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Muhammad Yunus |
Muhammad Yunus
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Muhammad Yunus at World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, 25 January 2012.
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| Born | 28 June 1940 Chittagong, Bangladesh (then part of the British Raj) |
| Nationality | Bangladeshi |
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| Information at IDEAS/RePEc | |
In 2008, he was rated #2 in Foreign Policy magazine's list of the 'Top 100 Global Thinkers'.[4]
In February 2011, Yunus together with Saskia Bruysten, Sophie Eisenmann and Hans Reitz co-founded Yunus Social Business - Global Initiatives (YSB). YSB creates and empowers social businesses to address and solve social problems around the world. As the international implementation arm for Yunus’ vision of a new, humane capitalism, YSB manges Incubator Funds for social businesses in developing countries and providing advisory services to companies, governments, foundations and NGOs.
In 2012, he became Chancellor of Glasgow Caledonian University in Scotland.[5][6] He is a member of the advisory board at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology. Previously, he was a professor of economics at Chittagong University in Bangladesh. He published several books related to his finance work. He is a founding board member of Grameen America and Grameen Foundation, which support microcredit.
Yunus also serves on the board of directors of the United Nations Foundation, a public charity created in 1998 by American philanthropist Ted Turner’s $1 billion gift to support UN causes.[7]
In March 2011, the Bangladesh government fired Yunus from his position at Grameen Bank, citing legal violations and an age limit on his position.[8] Bangladesh's High Court affirmed the removal on 8 March. Yunus and Grameen Bank are appealing the decision, claiming Yunus' removal was politically motivated.
Contents
Early life and education
Early years
After graduation
After his graduation, Yunus joined the Bureau of Economics as a research assistant to the economics researches of Professor Nurul Islam and Rehman Sobhan.[12] Later, he was appointed lecturer in economics in Chittagong College in 1961.[12] During that time, he also set up a profitable packaging factory on the side.[11] in 1965, he received a Fulbright scholarship to study in the United States. He obtained his PhD in economics from the Vanderbilt University Graduate Program in Economic Development (GPED) in 1971.[13] From 1969 to 1972, Yunus was assistant professor of economics at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro.During the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, Yunus founded a citizen's committee and ran the Bangladesh Information Center, with other Bangladeshis in the United States, to raise support for liberation.[12] He also published the Bangladesh Newsletter from his home in Nashville. After the War, he returned to Bangladesh and was appointed to the government's Planning Commission headed by Nurul Islam. However, he found the job boring and resigned to join Chittagong University as head of the Economics department.[14] After observing the famine of 1974, he became involved in poverty reduction and established a rural economic program as a research project. In 1975, he developed a Nabajug (New Era) Tebhaga Khamar (three share farm) which the government adopted as the Packaged Input Programme.[12] In order to make the project more effective, Yunus and his associates proposed the Gram Sarkar (the village government) programme.[15] Introduced by president Ziaur Rahman in the late 1970s, the Government formed 40,392 village governments as a fourth layer of government in 2003. On 2 August 2005, in response to a petition by Bangladesh Legal Aids and Services Trust (BLAST) the High Court had declared village governments illegal and unconstitutional.[16]
Early career
Main article: Grameen Bank
Further information: Grameen family of organizations
In December 1976, Yunus finally secured a loan from the government Janata Bank to lend to the poor in Jobra. The institution continued to operate, securing loans from other banks for its projects. By 1982, it had 28,000 members. On 1 October 1983, the pilot project began operation as a full-fledged bank for poor Bangladeshis and was renamed Grameen Bank ("Village Bank"). Yunus and his colleagues encountered everything from violent radical leftists to conservative clergy who told women that they would be denied a Muslim burial if they borrowed money from Grameen.[11] By July 2007, Grameen had issued US$6.38 billion to 7.4 million borrowers.[20] To ensure repayment, the bank uses a system of "solidarity groups". These small informal groups apply together for loans and its members act as co-guarantors of repayment and support one another's efforts at economic self-advancement.[15]
