Dr. Yunus and Grameen bank were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his revolutionary and visionary idea of alleviating global poverty, particularly by empowering women.
Source/Credit: Germantown Islam Examiner |
By Shahina Bashir | April 22, 2013
Professor Muhammad Yunus, who won the Noble Peace Prize in 2006, visited the staff of the South Asian Division of the Voice of America on Friday, April 19. Professor Yunus who received the Congressional Gold Medal , the country’s top civilian award on the April 17, was invited by the Chief of Bangla Service, Roquia Haider, for a reception. Professor Yunus is the first Muslim to receive this prestigious award. The award ceremony took place in the rotunda under the US Capitol’s dome and was presented by House Speaker, John Boehner.
Speaking about the Congressional Gold Medal at the VOA reception, Professor Yunus remarked, “I am very happy that US Congress gives me this recognition which means that they also endorse what I am doing and that’s the most important message that it’s not simply awarding a big prize to someone but at the same time you are applauding the ideas and principles that stay behind it.”
Dr. Yunus and Grameen bank were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his revolutionary and visionary idea of alleviating global poverty, particularly by empowering women. In 1976, as the head of the department of Economics of Chittagong University, Bangladesh, Yunus learnt something which was beyond belief. He visited the village, Jobra, near the city of Chittagong and went to the local residents’ houses and found that though they had skills and talents they were caught in a vicious cycle- a kind of bondage- which prevented them from breaking away from the curse of poverty. When his assistant conducted a survey of forty-people he found out that these skilled workers collectively borrowed $27 from the village money-lenders to buy materials for their products and they made a profit of only 2 cents. It was from this knowledge that he developed the concept of microcredit and microfinance by providing small loans (microloans) to the needy without any collateral.
“All the time I have been trying to do simple things; trying to do in a way small and simple. And I am lucky in a way that it worked and that’s what microcredit is all about. When you hear for the first time it puzzles you as to why others didn’t do it before and it puzzled me too why everybody didn’t do it before. Now that it has happened it drew a lot of attention that it really helps people to make a start in life. And I have always mentioned that you need a dollar to catch a dollar. If nobody gives you in your hand the first dollar you can’t catch any other dollar, so you remain in the same position as deprived and rejected person. So the first dollar you get in your hand is kind of a starting up engine,” Dr. Yunus said.
Following the success of microfinance and the creation of Grameen Bank, Dr. Yunus went on to initiate another concept to help eliminate poverty, called ‘social business’. According to Dr. Yunus, ‘social business’ is “a cause-driven business. In a social business, the investors/owners can gradually recoup the money invested, but cannot take any dividend beyond that point. Purpose of the investment is purely to achieve one or more social objectives through the operation of the company; no personal gain is desired by the investors. The company must cover all costs and make profit, at the same time achieve the social objective, such as, healthcare for the poor, housing for the poor, financial services for the poor, nutrition for malnourished children, providing safe drinking water, introducing renewable energy, etc. in a business way.”
Professor Yunus was grateful to have had the chance to visit the staff of the South Asian division of VOA.
“Thank you for endorsing me also and inviting me to your facilities and giving me a chance to meet you. Thank you very much.”
Read original post here: USA: Nobel laureate, Professor Muhammad Yunus visits the Voice of America
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