Request for Proposals: Agency for Small States – Consultancy

Request for Proposals

Systemiq invites qualified consultants and suitably experienced organisations to submit proposals for the consultancy described in this Request for Proposal (RfP): “Agency” for Small States – How Small States Can Navigate and Shape the New Geopolitical Order. The purpose of this RfP is to identify and appoint a consultant capable of delivering an independent analytical report and related policy outputs that provide strategic analysis and actionable recommendations to inform the Bridgetown Initiative’s policy positions, advocacy strategies and stakeholder engagement.

This RfP sets out the Terms of Reference, required qualifications, proposal submission requirements, procurement timetable, financial proposal requirements, and the criteria that Systemiq will use to evaluate proposals. Systemiq reserves the right to amend, suspend or cancel the procurement process, to seek clarification from applicants, and to reject any or all proposals without obligation to award a contract. Any appointment will arise only upon execution of a definitive written agreement.

The successful applicant will be engaged under a consultancy services agreement with Systemiq which may include flowdown requirements of the Bridgetown Initiative. Systemiq reserves the right to negotiate scope, budget, deliverables and timelines prior to contract award.

Background and Context

Small states, which include the sub-category of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and low-lying coastal countries, today are at a critical juncture. Already confronting existential climate risks, these nations now face the compounding pressures of intensifying geopolitical rivalry, the fragmentation of multilateral norms, and the weaponisation of economic dependencies by larger powers. The rules-based international order that small states have historically relied upon to amplify their collective voice is under severe strain, and new alignments, shaped by great-power competition, debt distress, and contested development finance are redrawing the parameters within which small states can act.

At the same time, this moment of disorder creates openings. Small states have demonstrated remarkable diplomatic agility; forging coalitions, leveraging their moral authority as the world’s most climate-vulnerable nations, and occupying influential positions in multilateral fora disproportionate to their material size. The question is no longer simply how small states survive geopolitical turbulence, but how they can actively shape the emerging order to advance their interests and values.

The Bridgetown Initiative, championed by Barbados and a growing coalition of climate-vulnerable states, has already elevated reform of the international financial architecture as a central demand of the Global South. Its evolving agenda on agency, resilience and transformation recognises that structural reform is inseparable from political agency: without the capacity to act autonomously and to influence global norms, even the most technically sound financial reforms will remain beyond reach.

This consultancy is commissioned to produce an independent analytical report examining the pathways through which small states can reclaim and exercise agency in this turbulent geopolitical environment. The report will provide strategic analysis and actionable recommendations to inform the Bridgetown Initiative’s policy positions, advocacy strategies, and stakeholder engagement.

Procurement Timetable

All times are UK time (BST). The timetable is indicative and Systemiq reserves the right to amend it.