Media Releases

Nobel Peace Prize recipient Muhammad Yunus in conversation with Munk School’s John Stackhouse on the challenges of microfinance

May 29, 2014

TORONTO, CANADA — On Fri­day, May 30th, Pro­fes­sor Muham­mad Yunus will vis­it the Munk School of Glob­al Affairs at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Toron­to to dis­cuss the impact of the micro­cre­d­it rev­o­lu­tion.

Pro­fes­sor Muham­mad Yunus, and Grameen Bank, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 in Oslo, Nor­way, for their pio­neer­ing work in fight­ing glob­al pover­ty through loans and finan­cial ser­vices for the poor. Pro­fes­sor Yunus start­ed the micro­cre­d­it rev­o­lu­tion with a loan of $27 to 43 poor women in 1976. Since then, he and Grameen Bank have helped more than 8.3 mil­lion bor­row­ers – 97 per­cent of whom are women.

Pro­fes­sor Yunus will speak at the Munk School about the role micro­fi­nance has had on social and polit­i­cal change through­out the devel­op­ing world, as well as his insights on social finance in advanced economies. John Stack­house, for­mer edi­tor-in-chief of the Globe and Mail and now Senior Fel­low at the Munk School, will lead the con­ver­sa­tion.

Press pass­es are avail­able for media inter­est­ed in attend­ing. Mem­bers of the pub­lic can tune in via web­cast at goo.gl/esizzg and ask ques­tions online.

WHAT:   Pro­fes­sor Muham­mad Yunus in Con­ver­sa­tion with John Stack­house

WHO:       Speak­er: Pro­fes­sor Muham­mad Yunus

Mod­er­a­tor: John Stack­house

Intro­duc­to­ry Remarks: Pro­fes­sor Jan­ice Stein

Clos­ing Remarks: Ms. Judith Wolf­son

WHERE:    Munk School of Glob­al Affairs
1 Devon­shire Place, Toron­to, Ontario, Cana­da

 WHEN:       Fri­day, May 30, 2014 – Event starts at 4:00PM‑5:00PM EDT
(Pro­fes­sor Yunus will be avail­able for ques­tions from the media short­ly after the event.)

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Media con­tact:

Sean Wil­lett
Chief of Com­mu­ni­ca­tions
Munk School of Glob­al Affairs
Tel: 416–946-8904
sean.willett@utoronto.ca