1. Background and Rationale

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) continues to face significant barriers to accessing justice, particularly for women, children, persons with disabilities, displaced populations and other vulnerable groups. Challenges include limited awareness of legal rights, barriers to obtaining civil documentation, weak referral pathways, distance from service providers, social stigma, security concerns and limited access to legal and protection services.

Despite ongoing investments in strengthening justice institutions and protection systems, many individuals continue to face difficulties navigating available services and securing timely support. Women and marginalised groups are often disproportionately affected due to social norms, economic constraints, mobility restrictions and limited awareness of available remedies.

Under Phase 1 of the REACH KP initiative, the Legal Aid Society (LAS) intends to establish Justice Hubs as community-based legal access points providing legal information, legal aid, referral support, documentation assistance and linkages to relevant government and non-government service providers.

To ensure that the proposed model responds to actual community needs and service realities, LAS will undertake a Justice Needs Assessment, Service Ecosystem Mapping and Referral Pathway Diagnostic in selected communities of Peshawar. The assessment will generate evidence on legal and protection needs, documentation barriers, justice-seeking behaviour, referral pathways, institutional service gaps and community priorities.

Findings will directly inform the design, service package, referral architecture, staffing model, outreach strategy and implementation approach of the proposed Justice Hub pilot.

2. Purpose and Objectives

Purpose

To generate an evidence base that informs the design, service configuration, referral architecture and operational model of Justice Hubs in Peshawar.

Specific Objectives

The assessment will:

1. Assess the legal, protection and documentation-related needs of women, children and families in selected communities of Peshawar.
2. Identify barriers that prevent individuals from accessing justice, protection, documentation and social support services.
3. Examine justice-seeking behaviours, service utilisation patterns and community perceptions of existing institutions.
4. Map existing service providers, referral mechanisms and community support structures relevant to Justice Hub operations.
5. Assess the effectiveness of current referral pathways and identify opportunities for improved coordination among service providers.
6. Analyse KP-origin SLACC call records to identify common legal issues, service demand patterns and referral trends.
7. Generate evidence-based recommendations regarding priority services, referral partnerships, staffing requirements and delivery modalities for the Justice Hub pilot.

3. Analytical Framework

The assessment will examine access to justice through five interconnected domains.

4. Key Assessment Questions

The assessment will seek to answer the following questions:

1. What are the most common justice, protection and documentation-related needs experienced by communities in Peshawar?
2. What barriers prevent individuals from accessing available services?
3. How do women, children and vulnerable groups currently seek assistance when facing legal or protection challenges?
4. Which institutions and service providers are most trusted and most frequently used?
5. What referral pathways currently exist and where are the major bottlenecks?
6. What gaps exist within the current service ecosystem?
7. What services should be prioritised within the proposed Justice Hub model?
8. What operational considerations should inform the establishment of Justice Hubs in Peshawar?

5. Scope of Work

5.1 Community Justice Needs Assessment

The consultant will conduct community-level consultations across selected urban, peri-urban and displacement-affected communities within Peshawar District.

The assessment will explore:

• Gender-based violence and protection concerns
• Family and civil legal issues
• Inheritance-related challenges
• Documentation barriers
• Access to legal aid and justice services
• Awareness of rights and available support mechanisms
• Access to social protection and support services

5.2 Service Ecosystem Mapping

The assessment will map existing service providers operating within the target geography, including:

• Legal aid providers
• Courts and justice institutions
• Police services
• NADRA and documentation services
• Social Welfare services
• Child Protection services
• Health and psychosocial support providers
• Civil society organisations
• Community-based support mechanisms

The mapping exercise will identify:

• Available services
• Geographic coverage
• Target groups served
• Referral arrangements
• Service strengths
• Service gaps and duplication

5.3 Referral Pathway Assessment

The consultant will assess existing referral pathways and coordination mechanisms among service providers.

The assessment will identify:

• Current referral processes
• Community entry points
• Bottlenecks and delays
• Coordination challenges
• Opportunities to strengthen referrals through the Justice Hub model

5.4 SLACC Data Analysis

The consultant will analyse KP-origin call records extracted from the LAS Sindh Legal Advisory Call Centre (SLACC) database.

The analysis will examine:

• Common legal issues reported by callers
• Documentation-related enquiries
• Family and civil law concerns
• Protection-related issues
• Referral patterns
• Emerging trends and unmet legal needs

Findings from the SLACC analysis will be triangulated with primary field findings.

