Wildlife Conservation Society:Provision of a Hotline with Speech to Text Services Integrated into an Existing Grievance Redress Mechanism at Kahuzi-Biega National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

 

CALL FOR PROPOSALS SUBMISSION

 

INTRODUCTION

 

The Wildlife Conservation Society (“WCS”) is a New York not-for-profit corporation and is a tax-exempt organization as described in Section 501(c) (3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. WCS’s charitable purpose is to save wildlife and wild lands through careful science, international conservation, education, and the management of the world’s largest system of urban wildlife parks.

 

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) invites qualified service providers to submit proposals for the provision of a hotline with Speech‑to‑Text services integrated into WCS’s existing Grievance Redress Mechanism (GRM) for Kahuzi‑Biega National Park (KBNP) in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

 

BACKGROUND

 

WCS has an operational and established Grievance Redress Mechanism (GRM) used to collect, manage, and follow up on grievances and reports related to its activities around Kahuzi Biega National Park.

 

The GRM currently relies on Kobo Toolbox for grievance intake and Asana for case management, linked through an existing data integration workflow.

 

OBJECTIVES OF PROJECT

 

The objective of this assignment is to provide and operate an automated hotline with Speech to Text functionality, enabling grievances to be submitted via voice calls and automatically transcribed into text and transmitted into WCS’s existing GRM intake system.

 

The hotline and Speech to Text services must be technically integrated with the current GRM architecture, primarily through Kobo Toolbox.

 

SCOPE OF THE SERVICES

 

Under this assignment, the selected service provider will be responsible for:

 

Configuring and operating a secure hotline enabling community members to submit grievances through voice calls in relevant local languages;

Implementing automated Speech‑to‑Text services to accurately transcribe voice messages into text;

Ensuring reliable technical integration so that transcribed grievances are transmitted into the existing GRM intake system (Kobo Toolbox);

Conducting system testing and validation to ensure accuracy, reliability, and secure data transmission;

Providing ongoing technical support and maintenance for the hotline and Speech‑to‑Text services during the contract period. DELIVERABLES

The expected deliverables include:

 

A fully operational hotline with Speech‑to‑Text functionality;

Functional integration of transcribed grievances into the existing GRM intake system;

Technical documentation describing the hotline setup and integration;

System testing and validation report;

Ongoing technical support and maintenance services.

ELEGIBILITY AND SELECTION

 

The Service providers should demonstrate experience in:

 

Automated hotline solutions;

Speech‑to‑Text technologies;

API‑based integration with existing information systems, preferably including Kobo Toolbox.

The detailed terms of references and other requirements are available on request, through the following e-mail: ambabazi@wcs.org not later than 20th May 2026.

 

PROPOSALS SUBMISSION CONDITIONS & INSTRUCTIONS

 

Proposal administration

All requests for clarification and questions concerning this RFP must be submitted in writing no later than the 20th/May/2026 via email to ambabazi@wcs.org with a copy to jonguka@wcs.org, please indicate “Clarification : ‘’Provision of a Hotline with Speech‑to‑Text Services Integrated into an Existing Grievance Redress Mechanism at Kahuzi-Biega National Park)” on the subject line. Responses, if determined appropriate by WCS, will be issued in writing to all known proposers.

 

Proposal submission

All proposals shall be submitted as an attached digital file to the submission email including attachments, exhibits or appendices. Emails shall be submitted to: africaprocurement@wcs.org with a copy to jonguka@wcs.org, please indicate “Proposal : ‘’Provision of a Hotline with Speech‑to‑Text Services Integrated into an Existing Grievance Redress Mechanism at Kahuzi-Biega National Park” on the subject line.

 

Proposals must be received no later than 5:00 PM CAT, 29th May 2026