BANGLADESH: Bangladeshi economist Mohammad Yunus and his Grameen Bank wins the Nobel Peace Prize

Bangladeshis were celebrating on Saturday (October 14), one day after Bangladeshi economist Mohammad Yunus and his Grameen Bank won the Nobel Peace Prize. Yunus received a stream of visitors at the headquarters of the Grameen Bank in Dhaka, many carrying garlands. He planned to travel to his hometown of Chittagong in the southeast on Sunday (October 15) where locals had planned a massive reception. "We are very proud both at a personal level and for the country and of course for our organisation. This was overdue and a great, important thing for Bangladesh," said a fellow economist Rehman Sobhan whilst surrounded by hundreds of joyful well wishers waiting to greet Yunus. Yunus, 66, set up a new kind of bank in 1976 to lend to the very poorest in his native Bangladesh, particularly women, enabling them to start up small businesses without collateral. In doing so, he pioneered microcredit, a system copied in more than 100 nations from the United States to Uganda. The bank, which has turned a profit in all but three years, lends to 6 million people, 96 percent of them women, and has not received donor funds in eight years. It counts beggars among its members, giving them interest-free loans and life insurance News of the award is likely to give the country a much-needed boost and welcome distraction from never-ending strikes and political infighting ahead of elections next year. The disaster-prone country is one of the world's most densely populated, with many of its 140 million people struggling to eke out a living. On the streets, people were happy that Yunus had received the prize. "As Dr. Yunus got the Nobel Prize, we police people also congratulate him and we feel great," said Nazrul Islam, a policeman. "As Dr Yunus got nobel prize for peace I am feeling proud for him. This is the only great honour we have achieved after our liberation , it is something really big," said Jesmin Sultana, a doctor. The victors were surprise winners of the 10 million Swedish crown ($1.36 million) award from a field of 191 candidates. Earlier in the day, the laureate and his supporters laid a wreath on a memorial in Dhaka commemorating the country's Language Movement. Yunus, known as the "banker of the poor" was surrounded by dozens of supporters and media as he carried a large red wreath to the site, paying tribute to the movement in 1952 which recognized Bengali or the Bangla language as the state language. It was the nation's first step towards independence from Pakistan, which was eventually achieved in 1971. "There's a fantastic celebration going on. It's a wonderful news for all of us, for Bangladesh as a whole. And also for microcredit, we are been doing this for last thirty years. Our people, young people have worked very hard to make a dream come true and today, in a way, that's come true because the world have recognised that we did something people can rely on in getting poor people out of poverty," said Yunus.

ITN Source | October 15, 2006

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