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Nobel-Winners Worthy of the Prize
By Amitabh Pal
December 12, 2006
The Nobels were awarded two days ago, and the winners in the two main categories are progressive Muslim men trying to better their societies and, indeed, all of humankind.
Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank (the co-recipients) deserve the Peace Prize. The model of microfinance that Yunus and the bank have pioneered is helping peoplewith a focus on womenthroughout South Asia and far beyond. (The Grameen Bank set up operations in Arkansas in 1986 under Governor Bill Clinton, and Bill and Hillary have been Yunuss friends and advocates for years.)
Yunuss life story is an inspiring one. An economist with a Ph.D. from an American university (Vanderbilt), he went back home to Bangladesh and hit upon microfinancethe lending of small loans to the indigent with repayment being guaranteed by self-help groupsas a way to uplift the underprivileged. The Grameen Bank that Yunus founded has become a model for similar attempts across the planet. Very fittingly, nine women Bangladeshi villagers traveled to Oslo to receive the prize on behalf of the bank.
Microcredit has proved to be an important liberating force in societies where women in particular have to struggle against repressive social and economic conditions, the Nobel Committee said in its award citation. Economic growth and political democracy can not achieve their full potential unless the female half of humanity participates on an equal footing with the male.
http://www.progressive.org/node/4310
By Amitabh Pal
December 12, 2006
The Nobels were awarded two days ago, and the winners in the two main categories are progressive Muslim men trying to better their societies and, indeed, all of humankind.
Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank (the co-recipients) deserve the Peace Prize. The model of microfinance that Yunus and the bank have pioneered is helping peoplewith a focus on womenthroughout South Asia and far beyond. (The Grameen Bank set up operations in Arkansas in 1986 under Governor Bill Clinton, and Bill and Hillary have been Yunuss friends and advocates for years.)
Yunuss life story is an inspiring one. An economist with a Ph.D. from an American university (Vanderbilt), he went back home to Bangladesh and hit upon microfinancethe lending of small loans to the indigent with repayment being guaranteed by self-help groupsas a way to uplift the underprivileged. The Grameen Bank that Yunus founded has become a model for similar attempts across the planet. Very fittingly, nine women Bangladeshi villagers traveled to Oslo to receive the prize on behalf of the bank.
Microcredit has proved to be an important liberating force in societies where women in particular have to struggle against repressive social and economic conditions, the Nobel Committee said in its award citation. Economic growth and political democracy can not achieve their full potential unless the female half of humanity participates on an equal footing with the male.
http://www.progressive.org/node/4310