Rice On Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank

Statement on Nobel Peace Prize Recipients Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank

Secretary Condoleezza Rice
Washington, DC
October 13, 2006

I wish to extend my warmest congratulations to the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize recipients from Bangladesh, Dr. Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank. With the aim of "creating social and economic development from below," Dr. Yunus and the Grameen Bank he founded have done extraordinary work in promoting microcredit lending in South Asia. By extending more than 6.6 million small loans to individuals from the least privileged segments of South Asian society – and a vast majority of them women – Dr. Yunus has empowered millions through access to finance to improve their own lives.

I congratulate the Nobel Peace Prize Committee on an excellent choice for this year's Laureate, to whom we also send our warmest appreciation for his outstanding work on behalf of world's impoverished.

2006/929

Released on October 13, 2006

ENDS

© Scoop Media