A very broad spectrum of people and organisations have an interest in the issue of access to information: trade unions, residents' organisations, environmental groups, women's groups, development organisations, human rights organisations and many others.

All these groups would benefit from having a good access to information law enacted.

However, many will not have a very clear idea of what exactly access to information is, how to campaign for it, or what should be included in an access to information law.

This section of the website makes no assumptions about the level of knowledge of access to information. It looks at why access to information is important, what an access to information law should contain, and how to set about campaigning for one.

The need for this in Latin America is considerable. Only a few countries in the region have proper access to information laws. Several other countries have constitutional provisions on access to information but no legislation implementing it, whereas some countries currently have draft laws under discussion.

But even when there is a draft law - or one already in place - it is still important to be able to scrutinise the contents of these laws and make sure that they are the best provisions possible. And then it is important to ensure that a new access to information law is properly implemented.