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Muhammad Yunus, a social entrepreneur, banker, economist, and leader of civil society from Bangladesh, was born on June 28, 1940
Updated : Aug 05, 2024, 07:58 PM IST
Who comes after Sheikh Hasina? Following weeks of deadly protests, Bangladesh's 76-year-old Prime Minister left the country, raising this important question. Following Hasina's resignation, Bangladesh's Army Chief of Staff, Waker-Uz-Zaman, ruled out a military takeover and announced the formation of an interim civilian government.
To determine the makeup of the interim administration, he will make a call to President Mohammed Shahabudin of the nation tonight. Muhammad Yunus, the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, is rumoured to be leading a transitional administration until the next general elections. The other names making the rounds are Sara Hossain, a well-known lawyer, Jahngir Alam Chowdhury, a retired three-star general of the Bangladesh Army, and Salehuddin Ahmed, a former governor of the Bangladesh Bank.
Muhammad Yunus, a social entrepreneur, banker, economist, and leader of civil society from Bangladesh, was born on June 28, 1940. He founded the Grameen Bank and invented the ideas of microcredit and microfinance, for which he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006.Entrepreneurs who are too impoverished to be eligible for conventional bank loans are given these loans. Together, Yunus and Grameen Bank received the Nobel Peace Prize "for their efforts to create economic and social development from below through microcredit."
The Norwegian Nobel Committee stated that "lasting peace cannot be achieved unless large population groups find ways in which to break out of poverty" as well as that "across cultures and civilisations, Yunus and Grameen Bank have shown that even the poorest of the poor can work to bring about their own development" .Yunus has won numerous other awards on a national and international level. In 2009, he was awarded the US Presidential Medal of Freedom, and in 2010, he was given the
Congressional Gold Medal.
In February 2011, Yunus co-founded Yunus Social Business – Global Initiatives (YSB) with Saskia Bruysten, Sophie Eisenmann, and Hans Reitz. YSB establishes and equips social entrepreneurs to tackle global social issues. YSB serves as the global implementation arm of Yunus's vision of a new, humane capitalism. It advises corporations, governments, foundations, and non-governmental organisations while also managing funds intended to support social businesses in developing nations.
He was appointed Chancellor of Scotland's Glasgow Caledonian University in 2012, and he served in that capacity until 2018.He previously taught economics at Bangladesh's Chittagong University [4][5].[6] In relation to his work in finance, he published multiple books. He is a founding board member of the microcredit advocacy organisations Grameen America and Grameen Foundation.
From 1998 to 2021, Yunus also served as a member of the board of directors of the United Nations Foundation, a public charity that supports UN causes.