Muhammad Yunus Won 2006 Nobel Peace Prize

Last Update: Friday, October 13, 2006. 7:34pm (AEST)

2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus (AFP)

Bangladesh bankers to the poor win Nobel Peace Prize
Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank he founded have won the Nobel Peace Prize for grassroots efforts to lift millions out of poverty that earned him the nickname of "banker to the poor".

Mr Yunus set up a new kind of bank in 1976 to give credit to the very poorest in his native Bangladesh, particularly women, enabling them to start up small businesses without collateral. In doing so, he invented microcredit, a system which has been duplicated across the globe.

"In Bangladesh, where nothing works and there's no electricity," Mr Yunus said, "microcredit works like clockwork."

The Nobel committee awarded the prize to Mr Yunus and Grameen Bank "for their efforts to create economic and social development from below," it said in its citation.

"Lasting peace can not be achieved unless large population groups find ways in which to break out of poverty. Micro-credit is one such means. Development from below also serves to advance democracy and human rights," it said.

Yunus was convinced women could break through poverty by taking tiny loans to start or expand tiny businesses. The Grameen Bank now serves 6.1 million borrowers.

The Grameen Foundation which grew out of the bank, was founded in 1997 and has a global network of 52 partners in 22 countries that has helped an estimated 11 million people in Asia, Africa, the Americas, and the Middle East.