Nobel Peace Prize Winner and bestselling author of "Banker to the Poor", Professor Muhammad Yunus joins us for this episode to talk about the future of International Aid and Development.
Famous for his efforts to help “create economic and social development from below”, Professor Yunus offers his frank thoughts on the post-pandemic world in this interview.
About Professor Muhammad Yunus:
Professor Muhammad Yunus was born and raised in Bangladesh, he completed his BA and MA in economics at Dhaka University, going onto to work as an Economics Lecturer in Chittagong College. He was then awarded a Fulbright scholarship to study his PhD in economics at Vanderbilt University in Tenesseee. Upon graduation, he went to on to become as assistant professor of economics at Middle Tennessee State University.
Inspired by the birth of Bangladesh in 1971, Prof Yunus returned to his home country and joined the Economics Department of University of Chittagong, after a brief spell in the Planning Commission. He became actively involved with poverty reduction, helping to organise various programs to combat the issue.
In 1976, during visits to very poor households in the village of Jobra near Chittagong University, Prof Yunus discovered that very small loans could make an enormous difference to a poor person’s life. Jobra women who made bamboo furniture had to take out loans at usurious rates for buying bamboo, and had to give up their profits to the moneylenders. Shocked by this reality, he lent $27.00 from his own pocket to 42 people in the village to help them pay back their loans to the loan sharks and be free.
Driven by his belief that credit should be a fundamental human right, Professor Muhammad Yunus established the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh in 1983. His objective was to help poor people escape from poverty by providing loans on terms suitable to them and by teaching them a few sound financial principles so they could help themselves. The Grameen bank went on to have millions of borrowers and provided services to tens of thousands of villages.
It was because of this, Professor Yunus and Grameen were jointly awarded the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize "for their efforts to create economic and social development from below."
Professor Yunus is the recipient of numerous international awards for his ideas and endeavours. He is also member of the board of the United Nations Foundation.
(Bio Source: nobelprize.org)