Bravo Yunus: You have made the nation proud

Your victory is a victory for yourself, for the Grameen Bank that you founded, and for the millions of members who have benefited from it and continue to benefit from it. It is also a triumph for Bangladesh. Your achievement has reinforced our faith in our abilities. Yes, Bangladesh can turn around! Yes, we can do it! What an invigorating feeling in this hour of despondency.

It is also a ray of hope for all the poor countries and the poor people around the world. The Nobel Prize Committee, while conferring this award to you, had rightly noted that: "Across cultures and civilizations, Yunus and Grameen Bank have shown that even the poorest of the poor can work to bring about their own development."

Millions of your admirers at home and abroad had been waiting for this day for the last 14 years. I remember that the American magazine Rolling Stone, in its issue of September 17, 1992, carried a detailed interview of Bill Clinton, at that time the governor of Arkansas and a presidential nominee, who had emphatically proposed your name for the Nobel Prize.

The interviewer William Greider had been intrigued that an American politician was familiar with the Grameen Bank and its micro-credit program. Bill Clinton had clarified that he had first heard your name through his wife Hillary's room-mate at college, and that, thereafter, he and Hillary had invited you to Little Rock, Arkansas, to discuss how micro-credit lending programs could help some of the poor rural communities in his state, which is one of the poorest in the United States. You had convinced them about micro-credit, and Bill and Hillary Clinton have been two of your strongest supporters ever since.

Late Mr SM Ali, the founding editor of The Daily Star, had been so excited about the Rolling Stone story that he had written an article entitled: "Proposal for Nobel prize for Yunus: Clinton suggests a radical approach to development based on Grameen Bank model," in the daily on September 19, 1992. He had noted that the Nobel Prize Committee had: "So far taken little notice of exponents of Third World development which aims at the reduction of poverty level through direct participation of the poorest of the poor placed in the low income groups."

Ali had pointed out that: "It won't be that unusual a choice as some may think," and had recalled that American agriculturalist Norman Borlaug had won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 for his work "in producing the high-yield variety of wheat that rescued Asia from famine and paved the way for a green revolution." He had underscored the "invisible link" between your work and that of Borlaug as they were "geared to the grass-roots development in the Third World by changing the realities which poor farmers and people with hardly any income had been taught to accept for generations." Ali passed away a year later; he would surely have been delighted to see this day.

It is gratifying to note that the committee has finally accepted this view. They have acknowledged that the Grameen Bank and its micro-credit system have worked not only in Bangladesh but also in other parts of the world, including the richest countries of the world. The world has recognized that the poorest of the poor, anywhere in the world, can radically change their own lives. They have proved that they may not have collateral, but they are far more responsible in maintaining their repayment schedule than the richest of the rich anywhere. Their loan requirements are modest in size, but enormous in terms of impact.

Micro-credit, as you have yourself acknowledged, is not a panacea for all poverty reduction problems. It is the beginning to an end, and not an end by itself. Yes, Grameen has revolutionized the lives of so many and yet we, as a nation, have so far made only minuscule progress towards poverty-reduction and social development. Much needs to be done. However, this award has vindicated your vision. The world has recognized the Grameen model as a viable means for eradicating poverty.

Poverty is a curse which diminishes an individual's faith in his capability and, in turn, perpetuates inequality. The inequality threatens the social fabric, and jeopardizes peace and security in any society. Lasting peace cannot be achieved in any country unless the largest segment of its population is given the opportunity to break out of poverty. This award is a great opportunity, and a responsibility, for Bangladesh. The Nobel Prize Committee has given us this unique recognition, and we must meet their expectations by eradicating poverty from our country.

I had the privilege of knowing and interacting with you closely for decades at personal and professional levels. I admire your courage, conviction, and commitment. When you started the Grameen Bank I was not sure how it would work in our country where most socio-economic activities have achieved less than desired results. Yet, you have shown that Grameen not only works but can also adapt to the changing world. Grameen alone cannot achieve sustainable poverty reduction in a country like Bangladesh where more than half the population lives below the poverty line. This is a challenge for the whole nation.

Syed Muazzem Ali is a former Foreign Secretary.