United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) has organized a meeting with the participation of 40 NGO's in Abant , Turkey on 5 – 7 May 2004. Due to the crisis and conflicts between ethnic groups and nations, it was obvious that the meeting would evaluate the recent conditions of the refugees living in different parts of the world. And most importantly, the meeting would also try to find out the ways to solve the major problems of the refugees. It is worth noting that the prevailing idea of the meeting was to strengthen the ties of NGO's and institutions.

International Blue Crescent Relief and Development Foundation (IBC) was one of the NGO's that participated in the seminar. IBC was represented by Fatih Evren. In the meeting Evren stated that IBC has been fulfilling the necessary steps to alleviate the overwhelming conditions of the refugees. One of these steps was to enrich the opportunities by introducing new ideas, such as health insurance for the refugees. He also noted that, for the realization of such aims, IBC has been seeking ways to collaborate with other institutions, such as UNHCR.

Since 2001 UNHCR has been intensifying its activities to cease the sufferings of refugees. The first meeting was held in Kizilcahamam in 2001. It can be said that this meeting was a turning point for the activities of UNHCR. At the end of the meeting it was decided that four groups would be established in order to find permanent solutions for the following topics:

•  The protection of women refugees

•  The protection of children

•  The provision of legal support

•  And finally the provision of health and psycho-social services.

This was followed by another meeting which was held in Ankara in the beginning of 2004. In this meeting the plans of the participant NGO's concerning the refugees were outlined. The meeting held in Abant on 5 – 7 May 2004 was the third one which involved in the topic more deeply and specifically. IBC took part in all these meetings. In the following period, the public opinion will witness the organization of such kind of meetings. Obviously IBC will participate in these meetings in order to respond to the needs of refugees sufficiently.