About us
Umugisha Leadership And Development Hub
A professional training organisation equipping young adults, mediators, family advocates, and parents with the tools to prepare for, prevent, and resolve the hardest transitions families face — in Africa and around the world.
Our mission.
To help self leadership, parenting and mediation practice travel well across borders and languages — by providing world-class, evidence-based training that empowers professionals and parents to hear, understand, and act on children's perspectives during family mediation.
When children are heard — in age-appropriate, trauma-informed, culturally sensitive ways — parenting plans become more relevant, effective, and sustainable.
Our work is grounded in the rights enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC), and the family and child-protection laws of Uganda, Tanzania, Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, and Rwanda.
Our values
What we stand on.
01
Children First
Every decision is guided by the best interests of the child. Children are rights-bearing individuals whose voices matter.
02
Built in Africa, designed for the world
Our training is grounded in African family realities — extended family, customary law, faith communities — and designed to travel to any practice setting.
03
Multilingual by design
Umugisha prides itself in multilingual training. Practitioners learn to hold space across languages and cultural registers.
04
Evidence-based
Our curriculum draws on peer-reviewed research, international law, and the latest trauma-informed practice frameworks.
05
Inclusive
We design for accessibility — diverse languages, disabilities, and developmental stages.
06
Three-pillar framework
Preparation, Prevention, Resolution — we engage with families before, during, and after transitions, not just at the point of crisis.
Why this work
Why Child Inclusive Mediation?
Research consistently shows that children whose voices are heard during parental separation display greater emotional wellbeing, behavioural stability, and long-term adjustment to their reconfigured families. Professor McIntosh's landmark study demonstrated that children who participated directly in CIM showed significantly better outcomes 12 months after separation.
Yet millions of children are not told about their parents' divorce until it has happened. They are treated as extensions of their parents' wills rather than as individuals with their own body of knowledge about their family lives, needs, and concerns.
Umugisha exists to change that — one trained professional, one prepared young adult, at a time.