Submission deadline: 27 July 2026
UNESCO IITE invites legally registered providers to submit proposals for technical services under one contract covering the following interconnected areas of work:
- consolidation of Oilo and Aspan сhatbots into a unified multilingual chatbot solution deployed in Telegram, including Russian, Kyrgyz, Kazakh and Uzbek language support;
- development of an AI Assistant Chatbot for students and young people in Eastern Europe with an embedded Prompt Optimization Tool;
- responsible deployment, provision of hosting, access to AI models and related API/subscription services, technical infrastructure support and maintenance required for the chatbots operation, and final handover report.
Background
UNESCO IITE supports the development and responsible use of digital tools that improve young people’s access to reliable, age-appropriate and context-sensitive information on health, mental health, interpersonal relationships, safety, digital wellbeing and student life. UNESCO IITE also supports initiatives that strengthen young people’s ability to navigate digital environments safely and responsibly, including when using artificial intelligence systems to search for, interpret and assess information.
Within this work, UNESCO IITE supports Oilo and Aspan, free youth-oriented chatbot services currently available through Telegram. Oilo operates in Russian and Kyrgyz, while Aspan operates in Russian and Kazakh. Both chatbots contain expert-curated responses and approved communication logic on topics relevant to adolescents, students and young people, including health, mental health, relationships, stress, adaptation to study and life transitions, bullying, violence, abuse and other sensitive issues.
The assignment combines consolidation of Oilo and Aspan on a shared technical platform with the development of a new AI Assistant Chatbot and an embedded Prompt Optimization Tool. The new assistant, Oilo and Aspan should rely on a common technical core, shared safety logic, reusable multilingual knowledge structures and consistent responsible-AI safeguards, while preserving the distinct user-facing identity and functionality of each product.
The system shall rely on curated knowledge materials from Oilo, Aspan and the UNESCO IITE-provided materials, structured and adapted for use in Russian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz and Uzbek. The delivered solutions shall remain free for end users and be designed for deployment in Telegram.
Scope of Work
The selected Contractor will provide technical services for the development, consolidation and responsible deployment of youth-oriented AI-enabled chatbot solutions, as detailed in the attached Terms of Reference.
The assignment includes the consolidation of the existing Oilo and Aspan chatbots into a unified, maintainable multilingual chatbot solution deployed in Telegram, with support for Russian, Kyrgyz, Kazakh and Uzbek within the approved content and localization scope. The Contractor will also develop an AI Assistant Chatbot for students and young people in Eastern Europe, deployed in VK and/or Telegram and equipped with an embedded Prompt Optimization Tool.
The Prompt Optimization Tool shall function as an AI-enabled dialogue and routing component rather than a static prompt library. It shall help users clarify and reformulate their queries in real time, identify relevant topics and risk levels, and support safer, more structured and evidence-informed responses. The tool shall be integrated into the AI Assistant Chatbot and, at the final stage, into the unified Oilo/Aspan chatbot.
The assignment also includes responsible deployment measures, including safety protocols for sensitive and high-risk situations, the AI-assistant assessment following the applicable sections of the UNESCO Ethical Impact Assessment 2.0, testing, correction of critical defects, provision of recurring technical services required for operation until the end of 2026, including hosting, domain, server infrastructure, access to AI models and related API/subscription services, provision of technical documentation, and source-code handover report
Kindly consult the detailed ToR.
Eligibility
Applicants must:
- be legally registered as a company, organization, individual entrepreneur or other entity authorized to provide the required services;
- have demonstrated experience in developing chatbots, AI-enabled tools, web applications or comparable digital products;
- have relevant experience in backend development, system integration, databases, deployment, testing and technical documentation;
- have experience with Telegram-based products and/or comparable messenger-based services;
- have the capacity to work with multilingual content, localization structures and knowledge-base integration;
- be able to implement responsible-AI and safety requirements, including safeguards for sensitive and high-risk user situations;
- have the technical and organizational capacity to implement the assignment within the required timeframe and provide technical maintenance through the agreed support period;
- be able to assign qualified specialists to the project throughout the implementation period.
Proposal Package
Applicants shall submit:
- Technical proposal (maximum 5 pages), including proposed approach, implementation timeline aligned with the two reporting periods, technical architecture, risk mitigation approach, testing approach and infrastructure/model access approach;
- completed, dated, signed and stamped Financial Proposal Form;
Submission
Send proposals by July 27, 2026 to:
Contact: Ekaterina Samolygo
Email: e.samolygo@unesco.org
UNESCO IITE looks forward to receiving proposals from qualified service providers interested in supporting the development of accessible, reliable, safe and sustainable digital solutions for young people.