Muhammad Yunus (born 28 June 1940) is a
BangladeshBangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
i economist and founder of the
Grameen BankThe Grameen Bank is a microfinance organization and community development bank started in Bangladesh that makes small loans to the impoverished without requiring collateral...
, an institution that provides
microcreditMicrocredit is the extension of very small loans to those in poverty designed to spur entrepreneurship. These individuals lack collateral, steady employment and a verifiable credit history and therefore cannot meet even the most minimal qualifications to gain access to traditional credit...
(small loans to poor people possessing no collateral) to help its clients establish creditworthiness and financial self-sufficiency. In
2006 Yunus and Grameen received the
Nobel Peace PrizeThe Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
. Yunus himself has received several other national and international honors.
He is a member of advisory board at
Shahjalal University of Science and TechnologyShahjalal University of Science and Technology, commonly known by its initials SUST, is a state supported public research university located in Sylhet, Bangladesh. It is the first specialized Science & technology University of the country. The medium of instructions is English...
. Previously, he was a professor of economics at
Chittagong UniversityThe University of Chittagong is a public university situated at the suburban area of Hathazari, Chittagong district, Bangladesh. The university was established in 1966. The campus is at 22 km north to the Chittagong city. It has a shuttle train service from 7:00 AM to 9:30 PM for the...
where he developed the concepts of
microcreditMicrocredit is the extension of very small loans to those in poverty designed to spur entrepreneurship. These individuals lack collateral, steady employment and a verifiable credit history and therefore cannot meet even the most minimal qualifications to gain access to traditional credit...
and
microfinanceMicrofinance is the provision of financial services to low-income clients or solidarity lending groups including consumers and the self-employed, who traditionally lack access to banking and related services....
. These loans are given to entrepreneurs too poor to qualify for traditional bank
loanA loan is a type of debt. Like all debt instruments, a loan entails the redistribution of financial assets over time, between the lender and the borrower....
s. He is the author of
Banker to the PoorBanker to the Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty is an autobiography of 2006 Nobel Peace Prize Winner and Grameen Bank founder Muhammad Yunus. It details how Yunus developed the idea of Microcredit that he employed in the Grameen Bank....
and two books on Social Business Models, and a founding board member of
Grameen AmericaGrameen America is a 501 nonprofit microfinance organization based in New York and founded by 2006 Nobel Peace Prize recipient Muhammad Yunus. Grameen America's first branch, located in Jackson Heights, NY, opened in January 2008...
and
Grameen FoundationGrameen Foundation, founded as Grameen Foundation USA, is a global 501 non-profit organization based in Washington DC that works to replicate the Grameen Bank microfinance model around the world through a global network of partner microfinance institutions...
. In 1996, Yunus introduced mobile phones to rural villages. Grameen Intel is just one of hundreds of public and private partnerships now mediated through
Youth & Yunus. In early 2007 Yunus showed interest in launching a political party in Bangladesh named
Nagorik ShaktiNagorik Shakti was a proposed political party in Bangladesh. It was conceived in by 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus. "Nagorik Shakti" means "Citizen's Power". Yunus communicated his ideas to the people of the nation and asked for feedbacks by writing a total of three letters addressed...
(Citizen Power), but later discarded the plan. He is one of the founding members of
Global EldersThe Elders is an international non-government organisation of public figures noted as elder statesmen, peace activists, and human rights advocates, brought together by Nelson Mandela in 2007...
.
Yunus also serves on the board of directors of the
United Nations FoundationThe United Nations Foundation started up in 1998 with a $1 billion grant from Ted Turner in order to support the United Nations in executing its programs worldwide. The creation of the Foundation was intended to encourage other donors to also support the UN in its activities...
, a public charity created in 1998 with entrepreneur and philanthropist
Ted TurnerRobert Edward "Ted" Turner III is an American media mogul and philanthropist. As a businessman, he is known as founder of the cable news network CNN, the first dedicated 24-hour cable news channel. In addition, he founded WTBS, which pioneered the superstation concept in cable television...
’s historic $1 billion gift to support UN causes. The UN Foundation builds and implements public-private partnerships to address the world’s most pressing problems, and broadens support for the UN.
In March 2011, after months of government attack, the Bangladesh government fired Yunus from his position at Grameen Bank, citing legal violations and an age limit on his position. Bangladesh's High Court affirmed the removal on 8 March. Yunus and Grameen Bank are appealing the decision, claiming Yunus' removal was politically motivated.
Professor Yunus was chosen by Wharton School of Business for PBS documentary, as one of 'The 25 Most Influential Business Persons of the Past 25 Years'. In 2006,
Time magazineTime is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
listed him under "60 years of Asian Heroes" as one of the top 12 business leaders. In 2008, in an open online poll, Yunus was voted the 2nd topmost intellectual person in the world on the list of Top 100 Public Intellectuals by
Prospect MagazineProspect is a monthly British general interest magazine, specialising in politics and current affairs. Frequent topics include British, European, and US politics, social issues, art, literature, cinema, science, the media, history, philosophy, and psychology...
(UK) and Foreign Policy (US).
Early years
The third of nine children, Yunus was born on 28 June 1940 to a Muslim family in the village of Bathua, by the Boxirhat Road in
HathazariHathazari is an Upazila of Chittagong District in the Division of Chittagong, Bangladesh.-Geography:Hathazari is located at . It has 52,594 household units and total area of 251.28 km². The main river flowing on Hathazari Upazila is Halda...
,
ChittagongChittagong District is a district located in the south-eastern region of Bangladesh. It is a part of the Chittagong Division. The port city of Chittagong, second largest city in Bangladesh, is located in this district.-History:...
, in
BangladeshBangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
. His father was Hazi Dula Mia Shoudagar, a jeweler, and his mother was Sufia Khatun. His early childhood years were spent in the village. In 1944, his family moved to the city of
ChittagongChittagong ) is a city in southeastern Bangladesh and the capital of an eponymous district and division. Built on the banks of the Karnaphuli River, the city is home to Bangladesh's busiest seaport and has a population of over 4.5 million, making it the second largest city in the country.A trading...
