Calvert Giving Fund
Yunus Awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom
On Thursday July 30th President Obama named Dr. Muhammad Yunus one of 16 recipients of the 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom. America’s highest civilian honor, the Medal of Freedom is awarded to individuals who make an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.
Yunus, a global leader in anti-poverty efforts, pioneered the use of "micro-loans" to provide credit to poor individuals without collateral. An economist by training, he founded Grameen Bank, a Calvert Foundation partner, in 1983 in his native Bangladesh to provide small, low-interest loans to the poor to help better their livelihood and communities.
President Obama was pleased to honor Yunus for his efforts to bring international focus to the transformative power of microfinance and said this about the honorees, “Each has been an agent of change. Each saw an imperfect world and set about improving it, often overcoming great obstacles along the way.”
Calvert Foundation would like to offer its congratulations to Muhammad Yunus for this award and thanks for all of his hard work in advancing microfinance around the world.