In the late 1980s, Grameen started to diversify by attending to underutilized fishing ponds and irrigation pumps like deep tube wells.[21] In 1989, these diversified interests started growing into separate organizations. The fisheries project became Grameen Motsho ("Grameen Fisheries Foundation") and the irrigation project became Grameen Krishi ("Grameen Agriculture Foundation").[21] In time, the Grameen initiative grew into a multi-faceted group of profitable and non-profit ventures, including major projects like Grameen Trust and Grameen Fund, which runs equity projects like Grameen Software Limited, Grameen CyberNet Limited, and Grameen Knitwear Limited,[22] as well as Grameen Telecom, which has a stake in Grameenphone (GP), the biggest private phone company in Bangladesh.[23] From its start in March 1997 to 2007, GP's Village Phone (Polli Phone) project had brought cell-phone ownership to 260,000 rural poor in over 50,000 villages.[24]
The success of the Grameen microfinance model inspired similar efforts in about 100 developing countries and even in developed countries including the United States.[25] Many microcredit projects retain Grameen's emphasis of lending to women. More than 94% of Grameen loans have gone to women, who suffer disproportionately from poverty and who are more likely than men to devote their earnings to their families.[26]
For his work with Grameen, Yunus was named an Ashoka: Innovators for the Public Global Academy Member in 2001.[27] In the book[28] Grameen Social Business Model, [4] Rashidul Bari shows how Grameen's social business model (GSBM)- has gone from being theory to an inspiring practice adopted by leading universities (e.g., Glasgow), entrepreneurs (e.g., Franck Riboud) and corporations (e.g., Danone) across the globe. Through Grameen Bank, Rashidul Bari claims [5] that Yunus demonstrated how Grameen Social Business Model can harness the entrepreneurial spirit to empower poor women and alleviate their poverty. One conclusion from Yunus' concepts is that the poor are like a “bonsai tree”, and they can do big things if they get access to the social business that holds potential to empower them to become self-sufficient.
Recognition
Main article: List of awards received by Muhammad Yunus
Muhammad Yunus was awarded the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, along with Grameen Bank, for their efforts to create economic and social development. In the prize announcement The Norwegian Nobel Committee mentioned:[2]
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.Muhammad Yunus was the first Bangladeshi to ever get a Nobel Prize. After receiving the news of the important award, Yunus announced that he would use part of his share of the $1.4 million award money to create a company to make low-cost, high-nutrition food for the poor; while the rest would go toward setting up an eye hospital for the poor in Bangladesh.[29]
Former U.S. president Bill Clinton was a vocal advocate for the awarding of the Nobel Prize to Muhammed Yunus. He expressed this in Rolling Stone magazine[30] as well as in his autobiography My Life.[31] In a speech given at University of California, Berkeley in 2002, President Clinton described Dr. Yunus as "a man who long ago should have won the Nobel Prize [and] I’ll keep saying that until they finally give it to him."[32] Conversely, The Economist stated explicitly that Yunus was a poor choice for the award, stating: "...the Nobel committee could have made a braver, more difficult, choice by declaring that there would be no recipient at all."[33]
Professor Yunus was named by Fortune Magazine in March 2012 as one of 12 greatest entrepreneurs of the current era.[43] In its citation, Fortune Magazine said ″Yunus' idea inspired countless numbers of young people to devote themselves to social causes all over the world.″
In January 2012, Professor Yunus featured in "Transformative Entrepreneurs: How Walt Disney, Steve Jobs, Muhammad Yunus and Other Innovators Succeeded" a book by Jeffrey Harris[disambiguation needed].[44]
Professor Yunus was named "Nobel-Laureate-in-Residence" at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (National University of Malaysia) on 15 July 2011.[45]
Professor Yunus delivered the Seventh Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture.[46]
In January 2008, Houston, Texas declared 14 January as "Muhammad Yunus Day".[47]
On 15 May 2010, Yunus gave the commencement speech at Rice University for the graduating class of 2010. On 16 May 2010, Yunus gave the commencement speech at Duke University for the graduating class of 2010. During this ceremony, he was also awarded an honorary degree, Doctor of Humane Letters.
