How do you think we can raise the popularity of the Nobel Prizes, and theoretically the consciousness of mankind, to that of the Academy Awards or Super Bowl?

Dear Yunus
Wonderful job, keep it going. God bless you.
Any other ideas like Grameen bank that can help solve world poverty? What are the ways that non-residents can help a country with a movement like Grameen bank etc.

How do you expect poor people to pay back the loan with interest if they don't succeed in making profit in their business? How do you cover this collateral damage?

Is Grameen Bank or any other bank already active in the "microcredit" field in Colombia? If not, do you see an oportunity?

Being a person of Bangladeshi decent I understand and appreciate the time and effort it took for you to set up the 'microcredit' system in Bangladesh. My question is: What more do we need to do in countries like Bangladesh to help eradicate poverty and raise the standards of living for people there?

Would Grameen have been just as successful without the support of the Bangladesh government at the time it was established in the 70s?

The original Grameen Bank system formed teams of people who shared support and responsibility for repaying loans. In the US cities it is hard to form such teams. Do you think that individuals can have the same success with microcredit? What type of support would help then?

How would you replicate/modify the Grameen Model of lending to the poor in America where there are significant differences in culture between those in the west (individualistic, self-motivated) v.s. those in the east (family-oriented, more communal)?

In your book you mention about how some people slip back to poverty (after reaching a financially stable state through businesses they started/continued with loans you provided). Do you think it is because the poor are vulnerable not only from a financial standpoint but also wrt access to other resources (new practises in business, access to markets etc.)? What do you think would help the poor to come out of poverty & stay that way and what role should the society, government and corporates play in this?

Does anybody know what kind of returns such banks make? Also what are the terms to secure repayments near 100 percent?

Why do you think your first attempt to bring Micro Credit to the United States, in Arkansas, did not succeed? Have you thought about using Kiva model, online loaning person-person platform, for your microcredit work?

How do you think micro credit be applicable to a developed city – like Singapore, Hong Kong – to better the lives of the poor (when most of them are poor because of their physical disabilities, racism etc?) What is your vision of Grameen to help the immigrants from NYC's Jackson Heights?

Big picture thinking!!!! Financial entities please listen to Mr. Yunus

Your kindness to the people who asked you to buy a house and to pay the mortgage with out interest is appreciated.

On the past few years, I opened my own business by my own cash(without borrowing) & during the bad time I lost over $950,000.00 Rite now I rented 1 bedroom apt.$800.00 I paid my rent on time. But, this rent can not be credited. I prefer to buy a house and I need your assistance, please. Thank You Very Much!

1) How do you see the PPP (private-public partnership) for poverty eradication??

2) don't you think that Nobel Peace prize is loosing it's value for some of its recipiants like President G W Bush?

In your opinion, what are the reasons for this global financial crisis, and in future what could we the average people do to safeguard ourselves from such catastrophe. Thank you

Dear Prof Yunus,

How do we collectivise all micro credit borrowers to create large markets to trade their own , created, goods and services?
Would that not be the next big step in creating empowered communities of the poor, who are not dependant on the 'need based circuits' as against the 'want based circuits' they live in?

First of all, I wish to praise the great mind you are in having achieved what hard-line capitalists are not willing to do in their business, that is combining morality, economy and personal development.

The question I am going to ask derives from an observation my classmates and I made while discussing with our lecturer in Cameroon. There is a tendency by UN and other international organisations involved in development programmes to talk about "reducing poverty" instead of "creating wealth". Don't you think this has an undeniable psychological impact on the have-nots benefiting these long-terms projects?

Dear Professor Yunus,

Being an ardent supporter of democracy & equality of people, I am interested to know your notion regarding –>

" How can Grameen bank & concepts of micro-credit bolster democratic values and freedom to the countries where, at times, public opinion and freedom of choice are suppresssed and under minded ?"

How on earth do you choose the people your are going to do business with in each country? Here in Colombia we are totally outraged at the fact that you chose a person like Luis Carlos Sarmiento, by far the greediest man in this country, as your business partner for your microcredit bank. Did you really do your homework about finding out who this man is really is and if people in the country liked him?

Do you think, a credit rating system for micro credit is possible? could mobile technology be utilized for this purpose?
could micro credit be 'laddered up' to provide loans of higher amounts?

