Journal 13 - The Banker of the Poorest People Won Nobel Peace Prize


The Nobel Committee awarded Dr. Muhammed Yunus, 66, Nobel Peace Prize. Yunus has had phenomenal success helping people lift themselves out of poverty in rural Bangladesh. He developed his revolutionary micro-credit system believing that it can be a weapon to fight poverty. Today, micro-credit programs based on Yunus’ Grammen Bank model operate in nearly 100 countries.
Bangladesh is one of the poorest countries in the world (GDP per capita – 440 dollars; life expectancy – 63 years; the literacy rate – 41%).
Many experts consider that help provided by rich countries to poor ones doesn’t work efficiently. Professor M. Yunus showed one of the ways, how the poor people can help themselves. He isn’t only an economist; he is a social worker, too.