The Arab Bedouin are indigenous inhabitants of the Negev Desert, traditionally semi-nomadic pastoralists. In the late 1940s, they were estimated to number between 65,000 - 90,000. During the establishment of the State of Israel, the vast majority of the Negev Arab Bedouin fled or was expelled to the surrounding Arab countries; only some 11,000 remained. The community was settled in a designated Restricted Area (sayig) in the northeastern Negev, east and northwest of Beer Sheva. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the government formulated a program for the resettlement of the Arab Bedouin population into planned, urban-style settlements.

Today, the Arab Bedouin community of the Negev numbers approximately 170,000 – a quarter of the total population of the Negev. The population lives in 7 ‘recognized’ townships,  and 45 villages - 9 that were recently recognized that constitute the Abu Basma Regional Council, and 36 ‘unrecognized’ villages that vary in population from 600 to 4,000 individuals. These villages, which have no legal recognition by the Israeli government, lack basic services such as running water, electricity, roads, telephone service, sewage systems, building permits and educational, health and social services.

This imposed process of urbanization forced the Arab Bedouin to abandon their way of life and means of livelihood, leading to attenuation of their traditional social system. Adaptation to the demands of Israeli society and integration into the modern world of work often presents overwhelming challenges that are further exacerbated by the indifference and not-always-benign neglect of the establishment.

• Infant mortality is 4 times higher in the Arab Bedouin population than in the Jewish population.

• With the exception of a limited number of home-care facilities and pre-schools supported by the Ministry of Social Welfare and those developed by AJEEC, no provisions or programs exist for this age group.

For the Arab Bedouin women of the 'transitional generation' (aged 30+), the transition from the traditional to the modern world has been especially disruptive and traumatic. Arab-Bedouin women lost their traditional roles as producers and partners in the economy, as well as the influence they exerted on the affairs of the tribe when the women worked outside the home in the fields, carried water from the well, wove and set up the tent –  influential and meaningful activities within their tribe and society. Urbanization left the woman imprisoned within four walls, deprived them of the freedom of an open tent and open range; dispossessed them from the land which was their source of employment and income and transformed the women into consumers dependent on their husbands. Women's status in the community declined; today, for many women, their role is now limited to child-bearing, the only path remaining open for self-expression and for providing the feeling that they can contribute to society.

Most of the Arab Bedouin women in the Negev still live within the parameters of the conservative societal traditions. Women are usually not permitted to leave the residential boundaries of the clan or tribe unaccompanied by a male relative. Given the lack of opportunities for employment within the village, they often remain unemployed. Some 70% of the women over age 35 are illiterate, and thousands of girls are forced to end their education upon completion of elementary school, for lack of high schools in their immediate vicinity.