Mr. Yunus, I appreciate all your efforts to end poverty. I am following your path. I want to add to your microcredit concept by urging skilled people to lend their time to impoverished people in developing countries, and help them setup succesful businesses. Whats your opinion of this approach? I figure that despite acquiring a small loan, most of the beneficiaries would struggle in the running of the business, essentially because we have lacked quality education... so if these people could get a skill loan... which would as well be training... we could eradicate poverty even faster. How can we setup an international skill loan program? I am attempting this here in Kenya.

Prof. Yunus,
You had espoused the emergence of social enterprises in one of your books and had outlined the possibility of this being a means to deliver affordable goods and services with acceptable level of quality, especially to the poor and disadvantaged peoples of the world.
I would like to know how your joint venture with Nestle S.A. is progressing on this front and how do you see this model developing and being able to sustain itself as a vehicle for poverty alleviation in the decades ahead.
Thank you for the good work that you are doing and wish you all the best in your future endeavours in this regard.
Anirban.

Some critics of microfinance would argue that the current model falls short and does not lift borrowers completely out of poverty, it only moves them into a more acceptable level of poverty where some of the most basic needs are met. Would you disagree with this claim? And, if so, could you please explain how a borrower could (does) move up from poverty into a higher socioeconomic life?

Could you please visit our campus, The African Leadership Academy in Joburg, South Africa. We are creating the next generation of leaders for Africa, and we believe that our students would benefit from hearing your story. CNN has already run a story on one of our other students, William Kamkwamba, and we have a number of other leaders would also benefit from hearing your story. Please email me at eoummih@africanleadershipacademy.org and I can put you in touch with the founders of our school, who I am certain would love to have you present to our student body.

We meet many years ago in Dhaka – back then i was 22 yrs old and on my 1st major posting abroad .
I was so in awe over your views and ideas that we discussed i can safely say that you have influenced my profesional life and how i have aproached poverty in the countries i have worked through my carer .I lift my hat to you and what you have achived especially for the Women in Bangladesh the most oustanding achivment is that they are left wih their dignity intact .

What and when did your journey begin

How do you see the microfinance industry changing in the next decade? The industry is becoming increasingly commercialized and becoming commonplace in many urban areas. Do you think that there could be a problem in so much access to credit? Do you think that the Grameen model can be as successful amid the incredible number of MFIs appearing in urban areas?

What are the social outcomes of the Grameen Bank program? Do the women who participate get increased respect and face less domestic violence, compared to women who don't? Do they still pay dowry for their daughters? Do their children (esp their daughters) have higher literacy and school completion rates? Do they have lower fertility and child mortality?
Thank you

Your work is wonderful. I donate through KIVA, but they do not have programs in some of the countries I wish to help. Will you please set up a program like Kiva so that people like me can donate directly? Thank you!

I have seen both worlds.Things,attitude,greed is every where situation can only improve if honesty remain in forefront.small credit is only useful if earning one gets paid fully by the buyer,usually people never makes full payment.I think only greed is a permanent manifestation in human gene so situation never ever can be good in any time.arun

I am gonna post a very simple question ;

What makes Grameen Bank customers come back to the bank and pay their monthly installments? Why other banks reach bankruptcy with customers unwilling to pay the debt?

Now a days we see a portion of the local Bangladeshi media, public as well as politicians are venting out their reservations about some of your activities, e.g. most recently an issue has been raised over the legality of your retaining the position of CEO in Grameen Bank. Presumably, you are still going on with the same purposes that you had been doing before you was recognized by the Nobel. How you assess such change of the perception of your own countrymen about you and your activities?

Dr. Yunus, I am presently studying a Masters in Strategic Management and Planning in Dublin, Ireland. Congratulations on your Noble Prize and your success with Grameen Bank, I found you Nobel Lecture extremely powerful. I was wondering considering your success and the relative growth with your ‘social business’ projects, do you see yourself as a master strategist, a natural strategic thinker (an intuitive planner) or someone who moves through the planning process through serendipity?

Will the microcredit model be applicable in all sectors (housing, agriculture, education, etc.) in countries with high costs of living? How do we ensure the system is not misused in the name of making profit? And shouldn't the global community and especially the local community where Nobel prize nominees are have a bigger say as to who should get a Nobel prize? No offense to Mr Yunus, but in many cases the Nobel prize seems just like an award for popular achievement rather than society improvement work.

