This brief looks at the consequences of regulating services provided at the community level to support women’s land rights, with a focus on Tanzania. They recommend programs:
• evaluate the implications for geographic coverage and program quality by defining at least two distinct tiers of paralegals to provide legal services at different levels of decentralization
• identify the appropriate educational criterion for each tier of paralegal that will identify individuals with the facility to access training materials and complete reporting requirements
• undertake additional research to establish distinct, paralegal training curricula that consider topic breadth versus relevance according to the services provided in each tier. Curricula for community paralegals should be based on analysis of the cost-effectiveness of initial training investments versus regular periodic training
• for additional insight on modalities to reduce paralegal attrition, conduct analysis on the cost effectiveness of paralegal compensation to assess the implications on program quality and sustainability [Threats to Women’s Land Tenure Security and Effectiveness of Interventions – Annotated Bibliography]