[afro-nets] Bangladeshi economist is awarded Nobel Peace Prize for 2006

["Dr. Shamim ul Moula" <shamimul.moula@gmail.com>]

Bangladeshi economist is awarded Nobel Peace Prize for 2006
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Dear Colleagues,

Dr. Muhammad Yunus has been awarded The Nobel Peace
Prize http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2006/press.html for 2006. Following is the information about him:

*Muhammad Yunus* (born June 28 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_28, 1940<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1940>), is a Bangladeshi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh banker<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank>and economist <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economist>. He is the developer and founder of the concept of microcredit<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microcredit>, i.e. the extension of small loans <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loan> to entrepreneurs <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entrepreneur> too poor<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poor>to qualify for traditional bank <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank> loans. Yunus is also the founder of Grameen Bank <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grameen_Bank>. In 2006, they were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Peace_Prize>, "for their efforts to create economic and social development from below."http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Younus#_note-0#_note-0 Education and early career

Born in 1940 in Chittagong <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chittagong>, Yunus studied in Chittagong Collegiate School<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chittagong_Collegiate_School>and Chittagong College <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chittagong_College>. He completed his BA and MA from Dhaka University<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhaka_University>. He got his Ph.D. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ph.D.> in economics<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economics>from Vanderbilt University <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanderbilt_University> in 1969<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1969>after getting a Fulbright scholarship <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulbright_Program>. Later, he joined Chittagong University<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chittagong_University>as a professor of economics <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economics>. Yunus first got into the business of fighting poverty during a 1974http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1974 famine <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Famine> in Bangladesh. Yunus discovered that very small loans could make a significant difference in a poor person's ability to survive. For his contribution he won the Nobel Peace Prize jointly with his Grameen Bank for "for their work [in] social and democratic development" in 2006. He is the third Bengali to have won the Nobel prize after Poet Rabindranath Tagore and Economist Dr Amartya Sen.

His first loan consisted of $27 from his own pocket, which he lent to women in the village of Jobra — near Chittagong University — who made bamboo<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bamboo>furniture. They sold these items back to moneylenders to repay usurious loans that they had take out to buy the bamboo. With a net profit of 5 Bangladeshi taka (.02 USD), the women were unable to support themselves or their families. However, traditional banks were not interested in making tiny loans to poor people, who were considered repayment risks.

Founding the Grameen Bank

In 1976 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976>, Yunus founded the Grameen Bank<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grameen_Bank>to make loans to poor Bangladeshis. Since then the Grameen Bank has issued more than US$ 5.1 billion to 5.3 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. As it has grown, the Grameen Bank has also developed other systems of alternate credit that serve the poor. In addition to microcredit, it offers housing loans as well as financing for fisheries and irrigation<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irrigation>projects, venture capital <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venture_capital>, textiles<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Textile>, and other activities, along with other banking services such as savings. 

The success of the Grameen model has inspired similar efforts throughout the developing world and even in industrialized nations including the United States. The Grameen model of micro financing has been emulated in 23 countries. Many, but not all, microcredit projects also emulate its emphasis on lending specifically to women. More than 96 percent of Grameen loans have gone to women, who suffer disproportionately from poverty and who are more likely than men to devote their earnings to serving the needs of the entire family.

He was awarded the 2006 Nobel peace prize for his for efforts to create economic and social development from below.

Awards

   - 1978 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1978> — President's Award,    Bangladesh <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh>
   - 1984 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984> — Ramon Magsaysay Award<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramon_Magsaysay_Award>,    Philippines <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippines>
   - 1985 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1985> — Bangladesh Bank<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh_Bank>Award,    Bangladesh <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh>
   - 1987 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1987> — Shwadhinota Dibosh    Puroshkar (Independence Day Award), Bangladesh<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh>
   - 1989 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989> — Aga Khan Award For    Architecture, Switzerland http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switzerland    
- 1993 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993> — CARE<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CARE>Humanitarian Award
   - 1994 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994> — Winner of the World Food    Prize <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Food_Prize>
   - 1996 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996> — Winner of the Simón    Bolívar Prize<http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sim%C3%B3n_Bol%C3%ADvar_Prize&action=edit>of    UNESCO <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNESCO>
   - 1998 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998> — Receives Prince of    Asturias Award <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_of_Asturias_Award>
   - 1998 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998> — Winner of the Sydney    Peace Prize <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Peace_Prize>
   - 2004 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004> — Winner of The Economist<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Economist>newspaper's Prize for social and economic innovation.
   - 2006 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006> — Receives an Honorary    Doctorate from the American University of Beirut<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_University_of_Beirut>
   - 2006 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006> — Mother Teresa Award,    Kolkata, India
   - 2006 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006> — 8th Seoul Peace Prize
   - 2006 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006> — Nobel Peace Prize<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Peace_Prize>, shared with Grameen Bank <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grameen_Bank>

   - And 46 others, for a total of 61.

(From Wikipedia)   Dr. Shamim ul Moula Dhaka Bangladesh

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Dr. Shamim ul Moula
mailto:shamimul.moula@gmail.com