The Bangladeshi government announced in recent that it will be investigating the affairs of Grameen Bank’s associated social businesses. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton touched down in Bangladesh following a truce between the government and the opposition amidst weeks of strikes, demonstrations, and violence. Yesterday, she urged the government not to do anything that would undermine the effectiveness of Grameen Bank at the International School Dhaka.
“We do not want to see any action taken that would in any way undermine or interfere in the operations of the Grameen Bank or its unique organizational structure where the poor women themselves are the owners,” Clinton told the gathering of Bangladeshi students and civil society representatives. ”I don’t want anything that would in any way undermine what has been a tremendous model.”
“I highly respect Muhammad Yunus and I highly respect the work that he has done and I am hoping to see it continue without being in any way undermined or affected by any government action because that would be unfortunate.”
Grameen Bank was the pioneer in issuing small loans to the poor, mostly women, to overcome poverty and earned its founder Muhammad Yunus a Nobel Peace Prize in 2006.
In a dispute over retirement age, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s administration ousted Yunus, 71, as managing director of Grameen Bank last year. Yunus argued he was exempt from regulations that set the retirement age at 60 for government-owned banks, but lost a court appeal.
A firm advocate of women’s empowerment, Clinton said that the Grameen Bank had uplifted Bangladeshis through the generations, saying she met a woman who was able to attend university after her mother earned a livelihood through a microloan.
“That’s the story of America. I want it to be the story of Bangladesh,” she said, calling on Bangladesh to preserve Grameen’s independence and organizational structure that allows loan recipients themselves to be the owners.
Photo from The Hindu.