, and he was shifted to Lamabazar Primary School from his village school. By 1949, his mother was afflicted with psychological illness. Later, he passed the matriculation examination from
Chittagong Collegiate SchoolThe Chittagong Collegiate School is a secondary school in Chittagong, the southern port city in Bangladesh. Established in 1836, it is one of the oldest schools in the country.The headmaster of the school is Mohammad Aziz Uddin.-History:...
securing the 16th position among 39,000 students in
East PakistanEast Pakistan was a provincial state of Pakistan established in 14 August 1947. The provincial state existed until its declaration of independence on 26 March 1971 as the independent nation of Bangladesh. Pakistan recognized the new nation on 16 December 1971. East Pakistan was created from Bengal...
. During his school years, he was an active
Boy ScoutScouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement with the stated aim of supporting young people in their physical, mental and spiritual development, that they may play constructive roles in society....
, and traveled to
West PakistanWest Pakistan , common name West-Pakistan , in the period between its establishment on 22 November 1955 to disintegration on December 16, 1971. This period, during which, Pakistan was divided, ended when East-Pakistan was disintegrated and succeeded to become which is now what is known as Bangladesh...
and
IndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
in 1952, and to Canada in 1955 to attend
JamboreesIn Scouting, a jamboree is a large gathering of Scouts who rally at a national or international level.The 1st World Scout Jamboree was held in 1920, and was hosted by the United Kingdom...
. Later when Yunus was studying at
Chittagong CollegeChittagong College is a well-respected college in Bangladesh. It is also the second college established in Bangladesh after Dhaka College. Having started out as Chittagong District school in 1836, it was upgraded to an Intermediate college in 1869. It started providing science education in...
, he became active in cultural activities and won awards for drama acting. In 1957, he enrolled in the department of economics at Dhaka University and completed his BA in 1960 and
MAA Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
in 1961.
After graduation
Following his graduation, Yunus joined the Bureau of Economics as a research assistant to the economical researches of Professor Nurul Islam and
Rehman SobhanRehman Sobhan is a prominent Bangladeshi economist and civil society leader. He played a leading role in the Bengali nationalist movement in the 1960s, including authoring the Two Economies Theory and drafting the Six point demands of Bengali nationalists...
. Later he was appointed as a lecturer in economics in
Chittagong CollegeChittagong College is a well-respected college in Bangladesh. It is also the second college established in Bangladesh after Dhaka College. Having started out as Chittagong District school in 1836, it was upgraded to an Intermediate college in 1869. It started providing science education in...
in 1961. During that time he also set up a profitable
packaging factoryPackaging is the science, art, and technology of enclosing or protecting products for distribution, storage, sale, and use. Packaging also refers to the process of design, evaluation, and production of packages. Packaging can be described as a coordinated system of preparing goods for transport,...
on the side. He was offered a Fulbright scholarship in 1965 to study in the United States. He obtained his PhD in economics from
Vanderbilt UniversityVanderbilt University is a private research university located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, the university is named for shipping and rail magnate "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided Vanderbilt its initial $1 million endowment despite having never been to the...
in the United States through the
graduate program in Economic Development (GPED) in 1971. From 1969 to 1972, Yunus was an assistant professor of economics at
Middle Tennessee State UniversityMiddle Tennessee State University, commonly abbreviated as MTSU, is a public university located in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, United States....
in
MurfreesboroMurfreesboro is a city in and the county seat of Rutherford County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 108,755 according to the United States Census Bureau's 2010 U.S. Census, up from 68,816 residents certified during the 2000 census. The center of population of Tennessee is located in...
,
TNTennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
.
During the
Bangladesh Liberation WarThe Bangladesh Liberation War was an armed conflict pitting East Pakistan and India against West Pakistan. The war resulted in the secession of East Pakistan, which became the independent nation of Bangladesh....
in 1971, Yunus founded a citizen's committee and ran the Bangladesh Information Center, with other Bangladeshis living in the United States, to raise support for liberation. He also published the Bangladesh Newsletter from his home in
NashvilleNashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
. After the War, Yunus returned to Bangladesh and was appointed to the government's Planning Commission headed by Nurul Islam. He found the job boring and resigned to join
Chittagong UniversityThe University of Chittagong is a public university situated at the suburban area of Hathazari, Chittagong district, Bangladesh. The university was established in 1966. The campus is at 22 km north to the Chittagong city. It has a shuttle train service from 7:00 AM to 9:30 PM for the...
as head of the Economics department. He became involved with
poverty reductionPoverty is the state of human beings who are poor. That is, they have little or no material means of surviving—little or no food, shelter, clothes, healthcare, education, and other physical means of living and improving one's life....
after observing the
famine of 1974The Bangladesh famine of 1974 refers to a period of mass starvation beginning in March 1974 and ending in about December of the same year. The famine is considered the worst in recent years; it was characterised by massive flooding along the Brahmaputra river as well as high...
, and established a rural economic program as a research project. In 1975, he developed a Nabajug (New Era) Tebhaga Khamar (three share farm) which the government adopted as the Packaged Input Programme. In order to make the project more effective, Yunus and his associates proposed the Gram Sarkar (the village government) programme.
Introduced by then president
Ziaur RahmanPresident Ziaur Rahman, Bir Uttam, was a Bangladeshi politician and general, who read the declaration of Independence of Bangladesh on March 26, 1971 on behalf of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. He later became the seventh President of Bangladesh from 1977 until 1981...
in late 1970s, the Government formed 40,392 village governments (gram sarkar) as a fourth layer of government in 2003. On 2 August 2005, in response to a petition filed by Bangladesh Legal Aids and Services Trust (BLAST) the High Court had declared Gram Sarkar illegal and unconstitutional.
Grameen Bank
In 1976, during visits to the poorest households in the village of Jobra near
Chittagong UniversityThe University of Chittagong is a public university situated at the suburban area of Hathazari, Chittagong district, Bangladesh. The university was established in 1966. The campus is at 22 km north to the Chittagong city. It has a shuttle train service from 7:00 AM to 9:30 PM for the...
