6. ENSURING SUSTAINABILITY THERE IS NO SET LIFESPAN OF A COMMUNITY-BASED PARALEGAL PROGRAM. Many endure for years, while others may be time-bound from YOUR PROGRAM the outset or may determine to wind down for various reasons. This section outlines advice for both scenarios. By “sustainability,” we mean both the sustainability of operations and sustainability of impact. SUPPORT EXISTING It is important to factor sustainability into decisions made about a program from the start-up stage. Your program should build on or support existing structures such as village protection committees, faith-based organizations, or women’s networks. Resting on the existing pillars of community life will help your program remain in place. Similarly, drawing paralegals from the community can support sustainability. These paralegals keep their knowledge and training after their work or the program ends, and can share it with the community. By the same token, making sure that when paralegals leave a program they teach their replacements is part of the sustainability of a program. Partnership or mentorship models, periodic refresher training, and regular, structured feedback and learning sessions can help ensure the program retains the knowledge of paralegals you have trained. Encouraging clients to help others after they receive services can help multiply information throughout the community to increase this effect. Training other organizations can also ensure the program’s impact continues. Another way to have continued impact is to provide information in the form of brochures, videos, and “how to” manuals, which can be useful after a program ends. SHOULD BUILD ON OR STRUCTURES SUCH AS VILLAGE PROTECTION COMMITTEES, FAITHBASED ORGANIZATIONS, OR WOMEN’S NETWORKS.  ee 7.2 Training Paralegals and 5.2 Monitoring and Evaluating Your S Work for further advice on how to foster transfer of knowledge and capture lessons learned within a program. 6.1 The State’s Responsibilities Keep in mind that governments are obliged to provide legal identity documentation, including birth registration, to those on their territory. Your program provides a service that people should not, in theory, need. Paralegal activities can encourage a state, help officials understand their duties and how best to respond to the needs of the population, lead to improvements in the system based on a close understanding of affected communities, and push the government to take responsibility over the long-term for documentation and nationality issues. Paralegals may focus on the most difficult cases or communities facing the greatest challenges, rather than trying to conduct outreach, raise awareness, and provide assistance on documentation within the larger population, which should remain the responsibility of government. Programs may also consider requesting the government to co-fund certain joint activities, such as mobile birth registration, rather than accepting government demands to cover all costs out of a program budget. DISCRIMINATION EMPOWERMENT SUSTAINABILITY DATA RELATED RESOURCES (EXTERNAL) RELATED SECTIONS (WITHIN) A C O M M U N I T Y- B A S E D P R A C T I T I O N E R ’ S G U I D E : D O C U M E N T I N G C I T I Z E N S H I P A N D OT H E R F O R M S O F L E G A L I D E N T I T Y | 71