6. Methodology

Overall Approach

The assignment will utilise a qualitative assessment approach supported by secondary quantitative analysis of SLACC data.

The methodology combines community perspectives, institutional insights and administrative data to generate practical recommendations for Justice Hub design.

Focus Group Discussions (FGDs)

Approximately 12-15 FGDs will be conducted with:

• Women
• Men
• Youth
• Persons with disabilities
• Displaced populations

FGDs will explore community experiences, service barriers, awareness levels and priority needs.

Key Informant Interviews (KIIs)

Approximately 25-30 KIIs will be conducted with:

• Lawyers
• Court officials
• Police representatives
• NADRA officials
• Social Welfare representatives
• Child protection actors
• Civil society organisations
• Community leaders

KIIs will provide institutional perspectives on service delivery, referral systems and operational challenges.

Sampling Strategy

Purposive sampling will be employed to ensure participation from groups most likely to experience barriers to justice and service access.

Indicative Sample Composition

The assessment is expected to engage approximately 150-200 participants.

Data Analysis

Qualitative data will be coded and analysed thematically using a structured analytical framework aligned with the assessment questions. Findings will be disaggregated where possible by gender, age, disability status and displacement status.

SLACC data will be analysed using descriptive statistics and trend analysis where data quality permits. Findings from all sources will be triangulated to identify converging patterns, service gaps and implications for Justice Hub design.

7. Assessment Matrix

8. Inclusion and Vulnerability Considerations

The assessment will seek to ensure participation from groups most likely to experience exclusion from justice and protection services, including:

• Women and girls
• Persons with disabilities
• Internally displaced populations
• Female-headed households
• Low-income households
• Marginalised and underserved communities
• Survivors of violence where participation can be undertaken safely and ethically

9. Ethical Considerations

The assessment will adhere to:

• Informed consent
• Voluntary participation
• Confidentiality and anonymity
• Do No Harm principles
• Gender-sensitive approaches
• Safe handling of GBV-related disclosures
• Secure storage and management of all data

Female facilitators will be engaged for women-only consultations where appropriate.

10. Risks and Mitigation Measures

11. Use of Findings

Findings from the assessment will directly inform:

• Justice Hub service package design
• Staffing structure and competencies
• Referral architecture and partnerships
• Community outreach strategy
• Digital service integration
• Geographic targeting and accessibility considerations
• Monitoring, evaluation and learning framework
• Future pilot implementation planning

12. Limitations and Scope of Inference

This assessment is intended to generate design-oriented evidence from selected communities within Peshawar District. Findings should be interpreted as indicative and exploratory rather than statistically representative of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as a whole.

The purpose of the assessment is to inform the design and piloting of Justice Hubs rather than to generate province-wide estimates of legal needs or service access.

13. Deliverables and Timeline

14. Proposed Structure of Final Report

1. Executive Summary
2. Introduction and Context
3. Methodology
4. Participant Profile
5. Justice and Protection Needs Analysis
6. Documentation Barriers Assessment
7. Service Ecosystem Mapping
8. Referral Pathway Analysis
9. SLACC Data Analysis
10. Justice Hub Design Implications
11. Recommendations
12. Annexes

15. Consultant Responsibilities

The consultant will:

• Develop the inception report and assessment tools
• Facilitate FGDs and KIIs
• Conduct ecosystem and referral mapping
• Analyse SLACC data
• Triangulate findings across data sources
• Facilitate the validation workshop
• Produce draft and final reports

16. Required Qualifications

The consultant should possess:

• Advanced degree in law, social sciences, development studies or related discipline
• Minimum five years' experience conducting research, assessments or evaluations
• Experience in justice, legal empowerment, protection or rule of law programming
• Strong qualitative research and analytical skills
• Experience working in KP
• Knowledge of GBV-sensitive and Do No Harm approaches
• Fluency in English and Urdu; Pashto preferred

17. Final Deliverable

Justice Needs Assessment, Service Ecosystem Mapping and Referral Pathway Diagnostic Report

The final report will provide practical, evidence-based recommendations for the design and piloting of Justice Hubs in Peshawar, including recommendations on service priorities, referral partnerships, operational arrangements, community engagement approaches and future implementation considerations.