CGAP Concerned About Efforts to Remove Nobel Prize Winner Yunus from Grameen Bank

WASHINGTON, March 4, 2011 - CGAP today released the following statement from Tilman Ehrbeck, CGAP
CEO, and Vijay Mahajan, Chair of CGAP's board, on the efforts to remove Nobel
Prize winner Muhammad Yunus as Managing Director of Grameen Bank:

"We are deeply concerned by the campaign of the past few months and
recent legal actions to remove Muhammad Yunus as managing director of Grameen
Bank.

Over the past thirty years together Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank have
been a powerful force and symbol for the microcredit movement, and for
progress for poor people who were previously excluded from formal financial
services. Professor Yunus has been a pioneer in the field, and his
substantial contributions to advancing the cause of poor unbanked women
should be celebrated by Bangladesh, and the international community.

Access to credit can be a valuable tool to allow poor households to
invest in small businesses, and see themselves through vulnerable patches.
More broadly, access to financial services can provide important benefits
simply by enabling poor families to manage their household finances more
effectively and smooth their consumption-allowing them to save for
emergencies, pay school fees when needed, and cope with illness or other
temporary shocks.

The microcredit movement made a critical contribution in proving that it
is possible to deliver financial services to poor people at scale, and in a
sustainable way.

The current situation is damaging not just to Grameen Bank and poor
clients in Bangladesh, but also to the wider microfinance industry.

Nearly three billion people in the world have no access to formal
financial services, and it remains our priority to ensure that previously
unreached low-income populations gain access to the full range of services
that they can use to invest, build assets, smooth consumption, and deal with
shocks.

The widespread international support Professor Yunus has received affirms
the important role many countries now see for financial inclusion. We also
sense an increasing awareness and understanding at a political level in many
countries-including the G20-of what financial inclusion can contribute to
social and economic development.

We hope that a compromise can be reached that allows Grameen Bank to
operate effectively, and for microfinance in Bangladesh to continue to thrive
and contribute to the social and economic development of the country.

We remain sharply focused and committed in our efforts to help realize
the important goal of universal financial inclusion."

In Washington, DC: Jeanette Thomas, jthomas1@cgap.org, +1-202-473-8869

www.cgap.org

About CGAP

CGAP is an independent policy and research centre dedicated to advancing
financial access for the world's poor. It is supported by over 30 development
agencies and private foundations who share a common mission to alleviate
poverty. Housed at the World Bank, CGAP provides market intelligence,
promotes standards, develops innovative solutions and offers advisory
services to governments, microfinance providers, donors, and investors. More
at www.cgap.org.

Jeanette Thomas, jthomas1 at cgap.org, +1-202-473-8869, www.cgap.org