Autobiography of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate: The Banker to the Poor

Author: Muhammad Yunus
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Publish Date: Not available
Features: In 1983, Muhammad Yunus founded Grameen Bank, focusing on providing microloans to thepoor people of Bangladesh. His goal was to help the poor achieve individual entrepreneurship, enabling them to permanently escape poverty. This vision was born in 1976, when he personally lent $27 to 42 rural women in his village who made bamboo stools. With just a small amount of money, they could buy raw materials and start a business. Yunus's microloans helped them permanently escape poverty. Yunus firmly believed that borrowing was a basic human right, and he proposed a simple yet wise solution to poverty: provide loans suitable for the poor, teach them a few effective financial principles, and then, they could help themselves. Yunus's theory was proven by practice. Grameen Bank has provided $3.8 billion in loans to 2.4 million rural Bangladeshi families. Today, more than 250 institutions are operating based on the Grameen model in nearly 100 countries, and Grameen Bank is leading the global movement to eliminate poverty through microfinance.