, Yunus discovered that very small loans could make a disproportionate difference to a poor person. Jobra women who made
bambooBamboo is a group of perennial evergreens in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family....
furniture had to take out
usuriousUsury Originally, when the charging of interest was still banned by Christian churches, usury simply meant the charging of interest at any rate . In countries where the charging of interest became acceptable, the term came to be used for interest above the rate allowed by law...
loans for buying bamboo, to pay their profits to the moneylenders. His first loan, consisting of US$27.00 from his own pocket, was made to 42 women in the village, who made a net profit of
BDTThe Taka is the currency of Bangladesh. Bangladesh Bank, the central bank of the country controls the issuance of the currency except one taka and two taka notes, which are the responsibility of Ministry of Finance of the government of Bangladesh...
0.50 (US$0.02) each on the loan. Accumulated through many loans, this vastly improving Bangladesh's ability to export and import as it did in the past, resulting in a greater form of globalization and economic status.
Dr.
Akhtar Hameed KhanAkhtar Hameed Khan was a Pakistani development activist and social scientist credited for pioneering microcredit and microfinance initiatives, farmers' cooperatives, and rural training programmes in the developing world. He promoted participatory rural development in Pakistan and other developing...
, founder of the Pakistan Academy for Rural Development (now
Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development), is credited alongside Yunus for
pioneerInnovation is the creation of better or more effective products, processes, technologies, or ideas that are accepted by markets, governments, and society...
ing the idea. From his experience at Jobra, Yunus, an admirer of Dr. Hameed, realized that the creation of an institution was needed to lend to those who had nothing. While traditional banks were not interested in making tiny loans at reasonable interest rates to the poor due to high repayment risks, Yunus believed that given the chance the poor will repay the borrowed money and hence
microcreditMicrocredit is the extension of very small loans to those in poverty designed to spur entrepreneurship. These individuals lack collateral, steady employment and a verifiable credit history and therefore cannot meet even the most minimal qualifications to gain access to traditional credit...
could be a viable
business modelA business model describes the rationale of how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value...
.
Yunus finally succeeded in securing a loan from the government
Janata BankJanata Bank is a state-owned commercial bank of Bangladesh established in 1971. Its headquarter is situated at Motijheel in Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh...
to lend it to the poor in Jobra in December 1976. The institution continued to operate by securing loans from other banks for its projects. By 1982, the bank had 28,000 members. On 1 October 1983 the pilot project began operations as a full-fledged bank and was renamed the
Grameen BankThe Grameen Bank is a microfinance organization and community development bank started in Bangladesh that makes small loans to the impoverished without requiring collateral...
(Village Bank) to make loans to poor Bangladeshis. Yunus and his colleagues encountered everything from violent radical leftists to the conservative clergy who told women that they would be denied a Muslim burial if they borrowed money from the Grameen Bank. As of July 2007, Grameen Bank has issued US$ 6.38 billion to 7.4 million borrowers. To ensure repayment, the bank uses a system of "solidarity groups". These small informal groups apply together for loans and its members act as co-guarantors of repayment and support one another's efforts at economic self-advancement.
The Grameen Bank started to diversify in the late 1980s when it started attending to unutilized or underutilized fishing ponds, as well as irrigation pumps like deep tubewells. In 1989, these diversified interests started growing into separate organizations, as the fisheries project became Grameen Motsho (Grameen Fisheries Foundation) and the irrigation project became Grameen Krishi (Grameen Agriculture Foundation). Over time, the Grameen initiative has grown into a multi-faceted group of profitable and non-profit ventures, including major projects like Grameen Trust and
Grameen FundGrameen Fund is a not-for-profit company in Bangladesh established by Muhammad Yunus to provide risk capital to small and medium enterprises beyond the scope of Grameen Bank's objectives of providing microcredit to the very poor...
, which runs equity projects like Grameen Software Limited, Grameen CyberNet Limited, and Grameen Knitwear Limited, as well as
Grameen TelecomGrameen Telecom is a not-for-profit company in Bangladesh established by Dr. Muhammad Yunus with a partial stake in Grameen Phone . GTC has driven the pioneering GP program of Village Phone that enables rural poor to own a cell-phone and turn it into a profit making venture...
, which has a stake in
GrameenphoneGrameenphone , widely known as GP, is the leading telecommunications service provider in Bangladesh. With more than 32 million subscribers , Grameenphone is the largest cellular operator in the country...
(GP), biggest private sector phone company in Bangladesh. The Village Phone (Polli Phone) project of GP has brought cell-phone ownership to 260,000 rural poor in over 50,000 villages since the beginning of the project in March 1997.
The success of the Grameen model of microfinancing has inspired similar efforts in a hundred countries throughout the developing world and even in industrialized nations, including the United States. Many, but not all, microcredit projects also retain its emphasis on lending specifically to women. More than 94% of Grameen loans have gone to women, who suffer disproportionately from poverty and who are more likely than men to devote their earnings to their families. For his work with the Grameen Bank, Yunus was named an
Ashoka: Innovators for the PublicAshoka: Innovators for the Public is a nonprofit organization based in Arlington, VA, supporting the field of social entrepreneurship. Ashoka was founded by Bill Drayton in 1981 to identify and support leading social entrepreneurs through a Social Venture Capital approach with the goal of...
Global Academy Member in 2001.. In the book,
Grameen Social Business Model,
Rashidul Bari shows how
Grameen Social Business Model(GSBM)- has gone from being theory to become an inspiring practice adopted by leading universities (e.g., Glasgow), entrepreneurs (e.g., Franck Riboud) and corporations (e.g., Danone) across the globe. Through Grameen Bank,
Rashidul Bari claims that Yunus demonstrated how
Grameen Social Business Model can harness the entrepreneurial spirit to empower poor women and alleviate their poverty. One of the conclusions of Yunus' concepts is that the poor are like a “bonsai tree,” and they can do big things if they get access to the social business that holds the potential to redeem the failed promise of free-market enterprise.
