This Partnership, from day one, felt the importance of projects for the empowerment of women in the region and with the generous over and above donations from SA WIZO a well balanced and excellent outreach project for the women of the region was established.
The programme took special cognizance of  the needs of the urban and rural populations of Beit Shemesh and Mate Yehuda, and devised programmes to suit each sector, whilst keeping the essence of the region in mind.
 
One of the major developments of this programme was preparing an infrastructure for the self enhancement and development of skills that would create the possibility of additional income for the families.
 
The wine route and ethnic food festivals is now a fait accomplice and takes place on an annual basis, but as well as these highly structured events, Ethnic Food Festivals abroad are becoming a major programme within the Partnership 2000 framework.

Businesses for women are mushrooming in the urban and rural region of Beit Shemesh -Mate Yehuda and this model is being copied in other peripheral areas of Israel.
 
Two new programmes emerged in the South - Ofaqim and Netivot. At the opening evening of the Forum in Netivot, an invitation was extended to visit the Beit Shemesh/Mate Yehuda Model, and the invitation was extended to women from Sderot.
 
On May 14th, 50 women accompanied by social and community workers from Netivot and Sderot visited and the day was divided into two areas of study: urban and rural.

The visitors learned from women in Beit Shemesh who set up business, beginning with not much more than determination and resolution to succeed and after a wonderful Ethnic lunch prepared by 10 different cooks, who participate in the Women's Empowerment Programme, they visited two moshavim.Their two hostesses - Moshav Agur and Moshav Tsafririm explained how they became involved in preparing ethnic meals and participating in the Ethnic Food Festivals in Israel and abroad.
 
To end the visit, the group was hosted for tea at Musa, a restaurant run by two enterprising women who also started from scratch and have succeeded in building up a good business.

The group had a wonderful time - they were received with much warmth and friendship.