Days for Girls International Named .ORG of the Year

Mission-driven organization honored for #Masks4Millions and Periods Don't Pause for Pandemics campaigns that helped women and girls thrive across the globe

News provided by

Public Interest Registry

Dec 11, 2020, 11:15 ET

RESTON, Va., Dec. 11, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Public Interest Registry (PIR), the people behind .ORG, today named Days for Girls International as the .ORG of the Year for its ground-breaking work to improve health, education and livelihood for millions of women and girls around the world.

Last week, Days for Girls was also honored with the 2020 .ORG Impact Award in the Combatting Coronavirus category. For more information, please visit daysforgirls.org.

Days for Girls is being honored as part of the "10 Days of .ORG" online experience that celebrates the range of achievements that have healed, inspired, transformed and connected communities over the past year.

Each day of the 10-day celebration, which concludes today, places a spotlight on award-winning organizations and individuals making our communities a better place.

"We are so incredibly honored to be named the Combating Coronavirus and .ORG of the Year award winners," said Celeste Mergens, Founder and CEO of Days for Girls International. "This year was filled with unprecedented challenges for the organization, not just because delivering our usual services became more complicated, but because it brought a new challenge—the need for PPE. So thank you to Public Interest Registry and the .ORG Community for recognizing our efforts with these awards. This is the culmination of more than a decade's work in trying to improve the lives and livelihoods of women and girls around the world."

"Days for Girls International is a truly inspiring organization, helping make the world a better place," said Jon Nevett President and CEO of the Public Interest Registry. "Every day, Days for Girls is empowering women and girls to achieve their dreams by providing critical education and health resources to those who need them. On behalf of the entire PIR organization, I want to congratulate Days for Girls. Days for Girls represents the best of what .ORG has to offer. Finally, as the 10 Days of .ORG concludes, let me congratulate all the winners, finalists and .ORGs that submitted entries to this year's awards. It was an incredibly competitive year, with more than 500 .ORG nominees and I'm so proud of the incredible and amazing work that the .ORG Community is doing every day."

Since its founding in 2008, Days for Girls International has provided Days for Girls Kits and menstrual health education worldwide. Their efforts were expanded in a critical time during the Coronavirus Pandemic, providing PPE services, resources and education across the globe.

As the seriousness of the crisis emerged, the team created the #Masks4Millions campaign and participated in the Periods Don't Pause for Pandemics campaign. These brought together thousands of volunteers to assist in slowing the spread of COVID-19 by championing hygiene advocacy and ensuring resources reached the communities in need.

The organization hosted webinars and created informational posters on how to stop the spread of COVID-19 along with best practices for supporting women and girls through the pandemic's myriad challenges. Many of their leaders went door-to-door in remote villages to hand out educational resources and to talk about the importance of handwashing and mask-wearing.

In addition, Days for Girls supplied small grants to support the DfG Enterprises that were facing unsustainable conditions due to lockdowns. These grants, of up to $250, were used to provide emergency food, supplies to make DfG Kits or masks and transportation to teach handwashing lessons and deliver masks.

To date, Days for Girls has reached more than 1.8 million women and girls in 144 countries on 6 continents with quality, sustainable menstrual care solutions and health education.

In total, Days for Girls will receive $45,000 in donations to further their work of improving female health and education across the globe—$30,000 for.ORG of the Year and $15,000 for the Combatting Coronavirus Award.

2020 .ORG Impact Award Winners

Combatting Coronavirus

Days for Girls International
Masks for Millions & Periods Don't Pause for Pandemics

Fighting Hunger and Poverty

Food For Free
Improving access to healthy food within the greater Boston area

Championing Equality, Equity, Inclusion

Change Labs
Fostering Native American entrepreneurship for the Navajo and Hopi Nations

Promoting Education

SMASH
Building a strong, diverse and socially conscious tech workforce

Advancing Environmental Sustainability

Mangrove Action Project
Protecting the world's mangrove forests

Promoting A Safer Internet

Child Rescue Coalition
Protecting innocence through technology

Innovation Award

Crisis Tracker
Mapping violence in Central Africa

Outstanding Volunteer

Kayla Abramowitz, Chief Kid Officer of Kayla Cares 4 Kids
Collecting and donating items for kids in hospitals

.ORG Newcomer of The Year

Arwa Damon, President & Co-founder of INARA
Life-altering medical care for children from conflict areas who have catastrophic injuries or illnesses

.ORG of The Year

Days for Girls International
Masks4Millions & Periods Don't Pause for Pandemics

More than 500 organizations and individuals submitted entries for the 2020 .ORG Impact Awards. Submissions were reviewed and scored by a panel of judges who are leaders in the Internet, non-profit and marketing sectors. All nominations were required to be tied to an active website with a .ORG domain.

Award winners will receive donation amounts of up to $30,000 USD to an eligible charitable entity of their choice. Please visit www.orgimpactawards.org for complete rules and information.

About Days for Girls International:
Days for Girls International is an award-winning NGO that works to shatter stigma and limitations associated with menstruation for improved health, education and livelihoods. Through our Education & Access to Menstrual Products Strategy, Days for Girls provides holistic menstrual health education curriculum and increases women and girls' access to menstrual products. Through our Policy & Advocacy Strategy, Days for Girls educates and builds connections with national and international policymakers, coalitions and organizations who can advance, accelerate and amplify the importance of menstrual health in improving education and livelihood outcomes for women and girls. To date, Days for Girls has reached more than 1.7 million women and girls in 144 countries on 6 continents with quality, sustainable menstrual care solutions and health education.

About .ORG
.ORG is the original purpose-driven "generic" top-level domain (gTLD) with more than 10 million domain names registered worldwide. .ORG is open to everyone, providing a global platform for organizations, associations, clubs, businesses and individuals to bring their ideas to life. For more than 30 years, .ORG has built an enduring legacy of trust, preserving an open and secure Internet where diverse communities can establish a trusted online identity and freely share ideas. .ORG is powered by the non-profit Public Interest Registry (PIR). PIR has been a champion for a free and open Internet for more than 15 years with a clear mission to be an exemplary domain name registry, provide a trusted digital identity and help educate those who dedicate themselves to improving our world. PIR was founded by the Internet Society (internetsociety.org) in 2002 and is based in Reston, Virginia, USA. Visit www.TheNew.org for more information.

Media Contact: Scott Gerber – [email protected]

SOURCE Public Interest Registry