An independent think tank
A justice-centred think tank re-imagining the ethical and relational foundations of social work, and home to the Centre for Bakiga Studies.
The Batinda Institute is an independent centre of inquiry and advocacy dedicated to advancing justice, ethical integrity, and humanity within social work and the wider social care landscape. Rooted in critical scholarship and informed by the lived experiences of practitioners, families, and care‑experienced young people, the Institute examines the structural forces that reproduce oppression, including racism, class inequality, bureaucratic domination, and the punitive cultures embedded within Children’s Services.
Through research, training, consultancy, and compassionate support, we illuminate the realities of practice and challenge the systems that inflict harm. The Institute stands as a bridge between academic thought and public life, committed to cultivating a profession capable of moral clarity, relational depth, and courageous resistance to injustice. In all our work, we seek to restore humanity to social care and to imagine a future in which dignity, equity, and care are not aspirations but governing principles.
Our work
Our work is organised in two centres, each with its own programmes, research and publications.
Centre 01
Critical inquiry into Children’s Services, child protection, migration and the structures that reproduce oppression in social work, and into the conditions under which families and practitioners can flourish.
Centre 02
Research, archives, oral literature and public scholarship on the history, heritage and intellectual life of the Bakiga, the Banyakigezi and the wider Kigezi region.
Latest writing
Services
Practical, ethically grounded work for the people and organisations who live with the realities of Children’s Services.
Critical inquiry into the structural forces that reproduce oppression in Children’s Services, informed by practitioners and families.
Learn more 02Teaching and professional development that bridge academic thought and the realities of frontline practice.
Learn more 03Independent, ethically grounded advice for organisations, practitioners and legal teams working in child protection.
Learn more 04Compassionate support for social workers, families and care-experienced young people who have been harmed or silenced.
Learn moreMarketplace
A future in which dignity, equity and care are not aspirations, but governing principles.
Founder and Director
Dr Charles Mugisha is an interdisciplinary scholar of Afrocentric Social Work, African history, historical memory, migration, refugee studies, identity, and indigenous knowledge systems. His scholarship bridges African intellectual history, social anthropology, genealogy, and cultural heritage, advancing understanding of how...
Read the biographyKind words
Excellent service from a hard-working team.
I can’t say enough about the outstanding service I received. The team went above and beyond to meet our needs and exceeded our expectations.
Very professional, supportive and great service.
Practitioners, families, students, scholars and organisations: we would like to hear from you.