Recognition
Muhammad Yunus was awarded the 2006
Nobel Peace PrizeThe Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
, along with Grameen Bank, for their efforts to create economic and social development. In the prize announcement The
Norwegian Nobel CommitteeThe Norwegian Nobel Committee awards the Nobel Peace Prize each year.Its five members are appointed by the Norwegian Parliament and roughly represent the political makeup of that body.-History:...
mentioned:
Muhammad Yunus was the first
BangladeshBangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
i and third
BengaliThe Bengali people are an ethnic community native to the historic region of Bengal in South Asia. They speak Bengali , which is an Indo-Aryan language of the eastern Indian subcontinent, evolved from the Magadhi Prakrit and Sanskrit languages. In their native language, they are referred to as বাঙালী...
to ever get a Nobel Prize. After receiving the news of the important award, Yunus announced that he would use part of his share of the $1.4 million award money to create a company to make low-cost, high-nutrition food for the poor; while the rest would go toward setting up an eye hospital for the poor in Bangladesh.
Former U.S. president
Bill ClintonWilliam Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
was a vocal advocate for the awarding of the Nobel Prize to Muhammed Yunus. He expressed this in
Rolling StoneRolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine as well as in his autobiography
My LifeMy Life is a 2004 autobiography written by former President of the United States Bill Clinton, who left office on January 20, 2001. It was released on June 22, 2004. The book was published by the Knopf Publishing Group; the book sold in excess of 2,250,000 copies...
. In a speech given at
University of California, BerkeleyThe University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
in 2002, President Clinton described Dr. Yunus as "a man who long ago should have won the Nobel Prize [and] I’ll keep saying that until they finally give it to him." Conversely,
The EconomistThe Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
stated explicitly that Yunus was a poor choice for the award, stating: "...the Nobel committee could have made a braver, more difficult, choice by declaring that there would be no recipient at all."
He has won a number of other awards, including the
Presidential Medal of FreedomThe Presidential Medal of Freedom is an award bestowed by the President of the United States and is—along with thecomparable Congressional Gold Medal bestowed by an act of U.S. Congress—the highest civilian award in the United States...
in 2009, the King Abdul Aziz medal in 2007, the
Ramon MagsaysayRamón del Fierro Magsaysay was the third President of the Republic of the Philippines from December 30, 1953 until his death in a plane crash in 1957. He was elected President under the banner of the Nacionalista Party.-Early life:Ramon F...
Award, the
World Food PrizeThe World Food Prize is an international award recognizing the achievements of individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity or availability of food in the world.-The Prize:...
, the
Sydney Peace PrizeThe Sydney Peace Prize is awarded by the Sydney Peace Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation associated with the University of Sydney. The Sydney Peace Prize is the only International Peace Prize awarded in Australia....
, and in December 2007 the Ecuadorian Peace Prize. Additionally, Dr. Yunus has been awarded 26
honorary doctorateAn honorary degree or a degree honoris causa is an academic degree for which a university has waived the usual requirements, such as matriculation, residence, study, and the passing of examinations...
degrees, and 15 special awards. Bangladesh government brought out a commemorative stamp to honor his Nobel Award. In January 2008, Houston, Texas declared 14 January as "Muhammad Yunus Day". He was invited and gave the
MITThe Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
commencement address delivered on 6 June 2008, and Oxford's
Romanes LectureThe Romanes Lecture is a prestigious free public lecture given annually at the Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford, England.The lecture series was founded by, and named after, the biologist George Romanes, and has been running since 1892. Over the years, many notable figures from the Arts and Sciences have...
on 2 December 2008.
He received the Dwight D. Eisenhower Medal for Leadership and Service from the Eisenhower Fellowships at a ceremony in Philadelphia on 21 May 2009. He was also voted 2nd in Prospect Magazines 2008 global poll of the world's top 100 intellectuals.
Yunus was named among the most desired thinkers the world should listen to by the FP 100 (world's most influential elite) in the December 2009 issue of Foreign Policy magazine.
On 1 March 2010, Yunus was awarded the prestigious Presidential Award from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. This is the highest honor available from the University.
On 15 May 2010, Yunus gave the
commencement speechA commencement speech or commencement address is a speech given to graduating students, generally at a university, although the term is also used for secondary education institutions. The "commencement" is a ceremony in which degrees or diplomas are conferred upon graduating students...
at
Rice UniversityWilliam Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University or Rice, is a private research university located on a heavily wooded campus in Houston, Texas, United States...
for the graduating class of 2010.
On 16 May 2010, Yunus gave the commencement speech at
Duke UniversityDuke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
for the graduating class of 2010. During this ceremony, he was also awarded an honorary degree, Doctor of Humane Letters.
A documentary on Yunus' work titled
To Catch a DollarTo Catch a Dollar: Muhammad Yunus Banks on America is an 2010 documentary film directed and produced by Gayle Ferraro about the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner's ongoing campaign against poverty around the world...
was shown at the 2010
Sundance Film FestivalThe Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
and is due to be released in theaters in the US on September 2010.
In 2010, The British Magazine
New StatesmanNew Statesman is a British centre-left political and cultural magazine published weekly in London. Founded in 1913, and connected with leading members of the Fabian Society, the magazine reached a circulation peak in the late 1960s....
Listed Muhammad Yunus at 40th in the list of "The World's 50 Most Influential Figures 2010".
In October 2010, He received the Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award at
The Asian AwardsThe Asian Awards recognises and rewards exemplary achievement across 12 categories that include business, philanthropy, entertainment, culture and sport...
On September 22, 2011 the documentary film,
"Bonsai People – The Vision of Muhammad Yunus", the first documentary film that looks his full body of work from
microcreditMicrocredit is the extension of very small loans to those in poverty designed to spur entrepreneurship. These individuals lack collateral, steady employment and a verifiable credit history and therefore cannot meet even the most minimal qualifications to gain access to traditional credit...
to
social businessSocial business, as the term is commonly used, was first defined by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Prof. Muhammad Yunus and is described in his books Creating a world without poverty—Social Business and the future of capitalism and Building Social Business—The new kind of capitalism that serves...
