Yunus and the Grameen Bank that he founded were jointly awarded what Yunus himself called "the world's most prestigious prize" for their efforts to help get people out of poverty by inspiring their entrepreneurial spirit.
Ole Danbolt Mjøs, leader of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, made a forceful speech before presenting the award that attempted to explain and justify why the committee awarded the Peace Prize to a banker and a profit-making bank. He claimed that lasting peace can't be created until people find a way to break out of poverty.
Yunus' and Grameen Bank's micro-credit system "is such a way," Mjøs said. His speech was interrupted by applause several times from the roughly 1,000 in attendance at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo's City Hall, not least when he said that Yunus' micro-credit system is an example of the Islamic world teaching something to the western world, and that the system has led to "female empowerment" because fully 97 percent of Grameen Bank's loan customers are women.
Men too often use money they receive on themselves, Mjøs noted, while women tend to use money they receive on their families. Obtaining loans, however small, has nurtured initiative and a sense of responsibility among Grameen Bank's customers, he said.
Helping poor people help themselves can also nurture peace, he claimed, noting that "most wars take place in poor countries," and that a battle against poverty is a battle for peace.
Criticism of the war in Iraq
Yunus, whom Mjøs said has been called "a modern Gandhi," followed up on Mjøs' remarks by saying how "thrilled and overwhelmed" the people of Bangladesh were when news of the Nobel Peace Prize was announced in October. "What moves me most," he noted, are all the calls he receives daily from Grameen Bank customers "who just want to say how proud they are" to be part of the micro-credit system.
Yunus said this year's prize gives "new meaning" to the Nobel Peace Prize, along with "honour and dignity" to thousands of women who struggle every day to support their families.
He expressed concern, however, that millennium goals for fighting poverty were derailed by the terrorist attacks of Sept 11, 2001 and the subsequent invasion of Iraq. Focus shifted from the war on poverty to the war on terrorism, Yunus said, citing the billions of dollars being spent by the US on the war in Iraq.
He agreed that terrorism "must be condemned," but noted that abject poverty gives rise to the anger that can lead to terrorism. The Peace Prize winner, speaking also on behalf of Grameen Bank, sparked more applause when he said he thinks that putting resources into fighting poverty "is a better strategy than spending it on guns."
Doing well while doing good
Yunus also urged the creation of what he called "social businesses," which aim to make a profit but function mostly to help poor people and are controlled by the poor. Grameen Bank helped create one in cooperation with food giant Danone that makes yoghurt and helps provide a source of nutrition to poor customers, while another invests in eyecare hospitals that specializes in cataract operations for the poor.
Yunus envisions a social stock market for companies that do well while doing good. He said his work over the past several decades with Grameen Bank has given him "an undying faith" in human creativity and the will most people have to help themselves once given some incentive. He expressed his "deep gratitude" to the Norwegian Nobel Committee for recognizing the same.
