, Issue-3 (Oct-Dec'25): A WASH magazine by SPM NIWAS, MoJS, GoI]