Ending Poverty Through Empowerment

The United Nations Association of the USA (UNA-USA) hosted its latest Nationwide Conference Call this past Tuesday, November 13, featuring United Nations Foundation board member and 2006 Nobel Peace Prize awardee Muhammad Yunus. After a brief presentation on how microfinance can help lift people out of poverty, UNA-USA members enjoyed 30 minutes of question and answer with him. The call was moderated by Peter Yeo, Vice President for Public Policy at the United Nations Foundation, and Executive Director of the Better World Campaign.

Yunus focused his presentation on the role of microfinance and microcredit and its ability to empower the impoverished to create a better life for themselves and their family. Much of the presentation drew from Yunus’ personal experience as the founder of Grameen Bank, a microfinance organization and community development bank in Bangladesh that makes small loans to the poor without requiring collateral.

The question and answer session surrounded topics such as: taking the Grameen Bank model and applying it to other charities; economic cross-subsidization as it relates to producing goods; the potential for microfinance to help poor in the U.S.; and social business on the Internet.

• Listen to an audio recording of the call.
• Access the full transcript of the call.