Grameen Bank, Bangladesh
Quotations from Prof. Yunus
... When tiny, tiny things start happening a million times, it becomes a large thing. It lays down the foundation of a strong economic base. With women participating in building this economic base, it becomes the foundation for better social and economic future ...
... Invisible Berlin Walls must go. We are not even trying to make it hapen. Whenever we talk about the people at the bottom or the poor people, our usual reaction is to write a cheque. Okay, take care of them, feed them, clothe them, give them some place to live. But we don't touch the wall. We simply say, let them stay on the other side of the wall, but feed them a little. What I'm saying they don't need your throw-away money, they don't need handouts. They need an opportunity, a fair deal. They don't get a fair deal right now. Poverty is the denial of all human rights. I am talking about establishing their human rights. If we do that the walls will disappear. Poverty will go ...
... Women have plans for themselves, for their children, about their home, the meals. They have a Vision. A man wants to enjoy himself ...
We can remove poverty from the surface of the earth only if we can redesign our institutions - like the banking institutions, and other institutions; if we redesign our policies, if we look back on our concepts, so that we have a different idea of poor people.
In the future the question will not be, "Are people credit-worthy", but rather, "Are banks people-worthy?"
Credit is a human right that should be treated as a human right. If credit can be accepted as a human right, then all other human rights will be easier to establish.
If we are looking for one single action which will enable the poor to overcome their poverty, I would focus on credit
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Hari Srinivas -
hsrinivas@gdrc.org
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