The Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG) has been involved in the production and dissemination of information, focused on promoting small-scale technology transfer, since it was founded in 1966. We take a positive view on the importance of knowledge: it is both a mission statement and organisational objective.

A challenge for ITDG is to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of knowledge sharing practices. Each of our country or regional offices has a library which serves the needs of staff and the public. Other avenues are being explored to see how we can bring information closer to our key users, the poorest in society. This paper presents various ways in which ITDG is exploring alternative ways of sharing knowledge.

Healthlink Worldwide is an international NGO (www.healthlink.org.uk), working with partners in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America to improve the use and impact of health information and health communications in poor and vulnerable communities. Over the last twenty-five years, Healthlink Worldwide has developed expertise in resource centre development, which is now co-ordinated through Source (www.asksource.info). A collaborative venture of Healthlink Worldwide, the Centre for International Child Health and Handicap International, Source is an international information support centre designed to strengthen the management, use and impact of information on health and disability.

The Source model brings together good practice in information management, capacity development in partnership with organisations in developing countries, and a unique collection of resources and integrated methods for communication around health. Source identifies, reviews, and signposts materials produced by, or appropriate to, developing country users, particularly ‘good practice’ in the field, and reflects the priorities of developing country information needs in its services and systems.

Along with the enormous growth in information made available by digital technology, which has had such an impact on our profession in the last fifteen years, Amnesty International has also undergone major changes in its approach to protecting human rights. So, before examining information and activism, I will briefly describe Amnesty International and its work on human rights, then look at the changes that it has undergone and give an outline of the movement's structure before going on to discuss information flow and how this contributes to activism in Africa. I will conclude with the challenges to both our activism in Africa and to our information work to support this activism.

Amnesty International is a membership organisation campaigning for the protection and promotion of human rights. It is largely funded by members’ activities and does not receive money from governments or political parties. There are about one million members worldwide and every two years an international meeting is held that decides the priorities of the movement.

Three groups of people are involved in making decisions about who should and who should not be given asylum in Britain. The most important are Home Office civil servants, caseworkers in the Integrated Casework Division of the Asylum Directorate. They make the initial decision to grant or refuse asylum and plainly need quick access to a wide range of materials if they are to make a fair decision and only the Home Office can grant asylum. A second tier of people becomes involved when someone is refused asylum and appeals against this decision. Many of these will seek the help of a solicitor or legal advisor who will assist them to prepare their appeal case and these will need to have very speedy access to materials which will enable them to understand the situation from which their client has fled. A small third tier of people exists.