Umesh Bawa

Mr. Umesh Bawa

Director of International Relations
E: ubawa@uwc.ac.za
T: +27 21 959 3400
Mr Bawa is a registered clinical psychologist and senior lecturer in the Department of Psychology at UWC. He is the former co-ordinator of the Masters in Psychology training programme for students in professional psychology at the University.

He has served as a senior team member on key community engagement research projects led by the University of South Africa’s Institute for Social and Health Sciences.

Mr Bawa has worked in the fields of violence rehabilitation, trauma and human rights in South Africa, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Rwanda and Chile. He has also served on the Council for the International Society for Health and Human Rights, and was until recently, the Director of the Children for Tomorrow – South Africa- a free psychological service for traumatised young people and their families, funded by the Steffi Graf Children for Tomorrow Foundation in Germany.

His research interests include the psychological effects of violence on children, trauma counselling, the reintegration of ex-combatants and child soldiers in post-conflict countries, Photovoice and peace promotion.

In the news


SANORD DAY April 19th 2023

SANORD Day in association with UiB and HVL hosted a regional engagement on 19 April 2023 at UiB, Bergen Global, Jekteviksbakken 31, Bergen. Umesh Bawa, Director of SANORD was in attendance to promote collaboration and research opportunities within the network.

109-year-old Norwegian vessel ‘Statsraad Lehmkuhl’ docked at Table Bay

The ‘Statsraad Lehmkuhl’ is partway through the 20-month One Ocean Expedition research expedition circumnavigating the globe.

UWC’s Prof Osman Gets Honorary Doctorate in Norway

The “outstanding” lifetime contribution of the former Dean of the Faculty of Dentistry – Professor Yusuf Ismail Osman – to the dentistry field has earned him an honorary doctorate from the University of Oslo (UiO) in Norway.

Hosting the SANORD Chair and team from Western Norway University of Applied Sciences

The SANORD Central Office (SCO) in Cape Town, South Africa had the immense pleasure of hosting the SANORD Chair and team from Western Norway University of Applied Sciences during their visit 21-25 February 2022.

University of Missouri South African Education Program: Virtual symposium and call for proposals

We are pleased to share the call for proposals for University of Missouri faculty interested in building scholarly collaborations with colleagues at the University of the Western Cape in South Africa.

Breaking Ground at Greatmore

With construction underway on Greatmore, a sod-turning ceremony was held to celebrate the coming to fruition of the proposal for an arts and humanities hub supported through the DSI-NRF Flagship and the NIHSS.

SANORD-SAFINET Webinar on Collaboration in Health and Well-being

Tampere University in Finland invites Southern African higher education institutions’ staff and students to participate in a webinar on collaboration in health and well-being on 17 June at 12:00-14:00 CAT/SAST 13:00-15:00 EEST. 

Cypriot Minister of Education and Culture Visits UWC

The Minister of Education and Culture in Cyprus, Kostas Champiaouris, was in South Africa to discuss co-operation between South Africa and Cypriot higher education institutions.

Ghent University-Vrije University Brussels Partner Visit

Between 2003 and 2013, the University of the Western Cape (UWC) was the beneficiary of an Institutional University Co-operation (UIC) project, funded by Vliruos.

Decolonising Psychology

The University of the Western Cape (UWC), in partnership with the University of Kansas, University of Pretoria, University of South Africa, University of Witwatersrand, South African Medical Research Council and the Society for the Psychological Study for Social Issues, hosted a successful colloquium, entitled: Towards a Decolonial Psychology: Theories from the Global South on 21 and 22 February 2019.

Our staff


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Ms. Debra Lamson

Office Coordinator
E: dlamson@uwc.ac.za
T: +27 21 959 2884

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Ms. Rushni Salie

Administrator and Secretariat
E: rsalie@uwc.ac.za
T: +27 21 959 2487