Dr. Muhammad Yunus is a Bangladeshi economist and founder of Grameen Bank who pioneered microcredit and microfinance. He established Grameen Bank in 1983 to provide small loans known as microcredit to poor individuals, especially women, to allow them to start small businesses. Over 30 years, microcredit has spread worldwide helping countless families through Grameen Bank's banking facilities without requiring collateral. Dr. Yunus received many honors for his work, including the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006, for his efforts to create economic and social development.

2. Dr Muhammad Yunus, age 71

3.  Dr Muhammad Yunus was born in Chittagong, which is a
place south – east of Bangladesh
 Studied microcrediting, welfare economics, ethics in the
University of Chittagong, Shajalal University of Science and
Technology, Middle Tennessee State University
 He used to work as a professor of economics the University of
Chittagong, and while doing so, came up with suppositions
regarding microcredit and microfinance
 Dr Yunus was later the Dean of the Economics department in
the University of Chittagong
 He was among the board of directions of the United Nations
Foundation, which was created to motivate donors to give
support to the United Nations in the latter’s sphere of actions.
 Dr Yunus was appointed as a member of IAG(International
Advisory Group) for the Fourth World Conference on
women, a conference which wanted to attain a greater
scale of impartiality and opportunity for the female gender.

4.  As a social entrepreneur who was well – aware of the atrocities of
poverty, his main aim in life was undoubtedly “to create a world
without poverty”
 Awarded the Independence Day Award, World Food Prize, Nobel
Peace Prize, Presidential Medal of Freedom, and several other
national and international honours.
 Wrote a few books, especially Banker to the Poor.
 His most prominent contribution waswhen he inaugurated and
developed microcredit by setting up Grameen Bank.
 Microcredit is an innovative banking facility which borrows small
amounts of money to financially – deficient individuals (mostly
women) who use them to develop businesses
and, eventually, become impoverished no more.

5.  Founded in 1983 by Dr Muhammad Yunus.
 Its origin could be delineated 7 years before, when Dr Yunus set an
action research assignment to study the possibility of drawing up a
credit delivery system which serves as banking services to the
poverty – stricken individuals.
 The name “Grameen” probably came about due to the fact that
the word “grameen” stands for “rural” in the Bangla language.
Grameen bank logo

6.  As mentioned before, much of microcredit’s development could be
attributed to Dr Yunus.
 Over the 3 decades since it was started, the facility of microcredit
has spread to every part of the world, from South Asia to even
America, and has benefitted countless families throughout the
world.
 Dr Yunus helped to inaugurate and develop microcredit when he
established the Grameen Bank.
 The Grameen Bank helps to serve the financially – deficient with its
banking facilities.
 Moreover, it prevents manipulation of the cash – stripped individuals
by usurers.
 It also allowed the unemployed in the rural areas of his home
country to become employed, which was one of the main aims of
the Grameen Bank.

7.  Dr Yunus believed that such an effort would affect the rural society
in a positive and advantageous manner
 Grameen Bank does not supply its companies with money, as all the
companies are self – dependent and do not rely on other
people/banks.
 While conventional banks involve the people borrowing money to
have collateral, the Grameen Bank is completely collateral – free.
 Grameen Bank concentrates on the potential of an individual which
will eventually be released in time to come, while the myopic
conventional banks only focuses on what an individual possesses.

8.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Yunus
 http://www.grameen-
info.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view
&id=19&Itemid=114
 http://www.grameen-
info.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view
&id=27&Itemid=176
 http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laure
ates/2006/yunus-bio.html
 http://www.muhammadyunus.org/Publications/creat
ing-a-world-without-poverty/
 http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laure
ates/2006/yunus-bio.html
 http://www.google.com.sg/imghp?hl=en&tab=wi
By Elliot Tan, Mah Jun Jian, Brandon Beng