The British Government on Thursday lauded the human rights record of Ghana over the last few years and pledged its continuous support to help build upon the strong foundations established.

Mr Ruben Gwynn, Deputy British High Commissioner, said this at a day's media sensitisation seminar and launching of a handbook on; "The basic rights of the Ghanaian woman" in Accra.

He said the visit of British Prime Minister, Tony Blair to the Ghana underlined the support and commitment of Britain to the process. The book is a simplification of the major provisions of the United Nation's Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the provisions on women in the 1992 Constitution of Ghana.

He said the establishment of Human Rights Project Fund (HRPF) under the foreign policy directives in 1998 as a source of funding for human rights projects worldwide demonstrated the commitment of the British government.

He explained that support for human rights was an integral part of the work of the Foreign and Commonwealth Offices (FCO) world-wide and that, " the FCOs are to work through international forums and bilateral relationships to spread the values of human rights, civil liberties and democracy."

Mr Gwynn, who also launched the book, said through the HRPF 14 civil society organisations in Ghana have benefit from a total of 300,000 pounds sterling on projects such as organising women's rights training workshops, a programme on rural women's and girls' emancipation and the production of 24 radio dramas to help improve women's legal literacy.

The others were a Prison Service Development Programme to help the service formulate a strategic reform plan, a children's election project to help develop awareness of democratic issues and techniques among the future voters of Ghana.

Mrs Gladys Asmah, Minister for Women and Children's Affairs, said government had released over 3.28 billion cedis for disbursement under the Women's Development Fund (WDF) to assist rural women farmers to cultivate maize, cassava and soya beans. She said, "this is in recognition of the contribution of women to national development", adding, "they are the backbone of the family and the Ghanaian economy."