, premiered at the
United NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
.
Yunus received 48 honorary doctorate degrees from universities from
ArgentinaArgentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
,
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
,
BangladeshBangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
,
BelgiumBelgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
,
CanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
,
Costa RicaCosta Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
,
IndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
,
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
,
JapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
,
KoreaKorea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
,
LebanonLebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
,
Malaysia,
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,
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,
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
,
ThailandThailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
,
TurkeyTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, UK, USA and
PeruPeru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
.
Political activity
In early 2006 Yunus, along with other members of the civil society including Professor
Rehman SobhanRehman Sobhan is a prominent Bangladeshi economist and civil society leader. He played a leading role in the Bengali nationalist movement in the 1960s, including authoring the Two Economies Theory and drafting the Six point demands of Bengali nationalists...
, Justice Muhammad Habibur Rahman, Dr
Kamal HossainDr. Kamal Hossain , born on 20 April 1937, is a notable Bangladeshi politician, statesman and lawyer. He is credited as being one of the principal authors of the Constitution of Bangladesh.- Education :...
,
Matiur RahmanMatiur Rahman is the editor of Daily Prothom Alo, the largest circulated Bangla language daily in Bangladesh. He is the recipient of the 2005 Ramon Magsaysay Award for journalism, Literature and Creative Communication Arts.-Early life:...
,
Mahfuz AnamMahfuz Anam is an editor and publisher of Daily Star, one of Bangladesh's mainstream English language newspapers. He is also the publisher of "Weekly 2000", a prominent weekly newsletter from Bangladesh as well as "Anandadhara", a popular entertainment fortnightly of the country...
and
Debapriya BhattchariyaDebapriya Bhattacharya is an economist from Bangladesh and the executive director of the CPD, Dhaka.-Life and Education:Debapriya Bhattcharya studied at St. Gregory's High School, Dhaka and Dhaka College, Dhaka. He did his M.Sc. in Economics with distinction. He obtained his Ph.D. from the...
, participated in a campaign for honest and clean candidates in national elections. He considered entering politics in the later part of that year. On 11 February 2007, Yunus wrote an open letter, published in the Bangladeshi newspaper Daily Star, where he asked citizens for views on his plan to float a political party to establish political goodwill, proper leadership and good
governanceGovernance is the act of governing. It relates to decisions that define expectations, grant power, or verify performance. It consists of either a separate process or part of management or leadership processes...
. In the letter, he called on everyone to briefly outline how he should go about the task and how they can contribute to it. Yunus finally announced the foundation of a new party tentatively called Citizens' Power (Nagorik Shakti) on 18 February 2007. There was speculation that the army supported a move by Yunus into politics. On 3 May, however, Yunus declared that he had decided to abandon his political plans following a meeting with the head of the interim government,
Fakhruddin AhmedDr Fakhruddin Ahmed is a noted Bangladeshi economist, civil servant, and a former governor of the Bangladesh Bank, the country's central bank...
.
On 18 July 2007 in
JohannesburgJohannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
, South Africa,
Nelson MandelaNelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
,
Graça MachelGraça Machel, DBE is a Mozambican politician and humanitarian. She is the third wife of former South African president Nelson Mandela and the widow of Mozambican president Samora Machel...
, and
Desmond TutuDesmond Mpilo Tutu is a South African activist and retired Anglican bishop who rose to worldwide fame during the 1980s as an opponent of apartheid...
convened a group of world leaders to contribute their wisdom, independent leadership and integrity together to the world. Nelson Mandela announced the formation of this new group, The
Global EldersThe Elders is an international non-government organisation of public figures noted as elder statesmen, peace activists, and human rights advocates, brought together by Nelson Mandela in 2007...
, in a speech he delivered on the occasion of his 89th birthday. Archbishop Tutu is to serve as the Chair of The Elders. The founding members of this group include Machel, Yunus,
Kofi AnnanKofi Atta Annan is a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the UN from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2006...
,
Ela BhattEla Ramesh Bhatt is the founder of the Self-Employed Women's Association of India . A lawyer by training, Bhatt is a respected leader of the international labour, cooperative, women, and micro-finance movements who has won several national and international awards.-Early life:Ela Bhatt was born in...
,
Gro Harlem BrundtlandGro Harlem Brundtland is a Norwegian Social democratic politician, diplomat, and physician, and an international leader in sustainable development and public health. She served three terms as Prime Minister of Norway , and has served as the Director General of the World Health Organization...
,
Jimmy CarterJames Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
,
Li ZhaoxingLi Zhaoxing is a former foreign minister of the People's Republic of China. He held that office from 2003 to 2007.He graduated from Peking University in 1964...
, and
Mary RobinsonMary Therese Winifred Robinson served as the seventh, and first female, President of Ireland from 1990 to 1997, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, from 1997 to 2002. She first rose to prominence as an academic, barrister, campaigner and member of the Irish Senate...
. The Elders are to be independently funded by a group of Founders, including
Richard BransonSir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is an English business magnate, best known for his Virgin Group of more than 400 companies....
,
Peter GabrielPeter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
, Ray Chambers; Michael Chambers; Bridgeway Foundation; Pam Omidyar, Humanity United; Amy Robbins; Shashi Ruia, Dick Tarlow; and The
United Nations FoundationThe United Nations Foundation started up in 1998 with a $1 billion grant from Ted Turner in order to support the United Nations in executing its programs worldwide. The creation of the Foundation was intended to encourage other donors to also support the UN in its activities...
. Yunus is a member of the
Africa Progress PanelThe Africa Progress Panel consists of a group of distinguished individuals chaired by Kofi Annan whose objective is to track and encourage progress in Africa, and to underscore shared responsibility between African leaders and their international partners for sustaining it.The APP was originally...
(APP), an independent authority on Africa launched in April 2007 to focus world leaders’ attention on delivering their commitments to the continent. The Panel launched a major report in London on Monday 16 June 2008 entitled Africa's Development: Promises and Prospects.
