In traditional Bedouin society, women played a central role. Women were full partners in the household economy - they participated among other things, in building tents, caring for flocks of sheep, raising crops and weaving. Ironically the modernization of Bedouin society has increased the dependence of Bedouin women on men both socially and within the family, reducing their status as household partners, which has consequently altered their self-esteem. While Bedouin men have been able to replace traditional income-generating activities with modern employment, women are culturally prohibited from seeking employment outside their villages. As a result, 96.5% of Bedouin women in the Negev are unemployed. Furthermore, women who spend most of their time with their children do not have the knowledge or tools to educate and support the younger generation through the transformation process.

In order to address the plights that the Bedouin woman faces, Sidreh operates a variety of community projects. All projects accord a respect to Bedouin tradition by working within their cultural framework. These projects are:

Lakiya Negev Weaving is Sidreh’s core project. It intends to bring about social change by building a foundation for local economic development. As a vehicle of empowerment it channels traditional skills into a profitable cottage industry for long term sustainability restoring women’s contribution to their family’s earning power. While educating participants with the tools of earning an income in modern society, the project at the same time revitalizes and preserves a craft which is central to Bedouin heritage.

Adult Education
Many Bedouin women are illiterate in both Arabic and Hebrew, severely limiting their access to information and opportunities. By operating literacy programs Sidreh creates the necessary pedagogical base from which local people are able to participate in educational seminars and then disseminate their knowledge to the rest of the community as educators.

Family Life Education and Domestic Violence Prevention
The issues of sex education and domestic violence are often ignored and difficult issues to address in traditional society. Sidreh has established a program that walks the fine line between respecting tradition and meeting the needs of the youth in the modern world. It is composed of workshops and lectures for middle and high school girls, teachers and school counselors along with professional training for educators, guiding them on possible ways to address these topics in their classroom.

Young Women's Leadership training
Young Bedouin women who graduate from high school often experience great uncertainty towards the future. Sidreh therefore has created awareness-raising groups with the purpose of developing and gearing young women as future leaders. By instilling in these young women self confidence, skills to deal with modern society and a sense of social mission, Sidreh enables them to return to their home communities as leaders, organizers and representatives for local projects, including those run by Sidreh.

Scholarships
Higher education is not common to the Bedouin community, 70-80% of the youth do not complete high school. Sidreh is trying to increase the number of Bedouin university graduates by providing scholarships to young women. Recipients of the scholarship volunteer in their communities, and serve as role models for the girls in their family and community.

Women's Empowerment
In cooperation with Shatil (a social change organization sponsored by the New Israel Fund) and Ben Gurion University, Sidreh gives courses in topics related to health, education and local and national institutional rights. Women who graduate these courses return to their communities and pass their knowledge onto other women through home sessions. In an advanced course, each woman develops two projects related to the material they have studied, which are supervised and critiqued by psychologists and social workers.