Forum conducted nine courses in social economics and influencing the local budget for groups of women from all around Israel. Final projects completed during these courses often examine areas of gender inequality, particularly the representation of women in various positions and the terms of their employment. Among other responses: Local sports programs were altered in Herzliya to provide more opportunities for girls; The towns of Beit Dagan (Jewish) and Arraba (Arab) approved a budget for activities designed to promote the status of women in the community for the first time; In the city of Be'ersheba more women were appointed to municipal committees; The municipality of Tel Aviv set up a committee to find ways of raising the status of women employed by the city. As part of its gender work, the Adva Center drew up a policy document on the need for gender mainstreaming within the departments of the Industry, Trade and Labor Ministry. The minister has since instructed the director of his Research Department to submit a plan for collecting data by gender for the purpose of promoting women's employment. In addition, the Adva Center worked with other women's organizations to: Convince the Knesset not to raise the retirement age for women by 2–5 years. An Adva staff person wrote an influential position paper on the issue and testified at two public hearings. Monitor monies allocated to public day care. At the end of 2011 the monitors found that no funding had been spent and that no new day care facilities had been constructed. Host Swedish gender expert Gertrude Astrom and arrange for her to appear at a Knesset conference on the gender mainstreaming of local budgets, as well as appearances before the Ministry of Finance and the National Insurance Institute. Partnership for women's rights Seven leading organizations in Israel that have partnered to promote women's rights. The "Bringing Women to the Fore: The Feminist Partnership" and is coordinated through the Jewish Women's Collaborative International Fund. Its partnering organizations include Adva Center, Women's Spirit, Itach-Maaki: Women Lawyers for Social Justice, Mahut Center, The Israel Women's Network (IWN), Economic Empowerment for Women (EEW), and Achoti (Sister) for Women in Israel. Awards In recognition of the work of the Adva Center, its academic director, Shlomo Swirski, was awarded the Naftaly Prize in Economics and Social Science for 2005 by the municipality of Tel-Aviv-Jaffa. In 2006, the Adva Center was the recipient