Opportunity International Congratulates Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank on the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize Award

OAK BROOK, Ill., Oct. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Author: Chris Crane, CEO and President, Opportunity International:

Today, we give thanks and congratulations for the award of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize to Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank, our fellow pioneers in the development of microfinance as a proven, long-term solution to poverty.

We also thank the Norwegian Nobel Committee for recognizing the role that microfinance is playing today in alleviating poverty throughout the world. In its award, the Committee said, "Micro-credit has proved to be an important liberating force in societies where women in particular have to struggle against repressive social and economic conditions."

How true. Grameen Bank, founded by Muhammad Yunus in 1976, and Opportunity International, founded in 1971, are two of the pioneers that began by giving small loans -- sometimes as little as $50 -- to poor entrepreneurs in some of the world's poorest countries. The simple but revolutionary concept has taken root in many parts of the developing world, and today some estimate there are 10,000 or more organizations involved.

The Nobel Committee also observed: "Every single individual on earth has both the potential and the right to live a decent life. Across cultures and civilizations, Yunus and Grameen Bank have shown that even the poorest of the poor can work to bring about their own development."

Now more than ever, we are in a position to change the world. Opportunity International recently announced a bold plan to mobilize $1 billion over the next seven years to help 100 million people work their way out of poverty by 2015. It is an ambitious but attainable goal, thanks to the generous contributions of our individual donors and grants from organizations such as the Lenovo Corporation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Caterpillar and the Levi Strauss Foundation.

We invite everyone to learn more about microfinance and the many innovations that are taking place to provide complete banking services and insurance to the poorest of the poor.

We pay tribute to the leadership and vision of Muhammad Yunus and the foresight of the Nobel Committee for its selection today.

About Opportunity International ( http://www.opportunity.org/ )

Opportunity International, a global microfinance organization, is committed to solving global poverty. Serving 810,000 poor entrepreneurs impacting six million lives in 28 developing countries last year, Opportunity International provides small business loans, training in basic business practices, counseling in personal development and other financial services to women and men living in chronic poverty. In September 2006, Opportunity International launched a historic campaign to mobilize $1 billion by the year 2012 to help 100 million poor people work their way out of poverty by 2015. For more information, visit http://www.opportunity.org/ .