New Dawn in Bangladesh? Nobel Peace Laureate Muhammad Yunus Sworn In as PM After Student Protests

We go to Dhaka for an update as Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus is sworn in to lead Bangladesh’s caretaker government just days after the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who resigned and fled the country amid a wave of student-led protests over inequality and corruption. Yunus is known as the “banker to the poor” and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his work developing microloans that helped lift millions out of poverty. Yunus thanked Bangladeshi youth for giving the country a “rebirth” and vowed to work for the public good.

“This is uncharted territory,” says Shahidul Alam, an acclaimed Bangladeshi photojournalist, author and social activist, who has spent decades documenting human rights abuses and political and social movements in the country. Alam was jailed in 2018 for his criticism of the government and spent 107 behind bars, during which time he says he was tortured by the authorities. “This repression has taken such a toll on so many people for so long, the nation is just hugely relieved.”

We also speak with Nusrat Chowdhury, an associate professor of anthropology at Amherst College and author of Paradoxes of the Popular: Crowd Politics in Bangladesh. She says it’s very significant that student leaders are being brought into the new government and says Yunus is a rare public figure in Bangladesh who exists “beyond party politics” and has the chance to unify the country.

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Peace Through Prosperity

Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus’ revolutionary idea to combat poverty began with a $27 loan

Muhammad Yunus, who earned a Ph.D. in economics at Vanderbilt in 1971, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his work combating poverty through a bank that gives small loans to poor people.

Yunus’ concept of microcredit—small loans to poor villagers in Bangladesh to help them buy livestock or fund an enterprise—has grown from the $27 he loaned out of his own pocket into the Grameen Bank, which has loaned more than $35.8 billion to 10.27 million borrowers since opening in 1976. Despite lack of collateral or signed loan documents, more than 97 percent of the loans have been paid back—a rate unheard of elsewhere in the banking industry. The Grameen Bank provides services in more than 81,678 villages in Bangladesh through 2,568 branches. Grameen was jointly named recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.

“Lasting peace cannot be achieved unless large population groups find ways in which to break out of poverty,” the Nobel Committee said in awarding the $1.36 million prize. “Microcredit is one such means. Development from below also serves to advance democracy and human rights.”

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https://www.vanderbilt.edu/150/150-stories/notable-alumni/muhammad-yunus/