Professor Yunus was invited and gave the Wharton School of Business commencement address on 17 May 2009,[48] the MIT commencement address on 6 June 2008,[49] Adam Smith Lecture at Glasgow University on 1 December 2008[50] and Oxford's Romanes Lecture on 2 December 2008.[51]
He received the Dwight D. Eisenhower Medal for Leadership and Service from the Eisenhower Fellowships at a ceremony in Philadelphia on 21 May 2009. He was also voted 2nd in Prospect Magazine's 2008 global poll of the world's top 100 intellectuals.[52]
Yunus was named among the most desired thinkers the world should listen to by the FP 100 (world's most influential elite) in the December 2009 issue of Foreign Policy magazine.[53] On 1 March 2010, Yunus was awarded the prestigious Presidential Award from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. This is the highest honour available from the University.
In 2010, The British Magazine New Statesman listed Muhammad Yunus at 40th in the list of "The World's 50 Most Influential Figures 2010".[54]
In October 2010, He received the Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award at The Asian Awards.[55]
On 22 September 2011 the documentary film, Bonsai People – The Vision of Muhammad Yunus, the first documentary film that looks his full body of work from microcredit to social business, premiered at the United Nations.
Yunus received 50 honorary doctorate degrees from universities from Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Canada, Costa Rica, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Lebanon, Malaysia, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, UK, USA and Peru.[56]
United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, invited Professor Yunus to serve as an MDG Advocate. Professor Yunus sits on the Board of United Nations Foundation, Schwab Foundation, Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, Grameen Credit Agricole Microcredit Foundation. He has been a member of Fondation Chirac's honour committee,[57] ever since the foundation was launched in 2008 by former French president Jacques Chirac in order to promote world peace.
Yunus has appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Oprah Winfrey Show in 2006, The Colbert Report in 2008, Real Time with Bill Maher in 2009 and The Simpsons in 2010. On Google+, Professor Yunus is one of the most followed person worldwide, with over 1.7 million followers.[58]
In 2012 Yunus was installed as Chancellor of Glasgow Caledonian University.[59] U.S House and Senate leaders held a ceremony to present Professor Yunus with the Congressional Gold Medal on April 17, 2013 in Washington, D.C for his contributions to the fight against global poverty.[60]
The Congressional Gold Medal is the highest civilian honor bestowed by the United States Congress. At the ceremony, which you can watch on YouTube, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) explained why Yunus is such a visionary: "It's been said that almost anyone can make something complicated. It takes a genius to make something simple. My friends, make no mistake; Muhammad Yunus is a genius." The gold medal was awarded to Yunus with the 111th Congress Public Law 253.[61]
Political activity
See also: Nagorik Shakti
In early 2006 Yunus, along with other members of the civil society including Professor Rehman Sobhan, Justice Muhammad Habibur Rahman, Dr Kamal Hossain, Matiur Rahman, Mahfuz Anam and Debapriya Bhattchariya, participated in a campaign for honest and clean candidates in national elections.[62] He considered entering politics in the later part of that year.[63] On 11 February 2007, Yunus wrote an open letter, published in the Bangladeshi newspaper Daily Star,
where he asked citizens for views on his plan to float a political
party to establish political goodwill, proper leadership and good governance. In the letter, he called on everyone to briefly outline how he should go about the task and how they can contribute to it.[64] Yunus finally announced that he is willing to launch a political party tentatively called Citizens' Power (Nagorik Shakti) on 18 February 2007.[65][66] There was speculation that the army supported a move by Yunus into politics.[67]
On 3 May, however, Yunus declared that he had decided to abandon his
political plans following a meeting with the head of the interim
government, Fakhruddin Ahmed.[68]In July 2007 in Johannesburg, South Africa, Nelson Mandela, Graça Machel and Desmond Tutu convened a group of world leaders “to contribute their wisdom, independent leadership and integrity to tackle some of the world’s toughest problems.”[69] Nelson Mandela announced the formation of this new group, The Elders, in a speech he delivered on the occasion of his 89th birthday.[70] Yunus attended the launch of the group and was one of its founding members. He stepped down as an Elder in September 2009, stating that he was unable to do justice to his membership due to the demands of his work.[71]
Yunus is a member of the Africa Progress Panel (APP), a group of ten distinguished individuals who advocate at the highest levels for equitable and sustainable development in Africa. Every year, the Panel releases a report, the Africa Progress Report, that outlines an issue of immediate importance to the continent and suggests a set of associated policies. In 2012, the Africa Progress Report highlighted issues of Jobs, Justice, and Equity.[72] The 2013 report will outline issues relating to oil, gas, and mining in Africa.
