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Professor Yunus, Grameen and social business

S.M. Rashed Ahmed
MUCH has been written and said about our Nobel laureate Prof. Yunus and Grameen; hence I am not quite sure from where to begin. In the history of human endeavour so much is owed to this single individual who, through his innovative approaches for creating a world without poverty, has set in motion an irreversible process for a quiet revolution for historic social change.
It is no exaggeration to say that the name of Bangladesh has become synonymous with Prof. Yunus and Grameen. This is based on my personal experience of years in the diplomatic service.
In this context, I wish to record two events which stand out in my memory. The first one is from when I was Bangladesh ambassador to Japan. It is customary in Japan for their Imperial Majesties to host a luncheon for the ambassador and his wife. During a cordial luncheon meeting both Imperial Majesties devoted most of the time to a discussion on Grameen and Prof. Yunus. We
were fortunate to have been able to apprise them of the work of Grameen and its pioneer as Prof. Yunus had visited Japan earlier.
The other event, which was to leave an indelible imprint on my mind about Grameen was when I took up my assignment with UN in Kosovo. To my surprise, I was warmly greeted by the local K Albanians and the K Serbians including the Monks of the Monastery, where foreign persons were looked upon with suspi-
cion. The reason for my acceptability, which I was to find out later, was that Grameen Bank had established its presence in that area before 1 went there. They knew about Bangladesh and Prof. Yunus. The poor women were earning their livelihood from the microcredit programme where jobs were scarce. My wide public acceptance as the UN administrator helped in resolving the conflict through face to face dialogue and negotiations. Thanks to Grameen.
During my assignment Prof. Yunus visited Kosovo twice. 1 was told by the SRSG Steiner and other colleagues that they were deeply impressed by the vision and commitment of Prof. Yunus to the eradication of global poverty and for peace.
Recently, at the "Social Business Day 2012" at Savar, which incidentally coincided with the birthday of Prof. Yunus, I joined his numerous friends and well wishers to celebrate the achievements in Social Business from around the world. I will briefly touch on the opening ceremony and the Social Business based on my rudimentary knowledge of the subject.
The presence of such a large number of national and foreign participants; the signing of MOU on a Social Business Project in Haiti, which in the words of Prof. Yunus was a "seed from Bangladesh being planted in Haiti;" the presence of Astronaut Garan who read Prof. Yunus' book Creating a world without poverty in the space station and committed to help the poor through Social Business; the starting of Social Business by Japanese company Felissimo Gorporation; the reiteration of financial commitment and support to Social Business project by the Managing Director, Grameen Credit Agricole Micro finance Foundation (France); and support to Social Business project by others including Patricia Lynch, Vice President, Kaiser Permanente, USA, Eric Lesueur, Project Director, Veolia Water, France, Rokia Rahman, Chairman, Media World Ltd, Bangladesh, who
ject involving supply of seeds and fertilizers to the poor farmers; the notable presence of Ambassador Shiro Sadoshima of Japan, which underscored the support of the Japanese government to the concept of the Social Business, were events of great significance for Grameen, and its founder.
Like Grameen, the idea of Social Business is increasingly gaining acceptability around the world. As Prof. Yunus himself explained, the economic and financial crisis in Europe and the West impacts negatively on the poor in Bangladesh and elsewhere. The system based on traditional capitalism has failed to meet the challenges facing humanity; it is time to redesign a "new kind of capitalism that serves humanity's most pressing needs." This will change the current money-centric system and reverse it by putting money in its place and human beings as the basis of the new capitalism; profit seeking motive will be replaced by motive of serving the poor and the vulnerable. Social Business is aimed at address -
ing the problems of global poverty, development, environmental hazards, health care, safe drinking water, intertwined with economics, finance, food and agriculture, energy, and massive youth unemployment and social crisis, etc.
That the social business concept is catching up globally is clear from the fact that it is being "adopted by leading corporations including BASF, Intel, Danone, Veolia, and Adidas as well as entrepreneurs and social activists in various parts of the world. Significantly, the idea of Social Business is being embraced at the highest academic levels abroad. To cite some examples: the Grameen Creative Lab (GCL) atWeisbaden; Glasgow Caledonian University partnering with Grameen on a Social Business project aimed at enhancing healthcare in Bangladesh; the new California Institute of Social Business based at the California State University Channel Islands Campus; Kyushu University in Fukuoka, Japan, creating a Grameen Technology7 Lab partnering with Japanese companies; Yunus Center at the AIT Bangkok and HEC, the prestigious international business school in Paris creating a Social Business chair. For a fuller understanding of the Social Business concept it will be worthwhile to read the book Building Social Business by Prof Yunus and to contact the Yunus Center at Grameen HQ Dhaka. Prof. Yunus is not only the pride possession of Bangladesh but also of the world at large. Let us forge a national consensus on preserving the integrity, independence and autonomy of Grameen. Let us utilise the precious service of our only Nobel laureate to strengthen Bangladesh, particularly by lifting its international image which has been badly bruised by the unacceptable controversy created about him and Grameen. Crucially, it will help realise the twin objectives of our foreign policy, i.e security and development. Security particularity non-military, involves poverty, development, safe water, food, energy and climate change. We need to work collectively to achieve a functional democracy based on the rule of law, good governance and human rights, strong economy and a credible defense force to achieve the national aspirations of a strong, peaceful, stable, self-reliant, multi-religious and multi-cultural Bangladesh.
The writer is a former UN Regional Administrator in Kosovo and Bangladesh Ambassador to Japan.
E-mail: rashed_ahmed2001@yahoo.com