Muhammad Yunus, more than anyone other individual, has been the driving force behind the use of microcredit and microfinance to relieve poverty, and won numerous awards (including the CARE Humanitarian Award) for his development efforts. Professor Yunus founded Grameen Bank, one of the first microcredit institutions ever, in Bangladesh several decades ago. Now, Grameen Bank has millions of borrowers in Bangaldesh, and has spawned similar operations in other countries. Professor Yunus continues to be the leader of Grameen Bank, and a major advocate of microcredit. The transcript for our team's interview with Professor Yunus is below. To jump to different questions, use the links in the sidebar on the left.

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If you’re in Bangladesh, you can’t get away from the reach of poverty and thinking about how to get over the poverty... Read More... I thought I would try do something…I was looking at the poverty situation next to our village. I was seeing if I could do something that would help even just one individual. Collapse...

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I think it (microcredit programs) should work everywhere. Read More... They worked in poor countries like Bangladesh and in Bolivia. They also work in the United States and the Ukraine and Poland. It’s everywhere now. People need money and nobody is there to give it to them, so there are microcredit programs. Collapse...

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There is nothing wrong with poor people. We should work to change the system (the banking system) so that it works for everybody, not just the privileged few. Read More... Once we do that - and an individual can do that - the social system can continue. We can see a social business doing good for people, instead of just making money. Today the business world that we see, that world feels that businesses are about making money. I think that that’s wrong. There’s a business to make money and then there’s (another) business to do good for people, without having to promote personal gain. Collapse...

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Grameen sends families (or family members) to school, are encouraging them to continue [their education]. Read More... We give scholarships for school so they feel excited about education. We give the students loans, anybody who wants to continue with a higher education… So we have thousands of students now in medical school, engineering school, universities, and they keep coming back. We are hoping that a completely new generation of young people will come out of it. Collapse...

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In other parts of the world, someone like you has to take the initiative to be interested in microcredit enterprises, young people who say, “I would like to do something.” Read More... If they find some money, some funds, and if the law allows, they can start a microcredit bank. And if the law doesn’t allow that, then they can start a non-governmental organization and continue giving microcredit to the poor people. This is why it is successful; you don’t have to rely on donor money all the time. You can do it on your own. Collapse...

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Yunus, Muhammad. Telephone Interview. 8 December 2005.

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