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Bangladeshi Anti-Poverty Banker Wins 2006 Nobel Peace Prize
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?r=279&c=656730&l=1009&ctl=146294F:A6F02AD83191E160BD7EA9655FF319B19574F7DCC14957C0 Muhammad Yunus and
his Grameen Bank honored for helping underprivileged to lift selves
from poverty





Muhammad Yunus waves to well-wishers at his home in Dhaka, Bangladesh,
Oct.13, 2006 Muhammad Yunus and the Bangladesh bank he set up 30 years
ago have been jointly awarded the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize.

Muhammad Yunus, dubbed the "banker to the poor," has been awarded this
year's top Nobel honor, along with the bank he established in 1976.

What Yunus struck upon was a key tool in the fight against poverty,
the issuing of so-called micro-credit; credit given to those too poor
to qualify for traditional loans.







Chairman of Norwegian Nobel Committee, Ole Danbolt Mjoes, holds up
photograph  showing Muhammad Yunus In Oslo, Nobel Committee head Ole
Danbolt Mjoes says Yunus has been inspirational in transforming lives
through his credit plan which in turn also serves to build democracy
and strengthens human rights.

"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," he
said. "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."

In his tireless effort to root out poverty, Yunus gives out credit to
poor people without security. His Grameen Bank now has some 6.5
million borrowers, most of them women.

In addition, his bank also gives out nearly 30,000 scholarships to
poor students annually.

His aim is to empower a whole new generation of men and women and his
model is being adapted elsewhere.

The Grameen Foundation now has a network of 52 partners in 22
countries helping millions in Africa, the Americas and in the Middle
East.