Hey great job , my hats off to your efferts for the small folks. In a world of the have and have nots, it all starts out with good intentions but, becomes an abusive greedy system that we have now at large. How do you plan to keep that from happening to what you created in the business.

Hi Muhammad,

I'm graduating from college in May and have already accepted a job at an insurance company. I'm glad I have a job, but I'm afraid I'm moving away from my passion of social entrepreneurship. For someone with bills and loans, how can I take the leap into starting an organization that is not profit-driven?

If your borrower lose his/ her business and don’t have ability to repay the money at all, what will be your action for this type of situation? Thanks

Dear Dr. Yunus,
First and foremost, I think you are an amazing man for initiating such an initiative. I would also like to congratulate you for receiving an honorary doctorate from my university, the American University of Beirut. I'm sure it's not as important as the Nobel peace prize but we were very proud to have you on campus
I hear about similar initiatives around the world and even in my country which is Lebanon. However, these associations seem to request collateral (often jewelry or such items) from these people who often require very small loans and they also demand interest. My question is, do you plan to expand your experience and maybe develop an international association which can set up offices in small developing countries around the world to make sure that no one takes advantage of people who are in actual need of these small loans??? In the words of John Lennon, "Maybe I'm a dreamer" but I'm sure I'm not the only one

I am very fortunate to have been working in the same field as Dr. Yunus. The pride I felt when he won the Nobel Peace Prize!

Microfinance has long been in the forefront of development in any country where it exists, and, Dr. Yunus' winning the Nobel Prize has brought due attention to the industry. This paved the way for many people, including main stream banking industry, other development organizations and even governments to take a serious look at microfinance as a way to ease poverty. But the downside of it is that, many people and organizations also just sort of wanted to be part of the hype, not even understanding what they're getting into and how serious the microfinance industry is. Many organizations jumped in, wanted to partake of the fame the Nobel Prize has brought. One result is that there was a huge increase in the number of organizations and individuals who wanted to "do something good" for humanity and hence wanted to give money to or donate to any microfinance institution they can search through referrals or even through the internet. They would give some amount, and then thats it. They can now boast that "hey, I donated to some money to some women in Africa or in India or in the Philippines". I AM NOT AGAINST this type of giving, oh no! not at all. In fact, there really are organizations and individuals I know of who do understand what theyre doing and hence, are helping in more sustainable and longer term manner. Its just that, I want to stress that this type of giving is not what microfinance is all about, like some people (even my friends!) are likely to think. It is about being viable, being sustainable, staying afloat, its about paying prevailing interest rates to your creditors, its about attaining and maintaining financial and operational suffciency, its about bringing your cost drivers down, its about maintaining a reasonable over head cost, its about maintaining effcient service delivery, its about bringing your turn over rate down. Yes! its all about this and much much more! Its about anything that any other businesses are also like. The BIG difference is, its a social enterprise. You maintain all these financials but then, the end goal is bringing better microfinance services to your clients, which comprises of credit, insurance, informal education and any other related and allied services which can bring more safety nets to the clients.

Grameen Bank pioneered this. If not for the big heart and probably the big calculator as well, of Dr. Yunus, the microfinance industries around the world will not be what they are now- that is staying sustainable and viable in order to help more families out of poverty.

Microfinance is not a cure all solution to poverty alleviation , thats a fact. But it does have its own merits.

Thanks to Dr. Yunus! I salute you Sir!

I have studied the Grameen Bank very closely and have read books, articles and blogs about the bank. Although everyone praises the banks pioneering work on micro credit, I have also heard criticism I wanted to ask you about directly.

1) What do you think about over saturation of the micro credit market in Bangladesh? Do you think there could be a bubble forming which is some ways is similar to the credit bubble in the US?

2) What do you make of the opinion that the bank relies too much on your skills and abilities and will struggle once you stop making important decision there and serve as its primary PR man?

