The roles of NGOs based in Bangkok in promoting target 11.2 of the SDGs for road safety and sustainable transport systems

In September 2015, United Nations member states adopted the 2030 agenda for promoting peace and sustainable development, which is known as the Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs. The eleventh goal in the SDGs is “Sustainable cities and communities.” Inside the eleventh goal, there are ten targets, and Target 11.2 aims to develop road safety and sustainable transport systems.In asking how non-governmental organizations (NGOs) based in Bangkok promoted Target 11.2 of the SDGs during the years 2015-2021, the researcher found that there are ten NGOs based in Bangkok involved in road safety and sustainable transport systems, which promoted Target 11.2 from a “change agent” perspective. NGOs based in Bangkok advocate the SDGs and assist the public sector in developing road safety and sustainable public transport systems by using the SDGs as a tool to create more reliability in their work and coordination. There are three prominent roles of NGOs in promoting the SDGs: (1) coordinating role, (2) enabling role, and (3) facilitating role. Even though the roles of local NGOs are wider than in the past, the weaknesses of NGOs based in Bangkok are related to the low influence of NGOs in the policy-making process. Some NGOs receive funds from government agencies or private companies, but this limits their ability to provide unbiased inputs on some sensitive issues that are relevant to their donors. Moreover, NGOs have limited funding(1)and implementation capacity, which makes it harder to cooperate with the public sector. Significantly, influencing the public sector in developing road safety and sustainable transport systems is a troublesome issue for NGOs because most road safety and public transportation projects in Bangkok involve conflicts between vested interests and the public. As a result, they cannot tackle all the root causes of problems, yet they may have the ability to use public advocacy, such as launching road safety campaigns and sharing expertise with the public and private sectors.