Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Professor Muhammad Yunus - BIOGRAPHY

Professor Muhammad Yunus

􀂙
The Grameen Bank is a microfinance organization and community development bank started in Bangladesh

that makes small loans known as microcredit or 'grameencredit'.

􀂙
Professor Muhammad Yunus, the bank's founder, earned a doctorate in economics from Vanderbilt

University in the US. The origin of Grameen Bank can be traced back to 1976 when Yunus, a Fulbright

scholar and Professor at University of Chittagong, launched a research project to examine the possibility

of designing a credit delivery system to provide banking services targeted to the rural poor.

􀂙
Yunus was inspired during the terrible Bangladesh famine of 1974 to make a small loan of $27 to a group of

42 families so that they could create small items for sale without the burdens of predatory lending.

􀂙
Grameen Bank is best known for its system of solidarity lending. The Bank also incorporates a set of values

embodied in Bangladesh by the Sixteen Decisions. As a result of the Sixteen Decisions, Grameen

borrowers have been encouraged to adopt positive social habits. One such habit includes educating children

by sending them to school.

No comments:

Post a Comment