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> Posted by V. McIntyre, Freelance Writer for the Harvard Kennedy School
#74942964 / gettyimages.com
Often, we hold out hope that innovation will happen through the great leap forward, the stroke of luck, the miracle cure – and when one candidate fails, we go off in search of another.
There is justifiable concern that this yes-or-no approach hampers international development. A recent article in the New Republic listed “big ideas” in international development that failed – not because they were bad, but because they were big. The article describes a $15 million-plus project to install thousands of water pumps attached to merry-go-rounds in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as Jeffrey Sachs’s Millennium Villages which sought to overhaul entire villages by building housing, schools, clinics, roads, and other key infrastructure. In these and the article’s other cases, with expectations high and money and attention flowing in, the projects sank, often because they outgrew the scale at which they had proven to work. Yet some of a project’s apparent lack of success may simply come down to the measurement you’re using. Many of the world’s most successful development efforts – deworming campaigns, for example – only improve the average life in tiny increments.
>Posted by Center Staff
There is great concern in the microfinance world and beyond regarding government efforts to take over Grameen Bank. Todd Bernhardt, Director of Marketing and Communications at the Grameen Foundation, has written a thorough and thoughtful summary of the latest developments as part of the Grameen Foundation blog. The post begins:
As you might have read in the news this week, the Bangladeshi government seems to be moving into the end game in its longtime effort to take over Grameen Bank, a move that has been widely criticized within Bangladesh and around the world. To brie
fly summarize, the cabinet – presided over by Prime Minister Sheik Hasina – voted on Thursday to amend the Grameen Bank Ordinance of 1983, effectively removing the Board of Directors’ right to choose the Bank’s Managing Director, and vesting that power instead in the Board’s government-appointed (and aligned) chairman…
To continue reading the rest of the article on the Grameen Foundation blog, please click here.
Image credit: banglanews24.com
Have you read?
U.S. Women Senators Unite in Support of the Women of Grameen Bank
> Posted by Center Staff
A great deal of misinformation has circulated around the Web about the recent confrontation between Prof. Muhammad Yunus/Grameen Bank and Bangladesh’s government.
We’re passing on this short, factual summary because it’s important for people to know about that chain of events. It’s a new document from the Friends of Grameen.
It contains links to all the key documents for those who want to dig deeper, as well as Prof. Yunus and Grameen’s side of the story, which is not always reflected in press accounts.
Image credit: RocketOOO
Have you read?
Microfinance Leaders Strive to Walk the Walk
13 Key Institutions in Microfinance Industry Sign Open Letter Supporting Muhammad Yunus
Who Has Muhammad Yunus’ Back?
> Posted by Center Staff
More than a dozen institutions with high-profile roles in the world’s microfinance industry today released an open letter in support of Dr. Muhammad Yunus as he grapples with a harsh attack by the Government of Bangladesh.
The level of unity shown here by the industry is unprecedented.
The letter reads, in part: “We are increasingly concerned and dismayed with the troubles Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus is facing in Bangladesh … We deeply deplore this lack of justice and unproven allegations that not only impugn Dr. Yunus’ character and the integrity of his flagship bank, but reach much further.”
“Dr. Yunus has played a seminal role in the development and recognition of microfinance … He has our strong support, and our wishes for a just and speedy resolution to this sad turn of events,” add the signatories.
The open letter is signed by: Read the rest of this entry »
> Posted by Center Staff
In Bangladesh, the ugly events of the last few months have reached a climax, and everyone in the microfinance industry would do well to wake up — and speak up.
What’s afoot? As the Financial Times puts it: “After publicly denouncing the founder of Grameen Bank for corruption and of ‘sucking the blood’ of the poor, Dhaka has limply resorted to a legal technicality to remove the Nobel Prize winner from the board of the microfinance institution.”
What’s at stake? In the words of Sam Daley-Harris, the director of the Microcredit Summit Campaign, this is “the latest move in a campaign to persecute Prof. Yunus and undermine the independence of Grameen Bank.” And because Grameen has yet to comply with Dhaka’s dictates, as the Financial Times observes, the deadlock resulting from this “political score-settling” can hurt only “both the bank and the wider microfinance industry.” Read the rest of this entry »
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