Muhammad Yunus receives the Presidential Medal of FreedomAlex Counts is President and CEO of Grameen Foundation.Shan Ali, founder of Grameen Foundation Australia writes about Mohamed Yunus founder of Grameen International and his receipt of The Presidential Medal of Freedom is USA’s highest civilian honour.
Dear Friends,
I am delighted to announce that Professor Muhammad Yunus, founder and chief of Grameen Bank, has been awarded USA’s highest civilian honour, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Dr. Yunus will receive this award from President Barack Obama at a special White House ceremony on 12 August 2009.
I had the privilege of working with Dr. Yunus during my numerous visits to Bangladesh and during his three visits (so far) to Australia. We are delighted that he is being honoured for his wonderful work on behalf of poor people worldwide. In Bangladesh I saw Professor Yunus’ humble leadership and pathbreaking ideas changing lives and motivating people at all levels of society to envision and work towards a poverty-free Bangladesh. Today, it is a completely different country than when I first went there in 1993, and his work has been at the centre of those positive changes.
Ultimately, it is his unwavering belief in the power of even the poorest person in a society — whether they live in a rural Asian village or an urban slum in Africa, Latin America or even in a developed country such as the USA — to help themselves, that inspires all of us here at Grameen Foundation each and every day.
President Obama captured these sentiments wonderfully in his announcement of the awards, saying, “Each [recipient] saw an imperfect world and set about improving it, often overcoming great obstacles along the way.”
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is USA’s highest civilian honour and recognizes those who have made significant contributions to the United States, the world, peace and culture. When Dr. Yunus receives his award, he will be joining a distinguished group of individuals that includes Nelson Mandela, Mother Theresa and Martin Luther King, Jr.
Sincerely,
Shan Ali
Grameen Foundation Australia