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Muhammad Yunus

Muhammad Yunus was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for founding the Grameen Bank and pioneering the concepts of microcredit and microfinance. These loans are given to entrepreneurs too poor to qualify for traditional bank loans. In 2006, Yunus and the Grameen Bank were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize "for their efforts through microcredit to create economic and social development from below". Yunus and Grameen Bank have shown that even the poorest of the poor can work to bring about their own development. He is the recipient of multiple international and national honours including the United States Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 2010.In 2008, he was rated No. 2 in Foreign Policy magazine's list of the 'Top 100 Global Thinkers'. Other notable awards include the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1984,the World Food Prize, the International Simon Bolivar Prize, the Sydney Peace Prize in 1998 and the Seoul Peace Prize in 2006. Yunus also serves on the board of directors of the United Nations Foundation.