PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum - View Single Post - Micro Credit Concept Wins Nobel Peace Prize

Kuan · #1 10-15-2006, 10:35 AM

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061013/wl_afp/nobelpeace_061013102146

Quote:

by Guy Jackson Fri Oct 13, 6:21 AM ET

OSLO (AFP) - The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh and the Grameen Bank which offers loans to poor people without any financial security.
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"Lasting peace cannot be achieved unless large population groups find ways in which to break out of poverty. Micro-credit is one such means," said Ole Danbolt Mjoes, the chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, on Friday.

"Muhammad Yunus has shown himself to be a leader who has managed to translate visions into practical action for the benefit of millions of people, not only in Bangladesh, but also in many other countries."

Yunus, dubbed "Banker to the Poor," began fighting poverty during a 1974 famine in Bangladesh with a loan of 27 dollars to some villagers to save them from the clutches of the moneylenders.

The economics professor is now seen as one of the main developers of the concept of "microcredit," which gives entrepreneurs who are too poor to qualify for traditional bank loans very small sums to start up their own enterprises.

Borrowers used the loans to buy their own tools and equipment, cutting out the middlemen and transforming their lives through self-employment.

The Grameen Bank has now 6.5 million borrowers of which 96 percent are women. According to the Grameen website, the bank has 2,226 branches in 71,371 villages. "Grameen" means "village" or "of the village."

Danbolt Mjoes said: "Loans to poor people without any financial security had appeared to be an impossible idea. From modest beginnings three decades ago, Yunus has, first and foremost through Grameen Bank, developed micro-credit into an ever more important instrument in the struggle against poverty.

"Grameen Bank has been a source of ideas and models for the many institutions in the field of micro-credit that have sprung up around the world."

Yunus himself told Norway's NRK television by telephone that he was "delighted, really delighted".

"You are endorsing a dream to achieve a poverty-free world," he said.

"Micro-credit has proved to be an important liberating force in societies where women in particular have to struggle against repressive social and economic conditions," the Nobel committee noted.

Yunus' Nobel victory was a surprise -- bookmakers had tipped former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari for his efforts in brokering a peace deal last year in the Indonesian province of Aceh.

Australia's former foreign minister Gareth Evans had also been tipped for his International Crisis Group which analyses conflicts and proposes solutions.

Yunus said he would definitely be attending the ceremony in Oslo on December 10 to receive his prize which comes with a 10-million-kronor (1.37-million-dollar, 1.07-million-euro) cheque.