India's WASH policies unduly burden women; need to build sensitive ecosystem, communication for social change Involving women in designing, planning, and implementing water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) programmes helps decrease school dropout rates, improve literacy rates and health outcomes Akshita Sharma December 25, 2020 08:15:11 IST Representational image. PXfuel.com pandemic has made hand hygiene crucial for disease prevention. This has led to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) gaining greater importance in households, schools, health facilities, and communities. It is evident that inadequate WASH services disproportionately burden women, and hence, policy framing and implementation must recognise the experiences, needs, and barriers faced by women and girls.