CREA's Gender and WASH program works to make urban sanitation safe, dignified, and accessible for everyone — particularly those most excluded from the system. In a sector long dominated by technical approaches and infrastructure, CREA brings a gender-transformative lens that places gender, sexuality, and human rights at the heart of sanitation planning. 

What the Program Does

CREA's Gender and WASH program embeds gender, sexuality, and rights into urban sanitation systems. It builds the capacity of government bodies, partner organizations, and grassroots actors; shifts practitioner mindsets toward inclusive, rights-based approaches; amplifies the voices of structurally excluded communities in sanitation decision-making; and produces open-access knowledge resources that can drive lasting, sector-wide change.

Who the Program Centers

• Menstruating girls and women
• Perimenopausal and pregnant persons
• Transgender and non-binary people
• Sex workers
• Persons with disabilities
• Elderly individuals
• Sanitation workers

Key Activities

• Building capacity of partner organizations, government officials, and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs)
• Conducting trainings and consultations on gender-, disability-, and transgender-inclusive sanitation
• Creating knowledge tools, case studies, and knowledge briefs
• Providing strategic guidance on integrating gender and rights into sanitation systems

Partnerships

CREA works with six state-level technical support units across India, collaborating with organizations including:

• Ernst & Young
• Odisha urban Academy (OUA)
• Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (CEPT)
• National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA)
• Centre for Science and Environment (CSE)
• Indian Institute of Human Settlements (IIHS)
• WaterAid
• Global Sanitation Graduate School (GSGS)
• eGov Foundation
• Janagraha
• Urban management centre (UMC)
• Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS)
• Center for Water and Sanitation (CWAS)

Major Milestone: Virtual Centre for Inclusive WASH

In November 2025, CREA launched the Centre for Inclusive WASH, supported by the Gates Foundation. This open-access online platform brings together all the knowledge and resources created under the program:

• Knowledge resources on disability-inclusive sanitation, trans inclusion, and menstrual justice and more
• 12 case studies from the real-life experiences of women, transgender persons, and persons with disabilities
• Self-paced online training courses for practitioners on disability and trans-inclusive sanitation