In July 2009, Yunus became a member of the
SNV Netherlands Development OrganisationSNV Netherlands Development Organisation is a non-profit, international development organisation, established in the Netherlands in 1965.SNV aims to alleviate poverty by enabling increased income and employment opportunities and increasing access to basic services...
International Advisory Board to support the organisation's poverty reduction work.
Since 2010, Yunus has served as a Commissioner for the
Broadband Commission for Digital DevelopmentThe Broadband Commission for Digital Development was established in May 2010 as a joint initiative by the International Telecommunication Union and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization...
, a UN initiative which seeks to use broadband internet services to accelerate social and economic development.
He also serves on the advisory board of the
Holcim Foundation for Sustainable ConstructionThe Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction is a non-profit organization. Its goal is to raise awareness to the role that architecture, engineering, urban planning and construction have in achieving a sustainable built future...
, a foundation supporting initiatives that combine sustainable construction solutions with architectural excellence.
Controversies
Since late November 2010, several allegations have been made against Yunus. These allegations started when a documentary, titled “Caught in Micro Debt”, was aired on Norwegian television on 30 November 2010, criticizing microcredit and blaming Grameen Bank on several points . They developed during a time when larger questions were being raised about the benefits of microfinance and its effects on poverty alleviation, particularly in regards to several microfinance institutions (MFIs) in India and Mexico .
The allegations against Yunus turned political in nature when the government of Bangladesh – led by Sheikh Hasina Wajed, who reportedly has viewed Yunus as a political rival since he looked into setting up a political party in 2007 – suddenly turned against him and the concept of microfinance (which she had formerly championed ), accusing it of “sucking blood from the poor” . In the book,
Grameen Social Business Model,
Rashidul Bari wrote that the political vendetta in Bangladesh by
Sheikh Hasina against Muhammad Yunus could be understood as a modern-day replay of the famous conflict between Pope Urban VIII and Galileo Galilei.
"Pope Urban VIII put 70-year-old Galileo in prison in 1632 for condemning and rejecting Ptolemy's geocentric model, which was adopted by the early Christian Church. In the same spirit, Sheikh Hasina who labeled Yunus as a “blood sucker of poor people”—unleashed her propaganda machine (e.g., AMA Muhith) to remove Yunus from Grameen—and used the High Court and Supreme Court to justify her decision. Why did Pope Urban VIII insult the Father of Astronomy? Because Galileo rejected the accepted Christian Church view, that the earth is the center of the universe, and that all other celestial objects orbit around it. Why has Hasina insulted the Father of Microcredit? Because, in 2007, Yunus criticized Hasina, accusing her of corruption.[emphasis added]".
The Government announced a review into the activities of Grameen Bank on 11 January 2011 ; this review is currently ongoing. In February, several international leaders, such as
Mary RobinsonMary Therese Winifred Robinson served as the seventh, and first female, President of Ireland from 1990 to 1997, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, from 1997 to 2002. She first rose to prominence as an academic, barrister, campaigner and member of the Irish Senate...
, stepped up their defense of Yunus through a number of efforts, including the founding of a formal network of supporters known as “Friends of Grameen” .
On 15 February 2011, the Finance Minister of Bangladesh,
Abul Maal Abdul MuhithAbul Maal Abdul Muhith is an economist, diplomat, and a Bengali Language Movement veteran from Bangladesh. He was born in Sylhet in 1934.-Education:Mr. Muhith secured first place in his Intermediate examination in 1951 from Sylhet MC College...
, declared that Muhammad Yunus should “stay away” from Grameen Bank while it is being investigated.
On 2 March 2011, Muzammel Huq – a former employee of Grameen Bank and vocal critic of Yunus whom the government had appointed Grameen Bank chairman in January – announced to the media that Yunus had been fired as Managing Director of the Bank . Jannat-E Quanine, General Manager of the Grameen Bank issued a Grameen Bank Statement clarifiying that Yunus was “continuing in his office” pending review of the legal issues surrounding the controversy .
On 3 March 2011, Muhammad Yunus filed himself a writ at the High Court challenging the legality of the decision from the Bangladeshi Central Bank to remove him as Managing Director of Grameen Bank . The same day, nine elected directors of Grameen Bank filed a second writ petition . The High Court hearing on these petitions, initially planned on 6 March 2011, was postponed. On 8 March 2011, the Bangladeshi Court finally confirmed the dismissal of Yunus as Grameen Bank Managing Director .
Following Hillary Clinton, John Kerry expressed his support to Yunus in a statement released on 5 March 2011 and declared that he was “deeply concerned” by this affair. In Bangladesh, thousands of people protested and formed human chains on 5 March 2011 to support Yunus .
Disproved allegations from a Danish documentary
A Danish documentary called Caught in Micro Debt, produced and directed by journalist Tom Heinemann, aired on Norwegian national television NRK on 30 November 2010. It made a number of allegations against Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank. Those allegations have been disproved by later inquiries.
The documentary falsely accused Yunus and Grameen Bank of:
- Diverting 7 billion taka (about 100 million dollars) given by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation
The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation is a directorate under the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Its task is to ensure effective foreign aid, with quality assurance and evaluation. NORAD both finances NGOs, and does its own research and projects. The current director general is...
(NORAD) from Grameen Bank to another organization called Grameen Kalyan in 1996 – an allegation widely spread in the Bangladeshi electronic media on December 1, 2010. Nonetheless, on 6 December, NORAD published an official statement clearing Yunus and Grameen Bank from any wrongdoing on this point, following a comprehensive review of NORAD’s support commissioned by the Minister of International Development.
- Charging its borrowers annual interest rates of 30% to 200%. However, on 4 January, MicroFinance Transparency (MFT) – engaged by Grameen Bank as an independent expert to investigate this issue – released a report 9 March 2011, saying that all of Grameen Bank’s rates were completely transparent (an unprecedented rating in MFT’s examinations of MFIs and their rates) and showing that the highest effective interest rate charged for Grameen Bank’s “basic loan” was 22.84%. In the investigation it showed that Grameen actually has the lowest interest rates of any microcredit program in Bangladesh. The basic loan charges a flat 10% but since it is paid out over 44 weeks, it comes out to just under 18% APR.
