Who we are
Der Verband für interkulturelle Arbeit (VIA) Regionalverband Berlin/Brandenburg e.V. (founded 1992) is an umbrella association of organisations engaged in inter-/transcultural work – especially in the field of integration of immigrants and refugees in Berlin. We have 52 member organisations, 36 of which are migrant organisations (MO). VIA sees itself as a political platform to advocate for the interests of its members. Since 1998 we are funded as a so called “structural project for the integration of migrants in Berlin” by the Office of The Commissioner of the Berlin Senate for Integration and Migration. VIA’s main fields of activity are the empowerment and professionalisation of migrant organisations, health and immigration, migrants’ integration into the labor market, anti-discrimination and intercultural community work.
GANGWAY – Straßensozialarbeit in Berlin e.V. is an association engaged in street work with youths and adults in Berlin since 1990. Its fields of activity cover social work with children and young adults, assistance for homeless people and counselling services for criminal offenders. The organisation has many years of experience in counseling, accompanying and supporting immigrants and refugees in Berlin.
What we aim for
There are more and more specialised social services for immigrants and refugees in Berlin, mainly counselling services provided by immigration counseling centers (Migration consultation for adult immigrants /MBE, Migration Consultation for (unaccompanied) minors /JMD), migrant organisations, providers of standard social services and other professional social consultancies. However, according to our empirical experience, their staff do not necessarily always know other relevant services beyond their own local district. At the same time cases are getting increasingly complicated, so that multidisciplinary and cross-agency cooperation is urgently needed.
With the „Berliner Beratungsnetz für Zugewanderte“ (Berlin network of counselling services for immigrants) we want to support counselors by providing detailed information and facilitate referrals and cooperation between different institutions and organisations, such as governmental and non-governmental institutions
What the BfZ is
The “Berlin network of counselling services for immigrants” (BfZ) is an online database, completed in May 2019. Currently (as of November 2024) the platform contains data on 570 institutions and projects. The content can by filtered by target groups, languages and districts. A brief description, contact details and a map is available to be printed out for those seeking advice. All contents can be accessed via QR codes. Included in the database are primarily counseling services as well as associated services for accompaniment and language mediation.
The database does not claim to be exhaustive. The listed facilities and projects were selected by criteria such as professionality, accessibility and long-term sustainability. Our hope is that the included organisations will use the database for their own work and thus keep the data up to date. We also hope that the BfZ will continue to grow. We appreciate to be pointed in the direction of high quality services which are not yet included.
The BfZ is funded by the Senate Department for Integration, Labour and Social Affairs as part of the project “Service point for migrant organization within the Intercultural Competence Network for immigrant-organisations in Berlin (IKMO)”. It was conceptually developed in close cooperation with the Welcome Center Berlin.