3) Is the Grameen Bank really a totally free market enterprise? I have heard criticism that you rely on special confessions from the Bangladeshi government to stay profitable and that this actually give you an unfair advantage over BRAC and ASA.

we are tying an outreach prog for farmers in sri lanka, what would your advise be in doing this and how can we get financial institutions supporting this

Dr. Yunnus,
I have read several articles recently suggesting that, because of the high rate of repayment in the industry, a new wave of financial products will be created to leverage the success of microcredit for profit of outside investors. What is your opinion on this? How might such a trend make microcredit any more or less effective in alleviating poverty?

Thank you,
Jon S.
Chicago

Kudos on your hard work and compassion for our world. Your work is very important in creating self sufficiency and self respect for the neglected population of the world.

I recently started to seriously think about tertiary education in the poor districk where I was raised (I have now lived in 3 continents, and travelled to more than a scoreof coutries and I work as A scientist at ILRI). It occured to me that it might be possible to use your method to finacne education – this being the most rewarding investiment an individual can ever make. I am interested to work with you on how to make your model work for education.

Do you lend money to poor people without interest?
and if so, How does the bank make a profit?

Dr. Yunus,

What are the methodologies that the Grameen Bank employs to secure repayment rates approaching 100%? What are the interest rates charged by the Grameen Bank and how would you respond to the typical criticism of micro credit that only businesses involved in trading activities are sustainable with the rates that most institutions charge?

How can aloan of 220 dollars help aperson to start abusiness?Do you train the people of how to start abusiness before you give out the loan?

netherlands

What do you think people should do to win the Nobel Peace Prize ?

How can we use the concept of microcredits to fund education or to pay for education?

Mohamed Youns nice to have your experience in micro credit

I would like to ask you as you were working as Muslim country in Bangladesh, there is some people believe micro credit is prohibited and unacceptable, So Haw you manage to pass all these challanges and finally achieve your progress.

My second question is in Bangladesh Do you still have constraints in your Micro credit promotion effort?if yes what they are?

Third Q is As you have experience in working MC and improved sustainable institution working micro credit what can you advice people working Micro credit institutions in Islamic world?

Mabruuk Omar
The Netherlands

Dear Mr Yunnus;
I live in a small archipelagic country with many far flung Islands most of which are under the poverty line. The population for the most part live of subsistence farming and fishing. The potential are there to improve their way of living and method of doing so with a little financial support; BUT they have no collateral or other means of qualyfing for for financial assistance. Could your method help and what is your suggestions.
Thanks

We all are grateful and proud of you Mr. Yunus. You helped the poor to come out from poverty. You also helped rich to become richer. You have the power to unite and organize something that can become special from a very ordinary thing. You and your organizations are the examples for those things.
Poorer community needs micro credit and you are the king of micro credit. But Bangladesh is in thirst of Energy. Whatever if it is electricity, gas, coal, oil. This thirst can be observed from the investment sector of micro credit funded SME to the grand industrial credit funded industries. May be that's why you are investing on solar energy too.

My question is: Why don't you invest in a big scale to build up a nuclear power station with the money of poor and rich as well as Foreign Direct Investment, where we everybody will be partners. Bangladesh has a lot of idle liquid money in the Bank that is also waiting for your initiative. Only you can do it. You are the name of trust for the peoples of Bangladesh. If you take initiative then we who are living in the foreign countries can also invest on it. But we need a trustworthy initiator on whom we can depend on. Bangladesh government is planning to take initiative but I don't think it will be quick enough to solve this thirst and government can't involve all the interested party because of bureaucracy. We are waiting to hear from you. thanks.

Dear Nobel Prize,

As the president of the french youth liberal movement " BOUGE TA VILLE, BOUGE L'EUROPE!" (Move Your City, Move Europe!), i am fighting from years against dicrimination against urban youth in Paris. Remembering your interview in the Financial Time of 2006 9-10 Dec " GIVE THE MAN CREDIT", i always though microcredit could be a solution to fight against discrimination. Could it be possible to apply MicroCredit to YOUTH BANKING ? is there a global Research Center or Fund to provide new developments or new ideas in order to empower microfinance over traditionnal banking

Dr.Tunus

You are a proud son of Bangladesh.