- Making empty promises to its borrowers and putting them in jeopardy with bad debt-recovery practices. Yet, after the documentary was aired on Norwegian television, Gayle Ferraro, an independent filmmaker who was already in Bangladesh working on a project, went to interview a woman featured in the documentary, who Heinemann claimed was the daughter of one of Yunus’ original borrowers, and who claimed that her mother died in poverty. Ferraro discovered that the woman interviewed was not who the filmmaker claimed she was, and that the actual borrower from the documentary did not die in poverty, but was alive and able to tell her story about how she had benefitted from microcredit.
However, the allegations quickly spread through the Bangladesh media. To quote a leading Bangladeshi economist
Rehman SobhanRehman Sobhan is a prominent Bangladeshi economist and civil society leader. He played a leading role in the Bengali nationalist movement in the 1960s, including authoring the Two Economies Theory and drafting the Six point demands of Bengali nationalists...
, “Rather than first seeking clarification and response from Grameen Bank as to the validity of the TV program, some sections of the media and society pounced on it with unseemly enthusiasm, using it as an opportunity to cite wrongdoing in a widely respected organization.” Muhammad Yunus asked for consistent and transparent investigations on these matters.
Questioning microfinance – the ‘loan sharks’ issue
The allegations against Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank have been made in a context where some people have begun to question the effectiveness of microfinance, prompted by the actions of some for-profit MFIs in India and Mexico. Coercion, peer pressure and physical harassment have been reportedly used as loan repayment practices in some specific microfinance institutions. Commercialization of microcredit prompted Muhammad Yunus to state that he “never imagined that one day microcredit would give rise to its own breed of loan sharks.”
The lure of profits has attracted some for-profit microfinance institutions to hold Initial Public Offerings (IPOs), including the largest Indian microfinance institution,
SKS MicrofinanceSKS Microfinance Limited" is a non-banking finance company , regulated by the Reserve Bank of India. SKS claims its mission is to eradicate poverty by providing financial services to the poor....
, which held an IPO in July 2010. In September 2010, Yunus and
Vikram AkulaVikram Akula is the founder and former chairperson of SKS Microfinance, an organization that offers microloans and insurance to poor women in impoverished areas of India. He stepped down as the SKS chief in November 2011.-Early life:...
, founder of SKS, debated during the Clinton Global Initiative meeting, where Yunus made his position on the SKS IPO clear: “Microcredit is not about exciting people to make money off the poor. That's what you're doing. That's the wrong message completely.”
It is widely assumed that the government of Bangladesh is exploiting this “moral crisis around microcredit” to oust Muhammad Yunus.
Political motivations behind the allegations
Though Grameen Bank was quickly cleared by the Norwegian government of all allegations surrounding misused or misappropriated funds in December 2010, in March 2011 the Bangladeshi government launched a three-month investigation of all Grameen Bank’s activities. This inquiry prevented Muhammad Yunus from participating in the
World Economic ForumThe World Economic Forum is a Swiss non-profit foundation, based in Cologny, Geneva, best known for its annual meeting in Davos, a mountain resort in Graubünden, in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland....
.
On 18 January 2011, Yunus appeared in court in a defamation case filed by a local politician from a minor left-leaning party in 2007, complaining about a statement that Yunus made to the AFP news agency, “Politicians in Bangladesh only work for power. There is no ideology here”. At the hearing, Yunus was granted bail and exempted from personal appearance at subsequent hearings.
These latter investigations have fueled suspicion that many attacks might be politically orchestrated, related to difficult relations between Sheikh Hasina and Yunus that date to early 2007, when Muhammad Yunus created his own political party, an effort he dropped in May 2007.
Transition to a new management
Muhammad Yunus is now 71 years old, 11 years beyond the legal retirement age for banks in Bangladesh. The Finance Minister, who is himself 77 years old, has called for Prof. Yunus to step down and declared, ”We need to redefine the bank’s role and bring it under closer regulation.”
The government recently appointed a new chairman, Muzammel Huq, who was a former Grameen Bank employee. He has publicly criticized Prof. Yunus, saying, ‘I think he is a good man with a small heart ... He cannot give credit to anyone but himself”. On 28 February 2011, he presented a letter written by a Bangladesh Bank official at a meeting of the Grameen Bank Board of Directors, saying that Muhammad Yunus “staying in the post for an indefinite period ... was not within the law,” and asking that the meeting be adjourned; however, because the letter was not addressed to the Managing Director, the rest of the Board – including the two other government-appointed Directors – determined that the meeting should continue as planned.
A journalist of the Telegraph has commented that “the Bangladeshi Government should remove Chairman Huq immediately. If calling Yunus a ‘chicken hearted man’ in the New York Times is his way of showing commitment, independence and integrity, then something is seriously wrong. In his defense, it’s a pretty accurate description of someone who is determined to destroy a force for good!”
Prof. Yunus has stated his desire for an orderly transition, to make sure that the Bank’s governing practices and transparency are effective and ensure that the institution does not turn into a political instrument if taken over by the government: “I am riding the tiger. I cannot just get off the tiger without drawing the attention of that tiger. So I have to very quietly do it.”
Allegations involving partners: the food case and the phone case
On 27 January 2011, Muhammad Yunus appeared on court about a food-adulteration case filed by the
Dhaka City CorporationDhaka City Corporation is the former self-governing corporation that is associated with the task of running the affairs of the city of Dhaka. The incorporated area is divided into several wards. Each ward has an elected ward commissioner. The mayor of the city is elected by popular vote every five...
(DCC) Food Safety Court, accusing him of producing an “adulterated” yogurt in that the fat content would not comply with the legal minimum requirements. This yogurt is produced by
Grameen DanoneGrameen Danone Foods, popularly known as "Grameen Danone" is a social business enterprise which, launched in 2006, has been designed to provide children with many of the key nutrients that are typically missing from their diet in rural Bangladesh. It is run on 'No loss, No dividend' basis...
