French Foreign Affairs Minister Alain Juppé voiced today the strong support of France for Muhammad Yunus and its concern over the independence of Grameen Bank.
· Former French President Jacques Chirac and former French Prime Minister Michel Rocard join Honorary Committee of Friends of Grameen.
France supports independence of Grameen bank
Friends of Grameen are delighted by the strong support shown by French Foreign Affairs Minister Alain Juppé, for the independence of the Grameen Bank.
Indeed, today during the parliamentary questions session in the Assemblée Nationale, Jerome Chartier, MP, made a statement that Bangladesh Government attacks against Professor Yunus and Grameen Bank are driven by political and financial interests and are threatening the independence of Grameen bank. “This could jeopardize 25% of the Bangladesh population that rely on Grameen Bank for a living”.
In response to this speech, Mr. Juppé acknowledged the pioneering work of Professor Yunus, “whose name would always be attached to microcredit”, and emphasized that the Grameen Bank microcredit model had been unanimously recognized as a “magnificently successful” poverty alleviation tool, replicated across the world, in particular to help empower women in developing countries.
Concerning France’s position in relation to the recent attempts by the Bangladeshi government to oust Professor Yunus and the subsequent court hearings, Alain Juppé answered that “we made clear that France would like to ensure a fair trial for Muhammad Yunus”; He added “Christine Lagarde, (French Minister of Economy and Finance), is meeting her homologue in few days. I know that the Bangladeshi Minister of Finance recommends, and he already made it public, an amicable solution to the conflict”.
Two eminent French personalities, Jacques Chirac and Michel Rocard, expressed their strong support for Professor Yunus and Grameen Bank by joining Friends of Grameen.
Jacques Chirac, former President of the French Republic, from 1995 to 2007, and Head of the “Fondation Chirac : agir au service de la paix”. and Michel Rocard, former Prime Minister under President François Mitterrand (1988 to 1991) , Member of the European Parliament, become members of the Honorary Committee of Friends of Grameen.
About Friends of Grameen
“Friends of Grameen” is a voluntary association established under the French law of 1901. The purpose of the association is the promotion and development of microcredit and social business, in particular the microcredit activities of Grameen Bank and its affiliates.
The Honorary Committee is chaired by Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. The Executive Committee is chaired by Maria Nowak, President of ADIE, a pioneering French microfinance institution created in 1989.
www.friendsofgrameen.com
Press contacts: Burson-Marsteller Paris
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