In July 2009, Yunus became a member of the SNV Netherlands Development Organisation International Advisory Board to support the organisation's poverty reduction work.[73]
Since 2010, Yunus has served as a Commissioner for the Broadband Commission for Digital Development, a UN initiative which seeks to use broadband internet services to accelerate social and economic development.[74]
He also serves on the advisory board of the Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction, a foundation supporting initiatives that combine sustainable construction solutions with architectural excellence.[75]
In 2011, Yunus was part of the Jury which chose the universal Logo for Human Rights. Its goal was to create an internationally recognised logo to support the global human rights movement.[76]
Controversies
The allegations against Yunus became political when the government of Bangladesh – led by[81] Sheikh Hasina Wajed turned against him and the concept of microfinance, accusing it of “sucking blood from the poor”.[82] Wajed reportedly viewed Yunus as a political rival since Yunus considered creating a political party in 2007.[83] – In the book Grameen Social Business Model,[84] Rashidul Bari explained the political vendetta in Bangladesh by Sheikh Hasina against Yunus[85] as a replay of the conflict between Pope Urban VIII and Galileo Galilei.[86][87]
"Pope Urban VIII put 70-year-old Galileo in prison in 1632 for condemning and rejecting Ptolemy's geocentric model, which was adopted by the early Christian Church. In the same spirit, Sheikh Hasina who labeled Yunus as a “blood sucker of poor people[88]”—unleashed her propaganda machine (e.g., AMA Muhith) to remove Yunus from Grameen—and used the High Court and Supreme Court to justify her decision. Why did Pope Urban VIII insult the Father of Astronomy? Because Galileo rejected the accepted Christian Church view, that the earth is the center of the universe, and that all other celestial objects orbit around it.[89]The Government announced a review of Grameen Bank activities on 11 January 2011,[90] which is ongoing. In February, several international leaders, such as Mary Robinson, stepped up their defence of Yunus through a number of efforts, including the founding of a formal network of supporters known as “Friends of Grameen”.[91]
On 15 February 2011, the Finance Minister of Bangladesh, Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, declared that Yunus should “stay away” from Grameen Bank while it is being investigated.[92] On 2 March 2011, Muzammel Huq – a former Bank employee, whom the government had appointed Chairman in January[93] – announced that Yunus had been fired as Managing Director of the Bank.[94] However, Bank General Manager Jannat-E Quanine issued a statement that Yunus was “continuing in his office” pending review of the legal issues surrounding the controversy .[95]
In March 2011, Yunus petitioned the Bangladesh High Court challenging the legality of the decision by the Bangladeshi Central Bank to remove him as Managing Director of Grameen Bank.[96] The same day, nine elected directors of Grameen Bank filed a second petition.[97] Following Hillary Clinton, John Kerry expressed his support to Yunus in a statement on 5 March 2011 and declared that he was “deeply concerned” by this affair. The same day in Bangladesh, thousands of people protested and formed human chains to support Yunus.[98] The High Court hearing on the petitions, was planned for 6 March 2011 but postponed. On 8 March 2011, the Court confirmed Yunus's dismissal.[99]
Allegations of embezzlement
A Danish documentary, Caught in Micro Debt,[77] produced and directed by journalist Tom Heinemann, aired on Norwegian national television NRK in November 2010. It made a number of allegations against Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank. Those allegations were disproved by later inquiries. The documentary falsely accused Yunus and Grameen Bank of diverting 7 billion taka (about 100 million dollars) given by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) from Grameen Bank to another organisation called Grameen Kalyan in 1996. This allegation was widely spread in the Bangladeshi electronic media in December 2010.[100] On 6 December, NORAD published a statement[101] clearing Yunus and the Bank from any wrongdoing on this point, following a comprehensive review of NORAD’s support commissioned by the Minister of International Development.However, the allegations quickly spread through the Bangladesh media. Leading Bangladeshi economist Rehman Sobhan stated “Rather than first seeking clarification and response from Grameen Bank as to the validity of the TV program, some sections of the media and society pounced on it with unseemly enthusiasm, using it as an opportunity to cite wrongdoing in a widely respected organization.” Yunus asked for consistent and transparent investigations on these matters.[102]
