WASHINGTON (Diya TV) — Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus received the Hillary Rodham Clinton Award at Georgetown University on Oct. 15 for his work expanding women’s economic opportunities through microfinance.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton presented the award to the Grameen Bank founder during a ceremony organized by the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security. Fellow recipients included Reema Nanavaty, director of India’s Self-Employed Women’s Association, and designer and philanthropist Tory Burch.
Muna Sukhtian, board chair of Jordan’s Microfund for Women, received a separate honor: the inaugural Georgetown Ambassadors Award.
Clinton emphasized that expanding women’s access to education and economic opportunities benefits entire countries. Georgetown said women account for 97% of Grameen Bank’s borrowers.
Yunus and Grameen Bank jointly won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for advancing economic and social development. Established as a bank in 1983, Grameen extended small loans to people whom conventional lenders often excluded because they lacked collateral. Its approach inspired microcredit institutions in more than 100 countries, according to the Nobel organization.
In his acceptance remarks, Yunus described the Georgetown award as recognition of five decades of work. He said women participating in Grameen had gained confidence to discuss their needs and take responsibility for their families’ finances. He also emphasized their ownership stake in the bank.
Yunus outlined his approach to social business, which directs commercial activity toward solving social problems rather than generating personal profit. He cited hospitals, health centers and eye-care facilities in Bangladesh that reinvest surpluses in services.
He also challenged educators to prepare students to establish businesses rather than focus exclusively on finding employment. Addressing the ambitions of borrowers’ children, he repeated his message: “We are not job seekers, we are job creators.”
Yunus said he planned to launch Grameen University by the end of 2026, according to a press release reported by Bangladesh’s national news agency, BSS. The proposed institution would emphasize entrepreneurship and provide support, including financing, to help students start businesses.
