Undermining the Grameen Bank: It is Difficult to Build, but Easy to Destroy

• Miscellaneous
• 21st March 2011
• YC

The unseemly manner in which the current government of Bangladesh has sought to remove Professor Yunus from his position as head of the Grameen Bank is a sad spectacle. It seems the government, for reasons one can only guess, is determined to destroy work and legacy of the man fondly known as the "banker to the poor." If history is any guide, these efforts will be unsuccessful.

There is a saying in many traditions that generally makes the point that it is difficult to build, but easy to destroy. The Chinese version goes like this: "Any fool can throw a stone down a well, but it takes a wise man to get it out." In every society and community, we find builders, and sadly a few who enjoy tearing down what others have painstakingly built. The builders commit themselves to the long and arduous task of building an institution, or completing a task that will improve the lot of one person, one family, or millions. They make numerous sacrifices in their private lives for the sake of the greater good of the community. They are often laughed upon, challenged, and criticized because their peers cannot see their vision. However, for those who are persistent, their vision that was at one time only in a dream often comes to fruition.

Professor Muhammad Yunus and Sir Fazle Abed are modern day examples of builders. Both man have taken their individual visions and built world class organizations around these visions. Indeed, numerous others worked with them because build anything significant you need a team of many. Many in and outside the government, at home and abroad, helped them build their institutions. In the media, the choice presented between government and NGO, or between the public and the private sector is usually a false choice. It takes the entire nation and its friends to defeat a powerful enemy such as poverty that has been long entrenched in our society and economy. To win the war on poverty, we need visionary and competent leaders in every sector - government, legislature, NGO sector, business community, and the civil society. Bangladesh has done well because of the combined efforts of many leaders, and especially the hard work of the common people.

However, credit must be given where credit is due. Without the visionary leadership, talent and dedication of leaders such as Yunus and Abed, today we would not have the Nobel Prize winning Grameen Bank, and BRAC, the world' largest and most innovative NGO. Let us take the case of Muhammad Yunus, who is now much maligned in some section of the media.

By taking a simple idea - that poor are bankable and credit worthy - Yunus built the Grameen Bank into one of world's most admired organizations that has helped millions of low-income women and their families improve their lives. In the process, he has made a measurable and lasting contribution to the social and economic development of Bangladesh. Economists may differ on the measurement of this impact, but few will argue on the impact. Moving from micro-credit to building new businesses such as the Grameen Phone, today the nation's largest private company employing nearly 5,000 workers and serving roughly 30 million clients, Yunus helped revolutionize communications especially for the poor who are now able to participate in the world economy. Again, the idea of employing mobile phones to help the poor may not have been entirely his, but he championed it and used his considerable managerial skills and network to remove the many roadblocks.

Through the work of Grameen Shakti, Dr. Yunus has assisted in the empowerment of nearly half million households in rural Bangladesh who are taking advantage of the wonders of solar power, and all the benefits that come with renewable source of energy. More recently, by creating a host of social businesses in partnerships with companies such as Reebok and Danoe, among the best known global brands, he has put Bangladesh on the map of global investors as a nation of 150 million people and an exciting place for innovative business models for poverty alleviation.

In 1996, as the Science and Technology Advisor in the Caretaker government led by Justice Habibur Rahman, he served the role of a dedicated public servant. In his 2007 testimony to the US Senate pleading the case of duty free access to the US markets for RMG exports from Bangladesh, he ably served the cause of millions of women garment workers who spend long hours every day to power this dynamic $10 billion export sector. Though his books and lectures on the power of micro-credit, technology and entrepreneurship, he has inspired many, especially young generation, across the world to work for the greater good of their communities and societies.

In sharing the 2006 Nobel Prize in Peace with the Grameen Bank, he filled the hearts of millions of Bangladeshis with immense joy and pride for their country. By winning the United States President's Medal of Freedom (2009), the Congressional Gold Medal (2010), and numerous other awards, Dr. Yunus has served as an exemplary ambassador for his country, and a model citizen of the world. The September 24, 2010 press release on the occasion of the passage of the Durbin-Holt Bill Awarding Yunus Gold Medal for Microfinance Work states,

"Dr. Muhammad Yunus believes overcoming poverty is not just a gesture of charity; it is an act of justice," Durbin said. "For more than thirty years, his theory of microenterprise has become a phenomenon - touching the lives of more than 100 million people around the world. It is hard to think of any single idea in our lifetime which has lifted so many people out of the deepest depths of poverty. He is truly deserving of the Congressional Gold Medal and I am honored to call him a friend."

What an honor of for Bangladesh!

In our personal and professional lives, every day we face these choices - to build something or to tear down what someone else has built. God gives each of us opportunities to listen to our better angels and build something small or great. Through our acts and thinking we make a conscious decision to help build a better world, or to destroy what others have built. Those in politics, government or media would do well to remember that, if history is any guide, only the legacy of the builders will be remembered and celebrated a hundred years from now.

Bangladesh should salute leaders like Dr. Muhammad Yunus and Sir Fazle Abed for their vision and success in building great organizations which continue to lift millions out of poverty everyday in Bangladesh and globally. They are among the true nation builders.

The author is a professor of economics and dean of a business school near Houston, TX. He can be reached at munirtasmina@sbcglobal.net

Source: http://newsfrombangladesh.net/view.php?hidRecord=350890