Bangladesh's Muhammad Yunus, Grameen Bank Win Nobel Peace Prize

By Bunny Nooryani

Oct. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Bangladesh's Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank won this year's Nobel Peace Prize for working to advance economic and social development among the poor, the Nobel Committee said today.

Yunus, born in 1940, founded the Grameen Bank which provides credit to the poor in rural Bangladesh without any collateral. The so-called micro-credit system has spread to several countries around the world.

``Lasting peace can not be achieved unless large population groups find ways in which to break out of poverty,'' said Ole Danbolt Mjoes, director of the Nobel Committee, which picks the winner. ``Micro-credit is one such means. Development from below also serves to advance democracy and human rights.''

The peace prize, worth 10 million kronor ($1.4 million), was created in the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel more than a century ago. Past winners include Mother Theresa, Doctors Without Borders and the 14th Dalai Lama. It was first handed out in 1901.

The five-member Nobel committee keeps nominations secret. Of the 191 nominees for this year's award, 168 were for individuals and the rest for organizations.

The prize should be awarded to ``the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between the nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace,'' Nobel's will says.

Last year's prize went to the International Atomic Energy Agency and its Egyptian director general, Mohamed ElBaradei, 64, for their work to stop the military use of nuclear energy.

The award is formally awarded at a ceremony in Oslo on Dec. 10, the anniversary of Nobel's death in 1896. Nobel also set up prizes for achievements in physics, medicine, chemistry and literature, which are handed out by the Stockholm-based Nobel Foundation.

An economics award was established in memory of Nobel by Sweden's central bank in 1969.

To contact the reporter on this story: Bunny Nooryani in Oslo at bnooryani@bloomberg.net