Borrowing

Their Way Out of Poverty

Where would you go if you were poor and you needed to borrow money? Professor
Muhammad Yunus decided to find an answer to that question, and the result was the Grameen
Bank, a Nobel Peace Prize, and the beginning of a worldwide microcredit system.

In 1976, Professor Yunus began a research project to find ways to offer credit to poor, rural
areas. He made small, low-interest loans to families who had been affected by a natural
disaster in Bangladesh. These micro-loans of just $27 helped the families make items to sell.
Professor Yunus believed that micro-credit would help reduce poverty, and time has shown
that he was right.

The Grameen Bank was founded in 1983. Its founder believed that loans are better than charity
as a strategy against poverty because they offer people the opportunity to begin their own
projects in business or agriculture. This allows them to then create income and allows them to
repay the debt.

In particular, Grameen has focused on women: 97% of the people who receive loans are
women. Since it was founded, Grameen Bank has grown to 2,100 branches across Bangladesh.
In addition, there are similar micro-credit projects in 40 countries around the world, helping to
move families out of severe poverty.

In 2006, Professor Yunus and the Grameen Bank were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their
efforts to reduce poverty. According to the Nobel Prize Committee, ending poverty is the only
way to reach peace in the world. The Grameen Bank is working toward that goal, one micro-
loan at a time.