BOSTON -- International relief and development organization Oxfam America today congratulated Dr. Mohammed Yunus, founder of the Grameen Bank on the eve of his receiving this year's Nobel Peace prize at a gala ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden this coming Sunday, December 10.
Calling Dr. Yunus a "global champion for the micro-finance movement", Oxfam America's President Raymond C. Offenheiser said that the naming of Dr. Yunus and his colleagues at the Grameen Bank as the winners of this year's Nobel peace prize was "a source of real joy and excitement" for him and for the staff and supporters of Oxfam.
"While there are many notable micro-finance leaders who have contributed to the building of this movement, none have given more to building its credibility and acceptance on a global scale than he," said the Oxfam leader.
Offenheiser recalled that three weeks before being named the winner of this year's Nobel Peace Prize, Dr. Yunus appeared on stage at a plenary event at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York and, in the way he has for the last 30 years, "Dr. Yunus charmed the audience with his ebullient and charismatic storytelling about the liberating power of micro-finance on the poor of the world."
The Grameen Bank's founder told this august audience of heads-of-state, corporate CEOs, global bankers, politicians and eminent persons that breaking the cycle of poverty required a "new economics", one that puts the poor and their needs at the core of the debate, an economics of trust which assumes that the poor are reliable credit risks that deserve real banking services.
"With consummate artistry, grace, and an infectious smile, he challenged many of the central premises of his audience about economics and left them nodding and convinced," recalled Offenheiser.
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