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Information about VIA |
VIA was founded in Frankfurt am Main
in 1979 by groups working for and with migrants and refugees in Germany.
From 1980 to 1994 VIA's head office was in Bonn, the capital of FRG.
Since then its head office has been in Duisburg, a city in the Ruhrgebiet,
the most industrial region of Germany, which for more than a hundred years
has been the melting pot of Germany. Today nearly a hundred member
organisations from all over Germany are connected with VIA and the
association is sponsored and supported by 91 members (July 2002) from the
fields of politics and science. Because our head office has nationwide
responsibilities, VIA has also established regional offices in major urban
areas, in order to ensure proximity to its member organisations. At
present there are six regional offices in Dresden, Berlin, Hamburg,
Düsseldorf, Stuttgart and Munich. VIA is a non-governmental organisation
(NGO), registered by the local court in Berlin. Since 1983 VIA has been a
member of the "Deutscher Paritätischer Wohlfahrtsverband",
one of the six largest welfare organisations in Germany. VIA is registered
as a youth welfare organisation with the Ministry of Social Affairs in
North-Rhine-Westphalia; (17.03.1980).
VIA members are the heart and the basis of organisation. They are grass-roots, independent groups, unions, and initiatives, which are doing concrete work for and with migrants and refugees all over Germany. Among them are social and self-help groups, both german and non-german; groups doing educational, political, social and street work with non-German children and young people; groups working with non-german women and with refugees. The main task of VIA is to support the work of these groups and to function as their representative body, mainly by representing their interests and demands on regional and national levels. VIA is pursuing public relations work, and promotes networking and the exchange of information and experiences among the groups. Ultimately the member organisations determine the politics and focus of VIA as a whole: it is a democratically-based association which defines itself through its members.
The sponsoring members of VIA are individuals
who support our work. Without their contributions, VIA could not achieve as
much as it does. Some sponsoring members are involved in the work of member
organisations, while others actively help VIA with its seminars, publications,
or other areas of its work. All however are helping VIA with their annual
membership fees and by the fact of their membership, which expresses their
solidarity with us, and strengthens the basis for our work.
VIA organises several seminars and conferences annually. There are also seminars and conferences arranged by the VIA regional offices. All seminars are open to any individuals and organisations who are interested in atending. VIA members can influence the choice of subject, and location of conferences, and also pay lower fees.
Four to five times a year VIA publishes the "VIA-Magazine". Each issue has a special topic from the wide field of work with migrants and refugees.
In addition, six to eight times a year the "Viaticus" is published: a newsletter exclusively for members. This current affairs publication contains a digest of information and news about important subjects in the field of migration refugee work. The intention is not to give detailed information like "VIA-Magazine", but to outline the issue in the form of a brief summary.
Our publications also include an award-winning
computer game, as well as some videos, for example about older migrants in
Germany. Unfortunately these are only available in german language.
VIA e.V.
Hochemmericher Str. 71
D-47226 Duisburg
Telefon: +49-2065-53346
Telefax: +49-2065-53561
eMail:
Herbert Seebauer Simone Wiegratz Dr. Natalia Michailowa Uwe Erbel
The board as a whole is made up of one delegate from each of the regional offices.
Heinz Soremsky