, a
social businessSocial business, as the term is commonly used, was first defined by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Prof. Muhammad Yunus and is described in his books Creating a world without poverty—Social Business and the future of capitalism and Building Social Business—The new kind of capitalism that serves...
joint venture between Danone and Grameen Bank that works to alleviate poverty by providing opportunities for street vendors to sell the yogurt and to improve nutrition among the poor by providing nutrient-fortified yogurts to children in Bangladesh. According to Prof. Yunus’s lawyer, these allegations are “false and baseless”. At the request of Prof.Yunus lawyers, pointing procedural irregularities and errors, this case is now considered by the High Court.
On 15 February 2011, Prof. Yunus was summoned by a court in Pabna (in North Bangladesh) to appear on 18 April in a fraud case involving Grameen Phone. This case concerns a Grameen village phone user, who received overdue bills even though she had paid the bills regularly.
Family
In 1967 while Yunus attended
Vanderbilt UniversityVanderbilt University is a private research university located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, the university is named for shipping and rail magnate "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided Vanderbilt its initial $1 million endowment despite having never been to the...
, he met Vera Forostenko, a student of
Russian literatureRussian literature refers to the literature of Russia or its émigrés, and to the Russian-language literature of several independent nations once a part of what was historically Russia or the Soviet Union...
at Vanderbilt University and daughter of Russian immigrants to
TrentonTrenton is the capital of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Trenton had a population of 84,913...
, New Jersey, U.S. They were married in 1970. Yunus's marriage with Vera ended within months of the birth of their baby girl,
Monica YunusMonica Yunus is a Bangladeshi-Russian-American operatic soprano who has performed with many of the world's finest opera companies and music ensembles...
(b. 1979 Chittagong), as Vera returned to New Jersey claiming that Bangladesh was not a good place to raise a baby. Yunus later married Afrozi Yunus, who was then a researcher in
physicsPhysics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
at Manchester University. She was later appointed as a professor of physics at
Jahangirnagar UniversityJahangirnagar University is a public university of Bangladesh. It is the one and only residential university in the country.The university was established in 1970 by the government of Pakistan by the Jahangirnagar Muslim University Ordinance, 1970. During the first two years, it operated as a...
. Their daughter Deena Afroz Yunus was born in 1986.
His brothers are also active in academia. His brother Muhammad Ibrahim is a professor of physics at Dhaka University and the founder of The Center for Mass Education in Science (CMES), which brings science education to adolescent girls in villages. His younger brother Muhammad Jahangir is a popular television presenter and a well known social activist in Bangladesh. He is also the moderator of several Talk show programmes in Bangladesh.
Monica YunusMonica Yunus is a Bangladeshi-Russian-American operatic soprano who has performed with many of the world's finest opera companies and music ensembles...
, his elder daughter, is a
BangladeshiBangladeshi Americans are Americans of Bangladeshi descent. The overwhelming majority of Bangladeshi Americans are Bengalis. Most of them have immigrated from Sylhet region with a long trading history. Bangladeshi immigrants arrived in the United States especially since the early 1990s to become...
-
Russian AmericanRussian Americans are primarily Americans who traces their ancestry to Russia. The definition can be applied to recent Russian immigrants to the United States, as well as to settlers of 19th century Russian settlements in northwestern America which includes today's California, Alaska and...
operatic soprano, working in New York City.
Publications
Books by Muhammad Yunus
- Three Farmers of Jobra; Department of Economics, Chittagong University; 1974
- Planning in Bangladesh: Format, Technique, and Priority, and Other Essays; Rural Studies Project, Department of Economics, Chittagong University; 1976
- Jorimon and Others: Faces of Poverty (co-authors: Saiyada Manajurula Isalama, Arifa Rahman); Grameen Bank; 1991
- Grameen Bank, as I See it; Grameen Bank; 1994
- Banker to the Poor
Banker to the Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty is an autobiography of 2006 Nobel Peace Prize Winner and Grameen Bank founder Muhammad Yunus. It details how Yunus developed the idea of Microcredit that he employed in the Grameen Bank....
: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty; Public Affairs; 2003; ISBN 9781586481988
- A World Without Poverty: Social Business and the Future of Capitalism; Public Affairs; 2008; ISBN 9781586484934
- Building Social Business: The New Kind of Capitalism that Serves Humanity’s Most Pressing Needs ; Public Affairs; 2010; ISBN 9781586488246
Articles by Muhammed Yunus
- World Policy Journal
World Policy Journal is a magazine on international relations published by SAGE Publications for the World Policy Institute. It contains primarily policy essays, but also book reviews, interviews, and historical essays...
: "Economic Security for a World in Crisis"; World Policy Journal; Summer 2009;
On Muhammad Yunus
- David Bornstein; The Price of a Dream: The Story of the Grameen Bank and the Idea That Is; Simon & Schuster; 1996; ISBN 068481191X
See also
- Yunus Centre
The Yunus Centre, situated in Dhaka, Bangladesh is the world’s first and foremost think tank for issues related to social business and one of the leading institutions that are working in the field of poverty alleviation and sustainability...
- Fazle Hasan Abed
Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, KCMG is a social worker with dual Bangladeshi/ British nationality and the founder and chairman of BRAC . For his outstanding contributions to social improvement, he has received the Ramon Magsaysay Award, the UNDP Mahbub Ul Haq Award and the inaugural Clinton Global Citizen...
- Islamic banking
Islamic banking is banking or banking activity that is consistent with the principles of Islamic law and its practical application through the development of Islamic economics. Sharia prohibits the fixed or floating payment or acceptance of specific interest or fees for loans of money...
- The Green Children
The Green Children are a European musical duo, who write and produce atmospheric electro-pop music.Milla Sunde , from Norway, and Marlow Bevan , from England, also established The Green Children Foundation, to support microcredit, education and healthcare...
are a European musical duo. In June 2006, they shot a music video in Bangladesh to celebrate the work of Yunus
External links
Articles and interviews
Videos