Prof. Muhammad Yunus, who received an honorary degree from AIT in 2004,
has been awarded the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize.
An AIT honorary alumnus was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on 13 October 2006. Prof. Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank he founded in Bangladesh were awarded the prize for their efforts to create economic and social development from below.
“Lasting peace can not be achieved unless large population groups find ways in which to break out of poverty. Micro-credit is one such means. Development from below also serves to advance democracy and human rights,” The Norwegian Nominating Committee stated.
Prof. Yunus was conferred the Doctor of Technology (Honoris Causa) at AIT’s 101st graduation ceremony in 2004. It is the institute’s highest honor.
The Norwegian Nominating Committee’s statement reads in full:
“Muhammad Yunus has shown himself to be a leader who has managed to translate visions into practical action for the benefit of millions of people, not only in Bangladesh, but also in many other countries. Loans to poor people without any financial security had appeared to be an impossible idea. From modest beginnings three decades ago, Yunus has, first and foremost through Grameen Bank, developed micro-credit into an ever more important instrument in the struggle against poverty. Grameen Bank has been a source of ideas and models for the many institutions in the field of micro-credit that have sprung up around the world.
“Every single individual on earth has both the potential and the right to live a decent life. Across cultures and civilizations, Yunus and Grameen Bank have shown that even the poorest of the poor can work to bring about their own development.
“Micro-credit has proved to be an important liberating force in societies where women in particular have to struggle against repressive social and economic conditions. Economic growth and political democracy can not achieve their full potential unless the female half of humanity participates on an equal footing with the male.
“Yunus's long-term vision is to eliminate poverty in the world. That vision can not be realized by means of micro-credit alone. But Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank have shown that, in the continuing efforts to achieve it, micro-credit must play a major part.”
AIT’s conferment of honorary degree to Prof. Yunus recognized his outstanding contributions to economic and social development of rural areas in the region, through innovative concepts that couple capitalism with social responsibility.
It was in a village near his home in Chittagong, that he first entered the world of microfinance. Determined to help the poor work out their way out of poverty and with complete trust in the power of women to effect results, Prof. Yunus lent 42 women the equivalent of US$27 to finance small business ventures. As expected, the loans were put to good use and were duly paid back. This modest transaction was to sow the seeds for Grameen Bank's dictum: Grameen loans are a path to self-reliance and self respect.
Microfinance has taken off worldwide, and as a banking model, the Grameen Bank has been adopted in more than 100 nations. The World Bank recently acknowledged that “this business approach to the alleviation of poverty has allowed millions of individuals to work their way out of poverty with dignity.”
Click here to read Prof. Yunus’s AIT commencement address:
http://www.asdu.ait.ac.th/NewsAndEvents/bulletinByIssue.cfm?Date=09-Aug-2004