INSTITUTIONAL HISTORY

Women’s Communication and Information (CIMAC) was founded in 1988 by a group of communication professionals.  Its mission is to generate and publish news information, ensure that journalists incorporate women’s human rights into their reporting and promote media as an educational and social transformation tool to be used as a tool for civil society organizations to share their activities, demands and proposals.

Our vision is to contribute to social change and the democratization of the media.  We seek to influence national and global agendas for human rights and social equity. 

CIMAC has four programmatic areas:

The Multimedia News Agency – We develop and distribute free written information on a daily and weekly basis to over 2000 subscribers, we broadcast news on the radio and we feed the cimacnoticias website www.cimacnoticias.com.

The Social Communication Program – Through this program CIMAC provides training and consultation to non-governmental and governmental institutions, journalists and other communication specialists on how to incorporate a non-sexist, non-discriminatory, gender perspective into mass media.

The Journalist Networks Program – CIMAC promotes the creation of journalists networks in order to promote media democratization and create media spaces for the production and dissemination of information on women’s social condition. Currently, CIMAC coordinates the Network of Journalists from Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, the National Journalist Network and the Tri-national Journalist Network: Mexico, Canada and the U.S. And CIMAC is part of the  collegiate coordination of the International Journalist Network with Gender Vision,.

The Documentation Center – Through the Documentation Center CIMAC facilitates information research for journalists that allow them to contextualize their stories and investigations.

Achievements

• The European Network of Women Journalists in the Spanish State nominated CIMAC for the Principe de Asturias Award in 2007 in the Communication and Humanities category to recognize the work of the News Agency, specialized in women’s issues.

• Partnerships with seven news agencies: DDN, APRO, Prensa Latina, Cerigua, ASIC, Semlac and Amecopress to republish and broadcast cimacnoticias products. Other 70 printed media and radio stations in Mexico and Spanish speaking countries use the information, as well.

• 20,000 daily visits to www.cimacnoticias.com and 3,400 potential visits at ProdigyMSN, Latin America. Our internet outreach includes 99 media sites and 111 NGO sites in America and Europe.

• The National System of News at the Mexican Institute of Radio transmits a story by one of our reporters every day throughout the country.

• We generate and share a radio news pack that is sent to more than 120 broadcasters in Mexico and other Spanish speaking countries.

• Organization and consolidation of the Network of Journalists from Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean; the National Journalist Network; the Tri-national Journalist Network: Canada, Mexico and the U.S; and the International Journalist Network with Gender Vision with members from 22 countries and the Latin American Journalists Network.

• CIMAC operates the Mexican News Agency for Children’s Rights (AMNDI), a chapter of the ANDI Network in 12 countries, to monitor the rights of children in Mexican media.

• We build a documentary data base with over 30,000 titles, housed in the Comic Documentation Center.

• We broadcasted for five years (2003-2007) the weekly program Public and Private, one of the most popular at XEKQ the Citizen’s Radio, serving Mexico City, Estado de México, Morelos, Puebla, Hidalgo, Queretaro, Guerrero, Veracruz y Oaxaca.

• In 2006, we edited Equivalencia Parlamentaria, a bi-monthly magazine published by the Gender and Equity Commission at the Mexican Congress in partnership with CIMAC.

• 13 books on topics ranging from women’s participation in the elections to the experiences of women journalists in their daily work.

• Development of a television series on Democracy and Human Rights, transmitted in 2000 on public, cable and state television channels, reaching 20 million citizens.

Awards

• The Mexico City’s ombudsman recognized Communication and Information of Women in 2007 with the Hermila Galindo award for its 19 years defending and promoting women’s human rights and gender equity in Mexico City.

• National Journalism Award in 2007, for CIMAC’s news coverage of women raped by the military seeking for justice in Castaños, Coahuila.

• World Vision-Mexico recognizes CIMAC in 2007 for its news coverage of children and women’s issues with a gender perspective.

• Rostros de la Discriminación 2006 prize awarded by the Mexico City’s Ombudsman office (CDHDF) and the National Council to Prevent Discrimination (Conapred) for a series of stories on bi-national migration.

• The civil society organization, Catholics for a Free Choice-Mexico recognized CIMAC’s work during their XV anniversary celebration in November 2003.

• The International Planned Parenthood Federation, Western Hemisphere Region (IPPF) granted CIMAC the Rosa Cisneros Information Prize in September 2003 for their contribution to the defense and promotion of Sexual and Reproductive Rights.

• In July 2003 the Independent Commission for Human Rights in Morelos, Mexico officially recognized CIMAC’s contribution to defending Human Rights. 

• In April 2002 CIMAC was awarded the National María Lavalle Urbina Prize for its contribution to defending Women’s Human Rights.  This prize is sponsored by the Mexico Women’s Alliance and given annually to individuals.  CIMAC was the first social organization that has received this recognition. 

• Cimacnoticias website was considered the “Best in 2001 in Communication Media” by Yahoo – Mexico.