Accusation of 'loan sharking' and effectiveness of microfinance
The lure of profits attracted some for-profit MFIs to hold Initial Public Offerings (IPOs), including the largest Indian MFI, SKS Microfinance, which held an IPO in July 2010.[108] In September 2010, Yunus criticized the IPO; in a debate with SKS founder Vikram Akula during the Clinton Global Initiative meeting,[109] he said, “Microcredit is not about exciting people to make money off the poor. That's what you're doing. That's the wrong message completely.” Calculations of actual interest rate vary, but one estimate puts average Grameen rates at about a 23% interest rate.[110] At the same time the organization enjoyed a tax-free status for a period of several years which now has been removed.[111]
Sympathizers of Yunus allege that the government of Bangladesh is exploiting this “moral crisis around microcredit” to oust Yunus.[112]
Political motivations behind the allegations
Though Grameen Bank was quickly cleared by the Norwegian government of all allegations surrounding misused or misappropriated funds in December 2010, in March 2011 the Bangladeshi government launched a three-month investigation of all Grameen Bank's activities.[113] This inquiry prevented Muhammad Yunus from participating in the World Economic Forum.[114]In January 2011, Yunus appeared in court in a defamation case filed by a local politician from a minor left-leaning party in 2007, complaining about a statement that Yunus made to the AFP news agency, “Politicians in Bangladesh only work for power. There is no ideology here”.[115] At the hearing, Yunus was granted bail and exempted from personal appearance at subsequent hearings.[116]
These investigations fuelled suspicion that many attacks might be politically motivated,[117] due to difficult relations between Sheikh Hasina and Yunus since early 2007, when Yunus created his own political party, an effort he dropped in May 2007.[118]
Transition to new management
Muhammad Yunus is 72 years old, 12 years beyond the legal retirement age for banks in Bangladesh.[119] The Finance Minister, who is 77 years old, has called for Yunus to step down and declared, ”We need to redefine the bank's role and bring it under closer regulation.”[120]The government recently appointed a new chairman, Muzammel Huq, who is a former Grameen Bank employee.[93] He has publicly criticised Yunus, saying, "I think he is a good man with a small heart ... He cannot give credit to anyone but himself”. On 28 February 2011, he presented a letter by a Bangladesh Bank official at a meeting of the Grameen Bank Board of Directors,[119] saying that Yunus “staying in the post for an indefinite period ... was not within the law”, and asking that the meeting be adjourned; however, because the letter was not addressed to the Managing Director, the rest of the Board, including the two other government-appointed Directors, determined that the meeting should continue as planned.
A journalist of the Telegraph commented that “the Bangladeshi Government should remove Chairman Huq immediately. If calling Yunus a 'chicken hearted man' in the New York Times is his way of showing commitment, independence and integrity, then something is seriously wrong. In his defense, it's a pretty accurate description of someone who is determined to destroy a force for good!”[121]
Yunus has stated his desire for an orderly transition, to make sure that the Bank's governing practices and transparency are effective and ensure that the institution does not turn into a political instrument if taken over by the government:[93] “I am riding the tiger. I cannot just get off the tiger without drawing the attention of that tiger. So I have to very quietly do it.”
