Hamburg Integration Advisory Board: Sylvaina Gerlich for Africa
Sylvaina Gerlich has been the first elected member of the Hamburg Integration Advisory Board for the continent of Africa since 2008 and is a board member of IMIC eV (Intercultural Migrant Integration Center eV). Born in Ghana, she grew up in London, lives in Hamburg and has been involved in charity projects and aid transports since 1992, including for hospitals, kindergartens and schools in Africa.
With the non-profit IMIC eV, founded on her initiative, Sylvaina Gerlich and her volunteer team help migrants with daily social and administrative problems, look after legal and illegal people in need of help, especially from African but also other communities, organize tutoring, language and intercultural courses and Youth, parent and senior work.She has been organizing the “Neighborhood Connects” event since 2011, is the organizer of the annual “African Day”, which was first organized by IMIC in 2012, and has been co-organizer of the “Miss African Culture” event since 2013 and is involved in other social and cultural activities in Hamburg. The vision of their integration work is to create more understanding for each other and unity as well as to bring acceptance for the diversity of African culture and its peoples into German society. Sylvaina Gerlich has been honored several times for her work, including in 2011 during a reception with Federal President Christian Wulff at Bellevue Palace and most recently in 2013 by the “Parents on Site” initiative.
The Integration Advisory Board has the task of providing constructive and critical advice to the Authority for Labor, Social Affairs, Family and Integration and the Hamburg Senate on integration policy issues . Since October 2015, the Authority for Labor, Social Affairs, Family and Integration has been headed by Senator Dr. Melanie Leonhard, the authority’s Office for Labor and Integration since March 2012 by Petra Lotzkat. This was previously done by Senator Dr. The committee founded by Birgit Schnieber-Jastram under the senators Dietrich Wersich and Detlef Scheele is active.
The advisory board participated in the development of the Senate’s new integration concept and is involved in its implementation. In addition, the advisory board addresses current topics in the area of integration . He can issue statements on integration-related topics and projects and make suggestions for filling Hamburg administration committees with people with a migration background.
The Integration Advisory Board also acts as an “integration multiplier” in an implementation-oriented manner in all areas of society , with the members actively contributing to promoting integration in their respective areas of responsibility. The Integration Advisory Board includes knowledgeable members with a wide range of experience in all important areas of the integration of immigrants.
Compared to the previous legislative period, the number of members was reduced from 52 to 31 in order to be able to work more efficiently. Compared to the original composition of the Integration Advisory Board of migrants and representatives of German origin from politics, institutions and organizations, the current Integration Advisory Board is made up exclusively of members with a migrant background.
