How a Bangladeshi professor became the father of microfinance by creating a 'Bank for the Poor'
Special Project
In 2006, when a Muslim professor from Bangladesh won the Nobel Prize for poverty alleviation, the world seemed surprised. Everyone probably asked, "Who is Muhammad Yunus and why was he given the world's most prestigious prize?"
Today Muhammad Yunus, who can rightly be called the father of microfinance, has come to Uzbekistan for the first time at the invitation of Central Asian University to deliver his lecture "The World of Three Zeros" on how to deal with poverty, unemployment and pollution.
See how a professor from Bangladesh was able to save millions of people from poverty in Bright Uzbekistan's special report.
The father of microfinance
"Poverty is not created by poor people, it is the system which created the poverty" - so says Muhammad Yunus, a man who has dedicated his life to fighting poverty.
When Yunus returned to Bangladesh in 1976 after the end of the war of independence, the first thing that caught his eye was the appalling poverty. People everywhere were dying of starvation. After studying the statistics, Yunus concluded that the government's humanitarian aid programmes were pointless. They did nothing to change the situation. More often than not, the meagre sums of money that reached the villagers were simply drunk. Every day after class, Yunus would go to the neighbouring village of Jobre and talk to the people. He tried to understand what people needed to overcome poverty and set a goal of helping at least one person a day. He gave money out of his own pocket to the residents to improve their situation in some way. Seeing how thrifty the residents were with their money, Yunus approached banks in Bangladesh to give micro-loans to the poor. He was ridiculed and told that the idea was a complete nonsense because the poor never repay the loans.
Grameen bank: the story of the 'Bank for the Poor'
It was then that he realised that this kind of thinking was the reason why poor people remain perpetually poor. This was the reason why Yunus founded Grameen bank, which translates as "village bank" but became more famous as "Bank for the Poor". The bank was based on the idea of microcredit. Through microcredit from Grameen Bank, the lives of many villages were transformed. Internal social perceptions and the appearance of the countryside changed. But the main result of Grameen Bank's work has been the success of its clients. In 2008, 65 per cent of the bank's clients crossed the poverty threshold. So the simple idea of microcredit has lifted millions of people out of poverty.
As of January 2022, the total number of borrowers of the bank was nearly 9.5 million, and more than 96 per cent of them were women.
The success of Grameen Bank has inspired governments in more than 64 countries around the world to set up similar projects, including the World Bank's initiative to finance Grameen-type schemes.
We asked Muhammad Yunus whether Uzbekistan could achieve similar results with microfinance to overcome poverty. To find out, see the report.
See how a professor from Bangladesh was able to save millions of people from poverty in Bright Uzbekistan's special report.
The father of microfinance
"Poverty is not created by poor people, it is the system which created the poverty" - so says Muhammad Yunus, a man who has dedicated his life to fighting poverty.
When Yunus returned to Bangladesh in 1976 after the end of the war of independence, the first thing that caught his eye was the appalling poverty. People everywhere were dying of starvation. After studying the statistics, Yunus concluded that the government's humanitarian aid programmes were pointless. They did nothing to change the situation. More often than not, the meagre sums of money that reached the villagers were simply drunk. Every day after class, Yunus would go to the neighbouring village of Jobre and talk to the people. He tried to understand what people needed to overcome poverty and set a goal of helping at least one person a day. He gave money out of his own pocket to the residents to improve their situation in some way. Seeing how thrifty the residents were with their money, Yunus approached banks in Bangladesh to give micro-loans to the poor. He was ridiculed and told that the idea was a complete nonsense because the poor never repay the loans.
Grameen bank: the story of the 'Bank for the Poor'
It was then that he realised that this kind of thinking was the reason why poor people remain perpetually poor. This was the reason why Yunus founded Grameen bank, which translates as "village bank" but became more famous as "Bank for the Poor". The bank was based on the idea of microcredit. Through microcredit from Grameen Bank, the lives of many villages were transformed. Internal social perceptions and the appearance of the countryside changed. But the main result of Grameen Bank's work has been the success of its clients. In 2008, 65 per cent of the bank's clients crossed the poverty threshold. So the simple idea of microcredit has lifted millions of people out of poverty.
As of January 2022, the total number of borrowers of the bank was nearly 9.5 million, and more than 96 per cent of them were women.
The success of Grameen Bank has inspired governments in more than 64 countries around the world to set up similar projects, including the World Bank's initiative to finance Grameen-type schemes.
We asked Muhammad Yunus whether Uzbekistan could achieve similar results with microfinance to overcome poverty. To find out, see the report.
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