Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus
by Hylton Jolliffe
Our first post: a provocative interview with Muhammad Yunus, the Bangladeshi banker and economist who’s best known for his pioneering work in micro-lending which won him and the Grameen Bank which he founded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. In the attached clip you’ll find an interview with Yunus in which he previews some of the same issues he’ll be addressing in the keynote he’ll be delivering at World Health Congress Europe this week.
A little more on Yunus: an economist by training, founded the Grameen Bank in 1976. Under his direction, Grameen has loaned more than $4.5 billion in amounts averaging $200 to Bangladesh’s poor. He serves on the Board of Directors of many international organizations that include the United Nations Foundation and the Calvert World Values Fund. He has received numerous awards including the World Food Prize (USA, 1994), the Sydney Peace Prize (Australia, 1998), the Indira Gandhi Prize (India, 1998), and the Rotary Award for World Understanding (USA, 1999). He is the author of “Banker To The Poor”.
