The World Conservation Union (IUCN) congratulates the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus and his Grameen Bank. Muhammad Yunus, often referred to as "the world's banker to the poor" is the founder of the Grameen banking system, which has been supporting millions of poor people through micro credits. Micro credits for local development has become a development mechanism applied throughout the developing and developed world today.

“Muhammad Yunus is a social entrepreneur without comparison. He is proving that it is possible to do good for poor people and the planet – using innovative business models,” said Ibrahim Thiaw, Acting Director General of the World Conservation Union .

Muhammad Yunus is also a founding member of IUCN’s “Future of Sustainability” Initiative, which works to redefine the concept of sustainability and find new solutions in the 21 st century. At the first meeting of this initiative, Muhammad Yunus called for greater support of citizens’ own initiatives and young leaders for sustainable development.

“Have we linked with the social entrepreneurs, applauded them, help them replicate themselves ” Muhammad Yunus asked. ““There are too many preachers – what we need are doers. We need to demonstrate what a sustainable life looks like,” Rather than providing more environmental advocacy, practical citizen initiatives should be supported, like one that led to the banning of polythene bags in Bangladesh.

To support social entrepreneurs, he suggested setting up a ‘social venture capital fund’, or an IUCN Social Business Enterprise. “IUCN can also play an important role in leading social entrepreneurs by setting standards, providing rating services, and to help each country set environmental goals and monitor them,”Yunus added.

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More information:

Contact Carolin Wahnbaeck at carolin.wahnbaeckiucn.org or Sally Jeanrenaud at sally.jeanrenaudiucn.org

Future of Sustainability Initiative - http://www.iucn.org/members/future_sustainability