Year: 2024-2025
Implementing Partners: Visible Impact, NAAMII and Diyo.AI
Major Component: SRHR, Safe abortion, chatbot, technology, artificial intelligence

Introduction 

The project, titled “Improving access to information and services related to safe abortion through an AI-based chatbot in Nepal,” is a collaborative initiative by NAAMII, Visible Impact and Diyo.AI. It focuses on leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) to address gaps in Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR), specifically targeting every woman, youth, and girl. Through this initiative, we aim to provide a fundamentally new, precise, and user-friendly AI-based chatbot for young people in Nepal, enabling them to access trustworthy information on heavily stigmatized topics such as abortion and supporting them to make informed choices about their sexual and reproductive health.

Major Activities 

1. Baseline Research and Consultations: The team conducted a baseline survey involving key-informant interviews with major organizations like Marie Stopes International and the Family Welfare Division. We also held national consultations with SRHR stakeholders and youth consultations with champions from all seven provinces.
2. Government Collaboration: A series of meetings were held with government bodies (FWD and NHEICC) to discuss the integration of the RMNCAH database and safe abortion site information into the chatbot.
3. Development of Knowledge Bank: Experts were consulted to design a comprehensive knowledge bank covering health-related, legal, and ethical questions. This bank is regularly updated based on feedback from a closed circle of users
4. Youth Mobilization and Piloting: Youth champions were oriented and mobilized across all seven provinces to promote the chatbot to wider audiences. This included piloting the first phase of the chatbot and collecting data on functional safe abortion sites.
5. Awareness and Feedback: The project utilizes an animated video and social media for dissemination. Recently, a dissemination workshop was organized with approximately 120 youth to gather direct feedback on the chatbot experience.

Our Impact 

• Identified Critical Needs: Through consultations, the project confirmed the vital need for an AI-based chatbot to provide accurate and private information regarding safe abortion in Nepal.
• Data Collection: It has successfully gathered important information on the current situation of safe abortion in Nepal and is still working on gathering information on functional safe abortion sites in Nepal.
• User-Driven Improvements: Feedback from national consultations has led to recommendations for ensuring user privacy, security, and response accuracy in the chatbot, particularly in sensitive situations.
• Direct Engagement: By engaging almost 500 youths in all provinces during preliminary piloting of chatbot, 120 youth in an online dissemination workshop, and around 60 stakeholders in an in-person dissemination workshop, the project has established a feedback loop that directly influences the technical and content-related aspects of the chatbot to better serve the target audience.

What’s next?

• Visible Impact, NAAMII, and Diyo.AI are currently working on the ongoing technical and content-related updates and maintenance of the chatbot. Before launching it to a wider audience, the partners are closely collaborating to improve both the content accuracy and technical performance based on feedback received from users and testers. Continuous maintenance will remain an important part of the project even after the chatbot is publicly released, ensuring that the information remains reliable, up to date, and responsive to users’ needs.