How can microcredit nhelp Palestinians? And I do mean all Palestinians, those in Lebanon, in Syria and Gaza as well as the newly minted crop (evicted from Iraq) in Jordan. Palestinians in Israel retire between ages 40-45, because they live a life of manual labor. Obviously, they need education, skills and trades to move up and have longer productive worklives. How can you help, Mr. Yunus, convincing Palestinians that knowledge, skills and capital is portable and necessary in (almost) 2010, and what si, for them, the best way to get it? The only response coming from Palestinians appears to be that others owe them a living, but that keeps them dependent on others.

Are enough efforts being done to implement micro credit in India? Why is the poverty gap in India so bad in spite of the burgeoning economy?

Dear Professor Yunus,
I am currently in an international high school in Rome, where my economics professor has recently introduced me to your inspiring work. The class and I are in the process of mounting a project similar to yours in microfinance, where the school community could invest their savings and allow our small bank to have the capital to give out micro-loans. As I reflect on how I can best begin this enterprise by observing others as a model I have one question to ask you. Seeing as to begin with I would like to market and make loans local before attempting to expand beyond Italy, I am wondering how you solve the problem of giving micro-loans to the poor in highly urbanized areas such as the city of Rome, where beginning any kind of small enterprise requires much more than an average of $220 dollars average? Do you see it being possible at all, or is micro-credit in large cities much harder to give out seeing as many of the homeless would not have a way to invest it and make a profit to pay back the loan even if they wanted to.
Thank you very much,
Tommaso Cruciani

Do you consider a distribution of wealth that now places
an American earning 40K dollars per year in the top 3% of
wealth in the world a matter of concern for the average
banker?

Does in fact the average banker see any threat to him
in the fact that currently 1 billion people in the world are
either starving or severely malnourished?

Combining both question while forging a third, is there
a model that share any lingua franca in the financial
world that includes the rescue of that billion from the
most unassailable kind of genocide, what American
Republicans once called "benign neglect?

Thank you for being exceptional, for being truly civilized.

I thank you for making economic development so simple to understand–you do this by connecting solutions to basic human problems and desires.

How do we get institutions like USAID, the World Bank and the IMF to invest more into microfinance? These institutions were designed to address poverty (at least USAID and the World Bank were), yet their investment in microfinance that reaches the very poor is pretty paltry given how many times the case has been made that microfinance works. It seems they would be doing more. How do we bring them more on board?

Rich nations have knowledge and capital while poor countries are rich in natural resources,how can we create a good marriage which is of a win-win to both sides. I want a solution which will create a real global knowledge economy for both countries!!

I have build 3 preschools in rural Zambia, which are slowly
becoming self sufficient with the use of vegetable gardens.
How could I help the local community with the microcredit plan?

Dr Yunis,
I am Egyptian and am inspired by your experience. I tried to apply it her in Egypt, instead of giving people money as chariety, I wanted to give it to them in the form of some job to do related to others, but till now I couldn't do this because people don't want to work, they just want to live out of chariety, it is easier.
How can I covince them or make them work instead of living out of chariety, knowing that in Egypt they have many sources supplying chariety? please, help.

Dear Dr. Yunus,

If I wanted to become fully involved (am a successful entrepreneur aged 46) in what you advocate (I have read your books and visited your team in Wiesbaden) what would you recommend? Is it important first to intern with your organisation to learn your technique or just to go out and try to start up something using the inspiration and lessons you already communicate? Thank you, Ivan Sellers

I live and work in Somaliland, and I would like to open a branch Grameen Bank in Hargeisa, I know it would work. Please advice?

Thank you
Wardi

Dear Sir,

Whenever I see you in the media, I get the unobtrusive fragrance of the soft, moist and fertile soil of our country. You thought about the neglected mass of our country, who are also soft like the soil, yet make extraordinary story of survival against the hardship of day to day lives. So patient, so grateful to God, so satisfied with what they have; which do not even comply with the most basic requirements of a human – being. You are the first one to believe in the richness of their hearts and in the great potentials that every human being born with.

It is not only your socio- economical business model ‘micro-credit’ that the world needs to follow, but also your belief on ‘the rights of every human being in the world to live like a human’, needs to be reflected by all. No one has the right to deprive anyone from that right through any form of oppression or deception.

You are our inspiration to work ‘against the mindset’ for the welfare of the humanity. You are our guiding light to press ahead in life with honesty and integrity.

Thank you.

Dear Dr. Yunus,

Now how about a Micro Health care system for all ???