sustainable

The best way to ensure the success of projects for Persons with Disabilities is to leverage the existing legal framework that mandates and, consequently, secures the participation of local government units. This permanent institutional structure will remain in the locality long after the project has ended. Further, the Local Government Units' buy-in serves as a signal to the community about the project's merits. It would also ensure active participation by community members, along with other civil society groups working with Persons with Disabilities. However, as was the case in this project, the existence of national policies to improve the conditions of Persons with Disabilities alone does not guarantee vibrant participation by Local Government Units in initiatives for Persons with Disabilities (PWD). In the future, an external oversight body could be established to monitor the disbursement of PWD budgets and ensure the proper utilization of PWD fund allocations as prescribed by national laws.

The capacity development of Organizations of Persons with Disabilities to manage a viable livelihood enterprise requires a longer period than the usual project life span. Project efficiency could have been improved by prioritizing capacity building early on in the project, so that additional technical support and organizational mentoring could have been provided within the project timeframe, with adequate budget allocation. Compared to the present project's approach, future project designs should highlight the importance of early provisions for adequate organizational capability building, with sufficient time and budget allocation.

To avoid the vacuum associated with the end of projects, mentoring and monitoring of project partners should be part of the project's withdrawal plan, drawn up by the implementors in partnership with the Local Government Units and the civil society groups working with Persons with Disabilities. In the present case, this provision would have prevented the loss of learning from the project's training and workshops and, at the same time, provided the Organizations of Persons with Disabilities a sense of continuity on the variety of projects they were working on. All Organizations of Persons with Disabilities in the project already have some form of organizational structure, but they must be regularly mentored to continuously improve their representation at the local development council.