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Microcredit is the extension of very small loans (microloans) to impoverished borrowers who typically lack collateral, steady employment, and a verifiable credit history. It is designed to support entrepreneurship and alleviate poverty. Many recipients are illiterate, and therefore unable to complete paperwork required to get conventional loans. As of 2009 an estimated 74 million people held microloans that totaled nearly US$40 billion. Grameen Bank reports that repayment success rates are between 95 and 98 percent. The first economist who had invented the idea of micro loans was The Very Reverend Jonathan Swift in the 1720’s. Microcredit is part of microfinance, which provides a wider range of financial services, especially savings accounts, to the poor. Modern microcredit is generally considered to have originated with the Grameen Bank founded in Bangladesh in 1983 by their current Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus. Many traditional banks subsequently introduced microcredit despite initial misgivings. The United Nations declared 2005 the International Year of Microcredit. As of 2012, microcredit is widely used in developing countries and is presented as having "enormous potential as a tool for poverty alleviation."
Microfinance consists of financial services targeting individuals and small businesses (SME's) who lack access to conventional banking and related services.
The Prime Minister of Bangladesh, officially Prime minister of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is the chief executive of the government of Bangladesh. The prime minister and the cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Parliament, to their political party and ultimately to the electorate. The prime minister is ceremonially appointed by the president of Bangladesh.
Grameen Bank is a microfinance specialized community development bank founded in Bangladesh. It provides small loans to the impoverished without requiring collateral.
Muhammad Yunus is a Bangladeshi economist, entrepreneur, politician, and civil society leader, who has been serving as Chief Adviser of the interim government of Bangladesh since 8 August 2024. Yunus was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for founding the Grameen Bank and pioneering the concepts of microcredit and microfinance. Yunus has received several other national and international honors, including the United States Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 2010.
Sixteen Decisions is a documentary film directed and produced by Gayle Ferraro, exploring the impact of the Grameen Bank on impoverished women in Bangladesh. The bank provides micro loans of about $60 each to the poor, as well as promoting a social charter that gave the film its title.
Nagorik Shakti or Citizens' Power was a proposed political party in Bangladesh. It was conceived by 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus. Yunus communicated his ideas to the people of the nation and asked for feedback by writing a total of three letters addressed to the citizens in the prominent national daily The Daily Star. Yunus discontinued his venture in 2007 citing lack of interested eligible candidates.
The Grameen family of organizations has grown beyond Grameen Bank into a multi-faceted group of both commercial and non-profit ventures. It was first established by Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning founder of Grameen Bank. Most of the organizations in the Grameen group have central offices at the Grameen Bank Complex in Mirpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh. The Grameen Bank started to diversify in the late 1980s when it began attending to unutilized or underutilized fishing ponds, as well as irrigation pumps like deep tubewells. In 1989, these diversified interests started growing into separate organizations, as the fisheries project became Grameen Fisheries Foundation and the irrigation project became Grameen Krishi Foundation.
The Cabinet of Bangladesh is the chief executive body in the People's Republic of Bangladesh. The cabinet is the collective decision-making body of the entire government normally under the Office of the Prime Minister, composed of the prime minister and other cabinet ministers. During a caretaker government or interim government, the cabinet is instead composed of the chief adviser and other cabinet advisers. These "advisorial" positions are equivalent to their respective ministerial positions.
The Yunus Centre, in Dhaka, Bangladesh is a think tank for issues related to social business, working in the field of poverty alleviation and sustainability. It is 'aimed primarily at promoting and disseminating Professor Yunus' philosophy, with a special focus on social business'. As of 2023 it is chaired by Prof. Muhammad Yunus, and its executive director is Ms. Lamiya Morshed.
The impact of microcredit is the study of microcredit and its impact on poverty reduction which is a subject of much controversy. Proponents state that it reduces poverty through higher employment and higher incomes. This is expected to lead to improved nutrition and improved education of the borrowers' children. Some argue that microcredit empowers women. In the US and Canada, it is argued that microcredit helps recipients to graduate from welfare programs. Critics say that microcredit has not increased incomes, but has driven poor households into a debt trap, in some cases even leading to suicide. They add that the money from loans is often used for durable consumer goods or consumption instead of being used for productive investments, that it fails to empower women, and that it has not improved health or education.
Bangladesh–Luxembourg relations refer to the bilateral relations between Bangladesh and Luxembourg. Luxembourg recognized Bangladesh on February 11, 1972.
Wahiduddin Mahmud is an economist from Bangladesh. He has been serving as an adviser of the interim government of Bangladesh since 16 August 2024. He is a member of the United Nations Committee for Development Policy. He was in charge of the Ministry of Finance and Planning in the caretaker government of Bangladesh in 1996.
Kashf Foundation is a non-profit organization, founded by Roshaneh Zafar in 1996. Kashf is regarded as the first microfinance institution (MFI) of Pakistan that uses village banking methodology in microcredit to alleviate poverty by providing affordable financial and non-financial services to low income households - particularly for women, to build their capacity and enhance their economic role. With headquarters in Lahore, Punjab, Kashf have regional offices in five major cities and over 200 branches across Pakistan.
An interim government led by Muhammad Yunus was formed on 8 August 2024 in Bangladesh, following the resignation and fleeing of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on 5 August 2024 amid nationwide student and public protests against the government. Following the dissolution of the 12th Jatiya Sangsad on 6 August 2024, the interim cabinet will remain in office until a new Prime Minister is appointed after a snap general election. The government, like the previous non-caretaker government interim administrations, is extra-constitutional. However, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh affirmed the legality of the stopgap government on 9 August 2024, citing the urgent need to manage state affairs and address the constitutional vacuum, similar to previous cases. The main pledge of his ministry is organize a constituent assembly to draft and adopt a new, democratic and inclusive constitution, ensuring the inviolability of human dignity.
Sharmeen Murshid is a member of the advisory council of the Bangladesh interim government. She was chief executive officer of human rights organization Brotee which has been working for the rights of marginalized groups, especially the indigenous people since 2001. She is currently serving as Adviser to the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs as well as Ministry of Social Welfare. Murshid is a former Commissioner of the National River Conservation Commission.
Nurjahan Begum is an advisor to the 2024 Bangladesh interim government.
Mahfuz Alam also known as Mahfuz Abdullah, is a Bangladeshi student activist and a coordinator of the liaison committee of Anti-discrimination Students Movement which led the Student–People's uprising. He currently holds the position of the Adviser and Special Assistant to the Chief Adviser of the Interim Government of Bangladesh.
Simeen Mahmud was a demographics researcher and the lead researcher at the BRAC Institute of Governance and Development at BRAC University. She was a director of the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies. She was the coordinator of the Centre for Gender and Social Transformation of BRAC University. She headed the Gender Studies Cluster at BRAC University.
Md. Akther Hossain is a retired civil servant and former senior secretary of the Public Security Division of the Ministry of Home Affairs. He was the principal coordinator for Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) affairs in the Prime Minister's Office at the prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
References
- 1 2 "Lamiya Morshed". One Young World. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
- 1 2 "Lamiya Morshed appointed principal coordinator for SDGs at chief adviser's office". The Business Standard. 14 August 2024. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
- ↑ "Lamiya Morshed appointed Principal Coordinator for SDGs at Chief Adviser's office". The Daily Observer. Retrieved 2024-08-15.
- 1 2 3 4 "Ms. Lamiya Morshed". Grameen Kalyan. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
- ↑ "Kaiser Morshed passes away". The Daily Star. 2023-11-25. Retrieved 2024-08-15.
- ↑ "Lamiya Morshed". socialbusinesspedia.com. Retrieved 2024-08-15.