Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Muhammad Yunus Makes Major Announcement about Microcredit Summit Goal


Washington, DC (January 12, 2009) — Media Advisory:

What:

In 1997, the Microcredit Summit Campaign was launched with a commitment to dramatically expand the reach of microloans to the very poor around the world. Microcredit is the provision of small loans to desperately poor people to help pull themselves out of poverty. At the time of the Summit, fewer than 8 million people worldwide had benefited from a microloan. On January 26, 2009, the Campaign will release the State of the Microcredit Summit Campaign Report 2009, with a major announcement.

 

Who:

Muhammad Yunus – Nobel Peace Prize laureate and founder of Grameen Bank in Bangladesh

Ingrid Munro – founder of Jamii Bora in Kenya

Sam Daley-Harris – Director, Microcredit Summit Campaign (moderator)

 

When:

Monday, January 26, 2009, 10:00 am ET/15:00 GMT by teleconference.

 

How:

This call is for journalists only, who can call in from any phone. RSVP by contacting Robyn Shepherd at [email protected] or at the numbers listed above. To participate in the call, dial (877) 795-3647 or +1 719-325-4825 from outside the U.S. The passcode is 9408977. Ask for the “Microcredit Summit Report Launch Call.” A recording and a transcript will also be available, and a replay will be available for seven days by calling (719) 457-0820 or (888) 203-1112, passcode 9408977.

 

Why:

The incredible success of microcredit over the past decade stands in stark contrast to the financial turmoil facing the rest of the world. From the early days of the movement, when Muhammad Yunus founded Grameen Bank with 42 borrowers, microcredit has been challenged by critics who said that is was foolhardy to loan to the world’s poorest people. The progress documented by the State of the Microcredit Summit Campaign Report not only proves that the world’s poorest can be safe loan candidates, but that often, microfinance institutions have repayment rates that traditional financial institutions would envy. One loan at a time, microcredit is helping the world’s poorest people pull themselves out of poverty with dignity.

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