Design, Build and Pilot:
WhatsApp Legal Bot (Bilingual
Urdu and Pashto)

Legal Aid Society (LAS) Pakistan has been awarded ICRC funding for Phase 1 (Design and Validation) of the REACH KP: Justice Hubs for Women, Children and Families initiative. The overall project runs from June to December 2026, centred on Peshawar District, and is designed to produce a pilot-ready Justice Hub model for a 12-month pilot in 2027 and subsequent KP-wide scale-up.

This consultancy covers the WhatsApp Legal Bot pilot component, Deliverable D5, under Section 7.2 of the REACH KP Concept Note dated 14 April 2026. The assignment will run for four months from September 2026 to 15 December 2026.

LAS operates NAZ Assist, an AI-powered legal information chatbot, and the SLACC legal helpline, which provides human legal assistance to callers across Pakistan. The WhatsApp-based legal bot will draw on NAZ Assist content and route complex cases to SLACC, extending LAS's digital reach to communities that cannot access physical Justice Hubs. It will serve as a digital first-response layer during the design phase before hubs are physically established.

The assignment will design, build and pilot a bilingual Urdu and Pashto WhatsApp-based legal information and referral bot providing text and voice-message access to legal information, rights-awareness content and referral navigation. The service is specifically designed for low-literacy users and persons with disabilities, including users with hearing and visual impairments, with strict confidentiality and do-no-harm protections.

The pilot must reach at least 100 users by 15 December 2026.

To design, build and pilot a bilingual Urdu and Pashto WhatsApp-based legal information and referral bot that provides:

• Voice-message and text access to legal information.
• Rights-awareness content.
• Referral navigation.
• Human escalation through SLACC for complex or at-risk cases.

The bot must be designed specifically for low-literacy users and persons with disabilities, including users with hearing and visual impairments, with strict confidentiality and do-no-harm protections.

The pilot must be conducted with at least 100 users by 15 December 2026.

The scope is directly drawn from Deliverable D5 of the REACH KP Concept Note dated 14 April 2026. The delivering party must not exceed this scope or commit to outputs not included in the Concept Note.

Scope of Work

1. Service Design

• Define user journeys with LAS legal and outreach teams.
• Cover information topics including GBV, family law, inheritance and documentation.
• Define referral pathways and escalation routes to human advisers through SLACC.
• Establish safeguarding and do-no-harm rules for sensitive interactions.
• Establish mandatory escalation protocols for at-risk disclosures.

2. Content Development

• Source, adapt and validate approved legal information content in Urdu and Pashto.
• Develop content in text and recorded or synthesised voice formats.
• Obtain validation of all legal content from LAS legal staff before deployment.
• Reuse NAZ Assist content where appropriate to reduce cost and duplication.

3. Platform Build

• Implement the bot using the WhatsApp Business API.
• Develop a conversation engine supporting:
  • Menu-driven interaction
  • Free-text interaction
  • Voice-message interaction

4. Accessibility

• Develop voice-first flows for low-literacy users.
• Incorporate design considerations for users with hearing and visual impairments.
• Consider low-bandwidth usage conditions.

5. Privacy and Safety

• Apply data minimisation by design.
• Use encrypted transport for user interactions.
• Ensure no retention of personally identifying content beyond operational need.
• Develop and implement a documented data protection protocol.
• Provide a rapid human-escalation route for at-risk users, including connection to SLACC.

6. Pilot and Evaluation

• Recruit and support at least 100 pilot users through LAS outreach channels in Peshawar.
• Capture usage analytics.
• Collect structured user feedback.
• Monitor safeguarding during the pilot.
• Produce a pilot evaluation report with Phase 2 scaling recommendations.

September 2026

• Inception
• Service design workshops with LAS legal and outreach teams
• Safeguarding and data protection protocol development
• WhatsApp Business API onboarding initiated

October 2026

• Content development and validation in Urdu and Pashto, including text and voice
• Conversation flows built and reviewed by LAS legal team
• Internal alpha testing completed

November 2026

• Closed pilot launch
• Recruitment of 100 or more users through LAS outreach channels in Peshawar
• Monitoring, iteration and safeguarding review

December 2026, by 15 December

• Pilot evaluation report
• Handover documentation
• Phase 2 scaling recommendations
• Final acceptance by LAS Leadership

Governance and Reporting

• Monthly written progress reports covering activity status, deliverable progress, safeguarding monitoring and risks.
• Mid-point review at the end of October 2026 to assess content quality, conversation flow performance and pilot readiness.
• Scope may be rebalanced within the approved budget at the mid-point review only with written agreement from LAS.
• All deliverable acceptance follows the Deliverables Schedule.
• Written sign-off is required before the next milestone is triggered.

