Nobel Peace Prize Honors Microcredit Effort

Muhammad Yunus, who created and spread the idea of giving small loans to people in developing countries, won the Nobel Peace Prize today.

Mr. Yunus founded the Grameen Bank, a nonprofit group in Bangladesh that was also cited by the Nobel Committee.

Mr. Yunus and the bank will share the $1.4-million prize.

The committee said that Mr. Yunus and the Grameen Bank “have shown that even the poorest of the poor can work to bring about their own development.” It said that by reducing poverty, microcredit “serves to advance democracy and human rights.”

Microcredit efforts have in the past few years received a big increase in support from major foundations and donors in the United States. (Read The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s article about the growing interest in the approach.)

Also: Read The Chronicle’s article about Peacejam, the nonprofit organization founded by 12 other winners of the Nobel Peace Prize.