The role of social capital in advancing community resilience towards fire disaster risk management in informal settlements

Informal settlements are characterized by lack of WASH facilities including water and access roads, lack of tenure security, low quality housing all these features cumulatively lower the quality of living for the inhabitants. One of the challenging issues faced by informal settlements are regular fire disasters which affects the well-being of the communities living in makina village, Kibera slum, nairobi kenya. It was for this reason that the research was conducted to understand the role of social capital in advancing community resilience towards fire disaster risk management. Previously the government of kenya has focused much on the physical aspect in building community resilience and less research on the social infrastructure has been emphasized which has the possibility of building long lasting community resilience. In this study the researcher investigated whether social capital contributes to fire disaster risk management or hindered. Through this study the researcher found the existing forms of social capital used to promote fire disaster management in the village of makina and investigated how fire disasters are currently managed and the actors involved in community recovery phase aftermath fire disasters in makina village Kibera slum Nairobi. The researcher used mixed methods of both Quantitative and Qualitative methods, to investigate the dynamics of social capital in a real-life context. The reason for choosing these both methods is to reach multiple sources of information from diverse participants who are more informed about the social phenomena under study. The findings reveal that majority of the households in Makina village had positive relationships with their neighbours. More than 70% of the households in Makina village had an intense sense of belonging to their community. there was a prominent level of perceived collaboration with the neighbourhood of Makina. A significant majority of the households in Makina are willing to support their neighbours during fire disasters. Forms of social capital used in fire disaster risk reduction management include Community-Based Disaster Response Teams, Religious Institutions, and Community Savings Groups as Structural Forms of Social Capital Involved Fire Disaster Management Community and Family-Driven Response through Volunteerism. Capacity Building and Using Schools to Create Fire Disaster Awareness and kenya Red Cross society, Nairobi County government and slum dwellers international are some of the organizations involved in fire disaster Risk management. On recommendations the government should set up more campaigns on fire safety and management, set up financial literacy and coaching to existing community groups, land use plan developed including supplying adequate green spaces for community interactions.