Allegations involving partners: the food case and the phone case
On 27 January 2011, Muhammad Yunus appeared in court in a food-adulteration case filed by the Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) Food Safety Court, accusing him of producing an “adulterated” yogurt[122] whose fat content was below the legal minimum. This yogurt is produced by Grameen Danone, a social business joint venture between Grameen Bank and Danone that aims to provide opportunities for street vendors who sell the yogurt and to improve child nutrition with the nutrient-fortified yogurt. According to Yunus's lawyer, the allegations are “false and baseless”.[123] At the request of Yunus's lawyers, pointing procedural irregularities and errors, this case is now considered by the High Court.On 15 February 2011, Yunus was summoned by a court in Pabna (in North Bangladesh) to appear on 18 April in a fraud case involving Grameen Phone.[124] This case concerns a Grameen village phone user, who received overdue bills although she had paid the bills regularly.
Personal life
In 1967, while Yunus attended Vanderbilt University, he met Vera Forostenko, a student of Russian literature at Vanderbilt University and daughter of Russian immigrants to Trenton, New Jersey, US. They were married in 1970.[11][14] Yunus's marriage with Vera ended within months of the birth of their baby girl, Monica Yunus (born 1979 Chittagong), as Vera returned to New Jersey claiming that Bangladesh was not a good place to raise a baby.[11][14] Yunus later married Afrozi Yunus, who was then a researcher in physics at Manchester University.[14] She was later appointed as a professor of physics at Jahangirnagar University. Their daughter Deena Afroz Yunus was born in 1986.[14]Yunus's brothers are also active in academia. His brother Muhammad Ibrahim is a professor of physics at Dhaka University and the founder of The Center for Mass Education in Science (CMES), which brings science education to adolescent girls in villages.[125] His younger brother Muhammad Jahangir is a popular television presenter and a well known social activist in Bangladesh. He is also the moderator of several Talk show programmes in Bangladesh. Monica Yunus, his elder daughter, is a Bangladeshi-Russian American operatic soprano, working in New York City.[126]
Books
- Three Farmers of Jobra; Department of Economics, Chittagong University; 1974
- Planning in Bangladesh: Format, Technique, and Priority, and Other Essays; Rural Studies Project, Department of Economics, Chittagong University; 1976
- Jorimon and Others: Faces of Poverty (co-authors: Saiyada Manajurula Isalama, Arifa Rahman); Grameen Bank; 1991
- Grameen Bank, as I See it; Grameen Bank; 1994
- Banker to the Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty; Public Affairs; 2003; ISBN 978-1-58648-198-8
- Creating a World without Poverty: Social Business and the Future of Capitalism; Public Affairs; 2008; ISBN 978-1-58648-493-4
- Building Social Business: The New Kind of Capitalism that Serves Humanity's Most Pressing Needs[127] ; Public Affairs; 2010; ISBN 978-1-58648-824-6
Legacy and honours
- In 2006, awarded Nobel Peace Prize for his finance work.
- Chosen by Wharton School of Business in Philadelphia as one of The 25 Most Influential Business Persons of the Past 25 Years, covered in a PBS documentary.[128]
- In 2006, Time magazine ranked him as one of the top 12 business leaders, including him among "60 years of Asian Heroes."[129]
- In 2008, Yunus was voted 2nd on the list of Top 100 Public Intellectuals in an open online poll conducted by Prospect Magazine (UK) and Foreign Policy (United States).[130]
- In 2009, Yunus was awarded the Golden Biatec Award, the highest award bestowed by Slovakia’s Informal Economic Forum Economic Club, for individuals who exhibit economic, social, scientific, educational and cultural accomplishments in the Slovak Republic.[131]
Further reading
- David Bornstein; The Price of a Dream: The Story of the Grameen Bank and the Idea That Is; Simon & Schuster; 1996; ISBN 0-684-81191-X
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