Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung@ 40 in Ghana Fraternity Message from International Federation of Women Lawyers-Fida-Ghana to Friedrich- Ebert- Stiftung on the occasion of FES' 40th Anniversary in Ghana It has been forty(40) years of solid contribution towards promoting a women's rights regime and fostering democratic governance in Ghana. On behalf of the International Federation of Women Lawyers, FIDA-Ghana, we send you fraternal greetings and congratulate you on this monumental occasion of your fortieth(40th) anniversary. The story of FES cannot be told without recounting the numerous opportunities and platforms presented to defenders of women's rights organisations such as FIDA­Ghana, in ensuring gender equity in the country. In 1995, with FES support two very critical areas affecting gender relations; property rights and violence against women began the whole process of putting gender violence and women's right to property in the public domain. These seminars culminated in the call for a domestic violence law, by FIDA-Ghana, which with the added push from various Women NGO's ended with a passage of a Domestic Violence Act in February 2007. FES was therefore very influential in providing spaces for discussion in the deliberative processes regarding legislation for a Domestic Violence Law. This story continues with a legal rights awareness and Legal literacy seminar whose main objective was to assess FIDA's impact in promoting Legal awareness among the Ghanaian populace, a preparation towards Beijing 1995. The seminar concluded with the recommendation that both women and men had the civic responsibility to know about the laws that protects their rights. 78