Pioneer of Microcredit for Women & Nobel Laureate to speak in London

Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus is speaking on 29 May (12.00) at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in London. Part of the British Council's Talking without Borders series the lecture is called 'A Framework for a Better Future: The promise of social business.'

An appeal for action: rethinking economic relationships
Professor Muhammad Yunus is the founder and managing director of Grameen Bank, pioneers of microcredit – a method of banking where small loans are given to the poor, mostly women without collateral, for income generating activities to help them get out of poverty.

As of May 2008, Grameen Bank (GB) has 7.5 million borrowers, 97 per cent of whom are women. With 2,515 branches, GB provides services in 82,072 villages, covering more than 97 per cent of the total villages in Bangladesh. It has lent over $7 billion to the poor with a repayment rate close to 100 per cent. All its money comes from the depositors of the bank, representing a fundamental rethink on the economic relationship between the rich and the poor, their rights and their obligations.

Nobel Peace Prize for economic and social development
In October 2006, Muhammad Yunus was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, along with Grameen Bank, for their efforts to create economic and social development. His work is an appeal for action: promoting the will to survive and the courage to put a human heart back at the centre of the economic cycle.

Read more about Talking without Borders. here

Thanks to University of Reading for their support to the lecture from Professor Muhammad Yunus. here

To register for tickets click here