Assumptions and Exclusions

• The assignment term is September 2026 to 15 December 2026.
• LAS will provide timely access to NAZ Assist content and infrastructure.
• LAS legal staff will provide legal content validation capacity.
• LAS will provide outreach channels for pilot user recruitment in Peshawar.
• WhatsApp Business API approval timelines are partly outside the team's control. Onboarding is expected to begin in September 2026.
• The scope is limited to D5 of the REACH KP Concept Note dated 14 April 2026.
• The pilot is limited to 100 or more users through controlled LAS outreach channels in Peshawar.
• No public-scale launch is included in Phase 1.
• All other Phase 1 deliverables, D1 through D8 excluding D5, are outside the scope of this ToR.
• Any material scope change requires written agreement between LAS and the delivering party.

• Lean team capable of delivering all four deliverables within the four-month assignment term.
• One conversational or chatbot developer with WhatsApp Business API experience, responsible for platform build, conversation engine and integration.
• Part-time content specialists with native Urdu and Pashto capability for content adaptation and voice recording or synthesis.
• LAS legal staff will provide and validate all legal information content in-kind and this is not a cost under the ToR.
• Demonstrated experience with WhatsApp Business API implementation, including business verification, message template management and webhook integration.
• Conversational UX design experience for low-literacy and low-bandwidth users.
• Bilingual content production capability in Urdu and Pashto.
• Experience building services for low-literacy or disability-inclusive audiences is strongly preferred.
• Familiarity with safeguarding practices in GBV-adjacent services is strongly preferred.
• Prior experience developing legal information or social protection chatbots is an advantage.
• Applicants must be legally registered and eligible to contract with a non-profit organisation.
• Applicants must declare any actual or potential conflict of interest with LAS, ICRC or any partner institution named in the REACH KP Concept Note.
• Proposal content must be original.

All deliverables must be submitted to and accepted in writing by the named accepting party. No payment or milestone will be processed without written sign-off. The final deliverable must be accepted by 15 December 2026.

Applicants must submit:

• Full technical proposal responding to the ToR.
• Full financial proposal.
• Detailed budget with full cost breakdown against each deliverable and activity.
• Staff costs by role and time allocation.
• Content production costs, including voice recording or synthesis.
• WhatsApp API and platform costs.
• Other direct costs.
• Proposed team structure and relevant experience.
• Evidence of WhatsApp Business API implementation experience.
• Relevant examples of chatbot, legal information, social protection, low-literacy or disability-inclusive services, where available.
• Declaration of any actual or potential conflict of interest with LAS, ICRC or relevant partner institutions.
• Confirmation of legal registration and eligibility to contract with a non-profit organisation.
• Confirmation that proposal content is original.

Proposals must be submitted by email to [email protected] by 30 September 2026. Late or incomplete submissions will not be considered. Shortlisted applicants may be invited for a clarification meeting before final selection.

• The bot must apply data minimisation by design.
• User-identifying data may only be used for service delivery and safeguarding escalation.
• Encrypted transport is required for all user interactions.
• Personally identifying content must not be retained beyond operational need.
• A data protection protocol forms part of Deliverable B1 and must be approved by LAS before any live users are onboarded.
• SLACC and NAZ Assist content and data remain the property of LAS.
• Access must be limited to what is strictly necessary for delivery and will require signed confidentiality undertakings before access begins.
• All conversation flows, content, documentation and other outputs produced under this ToR vest in LAS upon acceptance.
• Pre-existing tools and IP remain the property of their owners and will be licensed to LAS for use, maintenance and Phase 2 continuation.
• Safeguarding and do-no-harm protections must be maintained throughout service design, deployment and pilot implementation.
• At-risk disclosures must have a rapid human-escalation route, including connection to SLACC.

• The delivering party must submit a detailed budget with a full cost breakdown against each deliverable and activity.
• The budget must clearly identify staff costs by role and time allocation, content production costs including voice recording or synthesis, API and platform costs, and other direct costs.
• Phase 1 technology funds are limited, and the budget must reflect the lean pilot-grade scope specified in this ToR.
• No payment or milestone will be processed without written acceptance/sign-off of the relevant deliverable.
• Any material scope change affecting cost must be agreed in writing between LAS and the delivering party.