CUHK
News Centre

The I·CARE University Lecture on Civility 2015 of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) has invited Nobel Laureate in Peace, Professor Muhammad Yunus to speak on the topic ‘Small Loans for a Big Future’ on 14 October. He will talk about his experience in founding the Grameen Bank, which provides financial services to alleviate poverty in Bangladesh.

In addition, an exhibition about poverty around the world and the introduction of the Grameen Bank will be held at the Yasumoto International Academic Park.

Details of the exhibition:
Date: Oct 8 – Nov 6(except Sundays)
Time: 8:30am – 9:30pm
Venue: 2/F, Yasumoto International Academic Park, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Details of the lecture: 
Date: Oct 14, 2015 (Wednesday) 
Time: 5:30pm – 7:30pm 
Venue: Sir Run Run Shaw Hall, The Chinese University of Hong Kong 
Language: English 
Registration: https://cloud.itsc.cuhk.edu.hk/webform/view.php?id=1090626

About Professor Muhammad Yunus

Muhammad Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, also known as the “Banker to the Poor”. Yunus was born in Chittagong, Bangladesh in 1940, finished his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Economics in Dhaka University. In 1969, he obtained doctoral degree in Economics from Vanderbilt University in the United States. Yunus returned to Bangladesh in 1972 and found that without any guarantee, the poor were excluded from loan services provided by traditional banks. With the vision that the financial systems could and should also serve those with economic disadvantages, Yunus founded the Grameen Bank (‘Village Bank’ in Bengali) in 1983 to serve the poor. It is currently one of the world’s largest microcredit organizations. In 2006, Yunus and Grameen Bank were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize “for their efforts through microcredit to create economic and social development from below”.

About Grameen Bank

Founded in 1983, Grameen Bank provides microcredit to the poor without guarantee. It is not just a lending institution; it has its own unique operating model. For instance, it offers loans to women who living below the poverty line; every loan taker is required to form a solidarity group of five people, who must not be related closely. Grameen Bank has offered loans to almost seven million people from 73,000 Bangladeshi villages until 2006. Today, it is one of the country’s biggest commercial bank. Grameen’s model has now been adopted in close to 180 projects in more than 100 countries. This model is not only suitable for rural areas but also in cities. One successful case would be Grameen America which has developed projects in 11 cities in the USA, benefiting over 50,000 women living in poverty. 

About I•CARE University Lecture on Civility

With the slogan ‘Aspiration through reflection; Renewal through civility’, the I‧CARE Programme aims to encourage students to actively serve the community under the guidance of teachers to explore, understand and discuss social problems of different parts of the world, and to develop solutions to the problems. The University Lectures on Civility form a major component of the programme which helps promote students’ holistic development and civic engagement through illuminating presentations given by eminent scholars and public figures. Previous speakers included Mr Hwai-min Lin, founder of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan; renowned scholar and writer Professor Leo Ou-fan Lee and Professor Kenneth Hsien-yung Pai; Ms Shuli Hu, famous journalist from mainland China and acclaimed Taiwanese architect Mr Kris Yao.